An 'influencer' degree? Colleges bet on content creator major as critics
question its value
[August 14, 2026] By
KAITLYN HUAMANI
Ask a teen what they want to be when they grow up, and there’s a fair
chance being an influencer is on their list.
Digital media and the people who star in it have been cultural mainstays
for teens’ entire lives, so creating social media, video or podcast
content seems a natural, albeit nontraditional, career path. And now
they can earn a college degree in that very field.
Arizona State University recently launched a new bachelor's degree in
content creation, offered through its Walter Cronkite School of
Journalism and Mass Communication. The curriculum overlaps with that of
ASU's mass communication and media studies degree, with the major
departure being a slate of specialized electives on podcasting, studio
production and on-camera presence.
ASU’s announcement was met with swift criticism from many sides — from
people who feel content creation is not a legitimate profession to those
who question the value of a college degree in launching a social media
career.
But the ASU program is not the first of its kind.
And the university, which declined an interview request about the new
program, is not the first to offer content creation courses.
Universities, eager to compete for a shrinking student population, are
rolling out new majors intended to prepare students for today’s careers.
Whether they lead to jobs can be up for debate.
College courses in content creation have riled critics
Many higher education institutions have started offering classes focused
on the burgeoning content creation industry over the past couple years,
and several have certificate or minor programs. Syracuse University,
Quinnipiac University and Colorado State University offer minors, and
St. Bonaventure University announced a content creation major last
winter.
To Brooke Erin Duffy, a communication professor at Cornell University,
these college programs represent an inflection point. During the past
year, Duffy said, institutions in education and beyond have been
acknowledging content creation as a viable career path — even if the
term “influencer” itself hits a nerve.
On social media, influencers are everywhere, sharing shopping
recommendations and lifestyle content or promoting beliefs about health
or politics. Because even influencers with relatively small followings
have loyal audiences, brands also often pay them to talk about products.
The image of a prototypical influencer, Duffy said, is usually a “young
girl who is snapping selfies and just reaping in tremendous rewards for
seemingly not doing anything.”
But that’s not the reality for many content creators, who are working on
media production, audience retention strategies, brand partnerships and
business relationships associated with their online presence.
“It is a time-consuming, labor-intensive job that often doesn’t pay well
— at least in the beginning,” Duffy said. “But a lot of that gets
concealed behind … this assumption that it’s a dream job.”
The creator economy is booming, but not everyone reaps the riches
Even if someone has the skills to make it in content creation, it isn't
easy to break in.
Social media is already a crowded field, and it's going to get even more
competitive in the coming years, said Max Willens, a principal analyst
at Emarketer who covers the creator economy.
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 Emarketer forecasts that social
media creator revenue in the U.S. will climb above $20 billion this
year, but Willens said it’s important to contextualize what that
means for individual creators.
“The overwhelming majority of that money is not going into creators’
pockets,” he said, even though their content and their followers
form the foundation of the lucrative field.
Influencers can earn money from social media
platforms, which reward high engagement, and some earn commission if
people buy a product they're promoting. But the largest share of
influencers' earnings comes from sponsored content — getting paid to
talk about a brand or product. Willens said he expects the amount
brands spend distributing and amplifying creator content will
eventually surpass the amount creators earn making it.
The idea that a specialized college degree will “suddenly turn
people into viral content machines deserves a bit of a reality
check,” Willens said.
Duffy noted that becoming an influencer often is perceived,
incorrectly, as a path to get rich quick. Colleges that introduce
content creation degrees may be hoping to attract new students — and
their parents — who are looking for “a job that will pay off,” Duffy
said. “Whether or not it does is another story.”
A degree's price is also a factor: At ASU, base tuition for Arizona
residents is about $12,000 per academic year, excluding
scholarships, but the total cost of attendance can exceed $37,000
after factoring in room, board and other fees. For students from
outside of Arizona, tuition is more than $35,000 and the total cost
of attendance is around $60,000 before scholarships.
Creators see value and transferable skills in these programs
While many content creation students may be hoping to become viral
sensations, Phoenix-based creator Aiesha Beasley said she could see
programs like ASU’s being valuable even to those without that dream.
“Having a digital presence and a personal brand is very important
nowadays,” Beasley said. Building a platform and sharing that
personal brand online can help a person network and gain entry to
settings they may not have had access to otherwise, she said.
Beasley, who has been a full-time content creator for three years
after more than a decade posting online, works with small businesses
to help optimize their social media presence. She noted that ASU's
courses would teach several transferable skills in fields such as
communications and marketing.
Content creator and actor Sammy Cristerna graduated from Arizona
State University this spring with a degree in sociology and
political science, but said he “absolutely” would have taken classes
in the content creation program and considered the major if it had
been available.
The courses, Cristerna said, would have been useful in learning how
to negotiate brand deals, maximize monetization opportunities and
cultivate and keep an audience. Some of those skills can be
self-taught through experience, he added. Still, “it’s nice to have
that formal education.”
The one thing Cristerna said he isn’t sure will translate in the
classroom is personality.
To connect on camera, a person needs to have “good energy,” he said.
“That’s hard to teach.”
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