This opinion is adapted from President Feller and Aman Brar’s ’99 article in the Indiana Business Journal.

The Bachelor’s recent survey of the Wabash student body on the topic of artificial intelligence identifies anxiety around the impact of AI on the nature of work as a top concern. This is not surprising given the strongly held views circulating in the media and on social media. These range from “AI is overhyped and should be ignored” to “AI changes everything, so don’t waste your time and money on higher education.”

We reject both extreme positions, yet we cannot know the world of work that awaits the men of Wabash as they graduate over the next few years. Even those who build and invest in AI-powered companies can’t reliably predict the roles that will be transformed and those that will emerge.

We favor a humble approach to predicting specifics of the future of work, well aware that only a few short years ago the loudest voices shouted that everyone must learn to code. Today, data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows computer science as one of the majors with the highest unemployment rate among new graduates. We have seen this play out across the job market. From early-stage startups to Fortune 500 companies, the pattern is consistent: job candidates who excel are those who demonstrate adaptability, creativity, intellectual curiosity and the capacity to learn quickly.

Our advice stems from our decades-long experience in higher education and technology. The most important aspect of a college education is the development of durable skills such as critical thinking, creativity, leadership and the ability to work productively with others. Whether in early career experiences or the boardroom, we have seen these durable skills separate the professionals who thrive from those who flounder regardless of their technical background.

The good news is that Wabash College emphasizes the development of exactly these durable skills as part of a holistic education.

It is quite possible that some college graduates are going to be tested in the coming years as tasks presently completed by white collar workers migrate to computation. But does that say more about the power of AI or the failure of some students to embrace college as the opportunity to develop the skills of higher order thinking?

Too many students approach college as a credentialing exercise, making the mistake of prioritizing the prestige of the college and the relevance of the major as the key metrics. It is unfortunate that our society puts so little emphasis on the quality of the education and too much weight on exclusivity — the mistaken notion that the best schools are expensive and hard to get into.

Last fall, The New York Times published an essay urging students not to “fall for the rigged college game.” The author, Jeff Selingo, provided data from Indiana University’s National Survey of Student Engagement, a project that evaluates the experience of thousands of college students — from the most elite institutions to schools with open enrollment. The summary: higher institutional selectivity and cost do not yield greater gains in critical thinking, leadership experiences, quantitative reasoning or collaboration with peers.

That study resonates with what we observe on and off campus. The most successful professionals we encounter, whether they are leading product teams, closing enterprise deals or navigating complex organizational change, come from a wide range of institutions. What unites them is not the prestige of their alma maters but the depth, quality and rigor of their education and experiences. These graduates are, we believe, imbued with the habits of mind that will lead to success in an AI world.

Wabash students are fortunate to be enrolled in a college with exceptional opportunities for growth. Wabash’s NSSE scores exceeded the average of elite colleges and universities on nearly every metric examined in the Selingo essay. But Wabash students must double down on these opportunities for growth if they are to be prepared for a world that prioritizes the possession of durable skills rather than a diploma.

So, stop focusing on the external forces reshaping the jobs around us. Instead, we urge students to ask a fundamental question about how they are approaching education: Am I embracing sufficient challenges to grow as a thinker, a leader and a person?

Challenge and depth of experience — more than any specific knowledge or training — are what will matter most in the decades ahead.