About Hannah

Great work doesn't require a degree. She helps families find it.

Hannah Maruyama is the founder of Degree Free and the author of The Degree Free Way. She built her own Degree Free career in AI and machine learning, and now helps parents and young adults think clearly about education, work, and career paths, especially when the old default of "just go to college" no longer fits.

Hannah Maruyama, Founder of Degree Free
Why she does this work

The default path stopped adding up, so she went looking for what actually does.

Hannah built her own Degree Free career in AI and machine learning. She knows the path works because she walked it herself. She's spent years since working directly with families looking at the alternatives to a default college path: weighing real costs against real outcomes, and finding routes to great work that don't start with four years and a loan.

What she kept seeing was the same gap. Families had plenty of fear and sticker shock, and almost nowhere to turn for clear, practical guidance.

So she built one. Degree Free is the result: helping families make confident, clear-eyed decisions about what comes next. Her book, The Degree Free Way, lays out that playbook.

"You don't have to go to college. You do have to make a plan. Let's make one that fits their goals."
Degree Free

What Degree Free is.

Degree Free helps young adults and their parents build a clear, specific plan to a great career, without a four-year degree. Instead of a mountain of student loan debt, families get real next steps: what to learn, where to start, and how to land the work.

Through it, Hannah has helped more than 18,000 families rethink the college-or-bust decision, with a message that's reached more than 63 million people: there's more than one path to a career you're proud of.

Hannah Maruyama with co-founder Ryan Maruyama, the team behind Degree Free
What she believes

She says it straight.

01College is a tool, not the defaultSometimes a degree is exactly right. The problem is choosing it on autopilot, before weighing the cost.
02The number mattersDebt, time, and opportunity cost are real. Families deserve to see the math before they decide.
03Skills beat signalsWhat you can do should count for more than where you bought your degree.
04Real options, clearly laid outThe goal is to put a list of real options in front of every family.
05The path keeps changingAI is reshaping entry-level work. A good plan today is one that can move when the market does.
06The young adult has to own itA plan works when it's theirs, not handed to them. Buy-in beats pressure every time.
What she talks about

The topic universe.

College ROIAI-era careersDegree Free pathsParent decisionsSkills-first work
Book Hannah

Bring this conversation to your audience.

Speaking, a panel, a segment, or the show. Tell us about your audience and we'll take it from there.

Book Hannah