A recent article in the St. Louis Business Journal ("Earnings gap widens between college and high school-only grads") highlights again that those with a college degree earn more than their counterparts who have only a high school diploma – and the earnings gap is widening. What caught my attention were the 2011 figures for Missouri, a Joyce Ivy Foundation state:
In Missouri, those with a bachelor’s degree earned $43,487 in 2011, nearly 64 percent more than the median income for those with a high school diploma, $26,545. And those with a graduate or professional degree earned $54,914 in 2011, or 26 percent more than those with a bachelor’s degree.It's a good reminder that a college degree – and the experience of college – matters in all sorts of ways: engaging with different ideas and peers from a range of backgrounds, your health, career options, and long-term earnings. The College Board Education Pays 2010 report has a stark figure that also drives this point home (and breaks out earnings by gender, as well as education level):
Business Week article on the "true worth" of a college degree (and college major) along with how some states are sharing information about college graduates, their majors, and their earnings: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-12-20/calculating-a-college-degrees-true-value
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think?