(NewsNation) — Rikki Schlott, a journalist for the New York Post, decided to drop out of NYU during the pandemic after the school demanded full tuition for Zoom classes.

She said “society should quit stigmatizing” those who decide not to pursue a higher education degree.

“I think we’re kind of blurring the lines of excellence. And a lot of these degrees are increasingly meaningless,” said during a Friday appearance on NewsNation’s “On Balance.” “Having been at NYU quite recently, I saw some pretty obscure and pretty inapplicable degrees and classes … I can’t even really imagine what that sets you up for careerwise going forward.”

In Schlott’s report, she highlights that nearly four in five college nongraduates say they they’ve experienced some form of stigma for not having a degree. Schlott also notes that “many companies have erected degree requirements as a barrier to apply for jobs — boxing out a huge swath of Americans.”

A 2022 survey of high school students found that, although 85% feel pressured to pursue a four-year degree, 62% want to “forge their own educational path.”

And they are: At the start of this school year, there were 4 million fewer college students than a decade earlier.

Watch Schlott’s full interview in the video player above.