LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform with over 722 million users worldwide as of April 2022. With so many users, LinkedIn has become the go-to place for professionals to build their online presence and connect with others in their industry. One of the core parts of a LinkedIn profile is the education section, where users can list their academic credentials including schools attended, degrees earned, and dates of attendance. However, unlike other parts of a LinkedIn profile, the education section has one unique restriction – users are unable to delete education entries once they have been added.
This seemingly small restriction has caused confusion and frustration for many LinkedIn users over the years. There are a variety of reasons why someone may want to remove an education entry from their profile, such as listing a degree they did not actually obtain, or no longer wanting to associate with a particular institution. Yet LinkedIn does not allow education entries to be deleted, only hidden from your profile view. So why is it impossible to permanently delete education on LinkedIn?
Why LinkedIn Doesn’t Allow Education Deletion
There are a few key reasons why LinkedIn restricts users from being able to delete education from their profiles:
Data Integrity
LinkedIn designed the education section to serve as an official record of a user’s academic credentials and attendance. Allowing users to freely delete education entries could compromise data integrity if people removed actual schools they attended or degrees they earned. LinkedIn wants to maintain accurate information within its professional network.
Verification and Background Checks
Many employers and recruiters use LinkedIn to help verify candidates’ education backgrounds and conduct background checks. If users could easily add and delete education without a trace, it would be much more difficult to verify someone’s academic credentials on LinkedIn.
Search Functionality
LinkedIn’s profile search is powered in part by the education sections of user profiles. Even if an education entry is hidden on someone’s profile, LinkedIn can still index that information to improve search. Allowing education deletion would remove valuable profile data that enhances LinkedIn’s search capabilities.
Professional Reputation
Being able to delete education could allow users to unfairly enhance their professional reputations by removing unflattering institutions or degrees from their profiles. LinkedIn wants to promote transparency and prevent questionable profile management practices.
Is Education Truly Permanent on LinkedIn?
While education entries cannot be permanently deleted from LinkedIn, users do have some options when it comes to managing education on their profiles:
Hiding Education
Any education entry can be hidden from your profile view so it is not visible to others. Simply go to your education section and click on the three dots next to an entry and select “Hide from profile view”. This education will remain saved but not publicly displayed.
Rearranging Education
You can reorder education entries to showcase certain degrees and institutions above others. Go to your education section and use the drag and drop tool to rearrange as desired.
Removing Dates of Attendance
Specific dates of when you attended or earned a degree from an institution can be removed by editing the education entry. The institution and details will remain but without timing specifics.
Marking Education as In Progress
For degrees you started but did not complete, you can edit the entry to show as “In Progress” rather than a completed degree program.
Table Showing Education Management Options on LinkedIn
| Action | Result |
|---|---|
| Hide from Profile View | Education hidden but still saved in background of profile |
| Reorder Education Entries | Changes which degrees and institutions are displayed first |
| Remove Dates of Attendance | Institution and details shown without specific timing |
| Mark as In Progress | Converts completed degree to in progress |
Why Education Deletion is Unlikely to Change
Given LinkedIn’s data-driven business model and focus on verified professional information, education deletion seems unlikely to be allowed anytime soon. Here are some reasons why:
Conflicts with LinkedIn’s Core Value Proposition
Enabling education deletion would essentially contradict LinkedIn’s promise to be a reliable source for verified professional profiles and background checks.
Backlash from Employers and Recruiters
Employers and recruiters would likely criticize LinkedIn if education could be deleted, as it would make vetting candidates more difficult.
Technical and Resource Challenges
Adding the ability to permanently delete education would require significant technical changes to LinkedIn’s infrastructure and represent an ongoing resource investment.
Risk of Profile Manipulation
Allowing education deletion also creates the potential for LinkedIn profiles being manipulated in other ways, such as removing degrees or falsifying information.
Conclusion
In summary, LinkedIn does not permit education deletion primarily to uphold data integrity, aid in verification, maintain strong search capabilities, and prevent profile manipulation. While users cannot permanently remove education entries, they do have options to hide, rearrange, or edit education sections of their profile. Given LinkedIn’s fundamentals as a professional network built on reliable information, the ability to delete education seems unlikely to ever be introduced. For most users seeking to tweak their academic credentials on LinkedIn, hiding or editing entries will be the extent of what is allowed by the platform.
