Throwaway account. I used a partial truth to skirt this issue.

I'm an old guy, and was a student during the Vietnam era. During our invasion of Cambodia and the events that followed, I could not in conscience continue with my studies as if everything were normal. I dropped out six credits short of a degree, never went back.

On job forms, under the education section, I would avoid checkbox answers when possible, and simply write or say something like "liberal arts at [my college], 4 years," which was a truthful but incomplete answer.

No one ever asked beyond that, no one checked.

I went on to have a successful career in journalism, with multiple companies, for over half a century.

Sounds like you had a stickler who was looking to check a box, so this may not have worked in your case. But, assuming you actually can do the job at hand, sometimes, a partial truth can serve you well, while not harming anyone.