Higher Education Pays Off - Financial and Employment

It's almost summer. Another semester done, and, unless you're graduating (congratulations!), another one looms on the horizon. Perhaps you're scheduled for summer session classes and are tempted to drop them. Perhaps you're re-thinking the whole college thing altogether and are questioning whether it's worth it. Hang in there - attaining a college degree is very much worth it.

Here are some facts to encourage you straight from the National Center for Education Statistics (with some emphasis added by me):

In 2008, young adults with a bachelor's degree earned 28 percent more than young adults with an associate's degree, 53 percent more than young adult high school completers, and 96 percent more than young adults who did not earn a high school diploma. . .

In 2008, the median of the earnings of young adults with a bachelor's degree was $46,000, while the median was $36,000 for those with an associate's degree, $30,000 for those with a high school diploma or its equivalent, and $23,500 for those who did not earn a high school diploma or its equivalent.

The full scoop is available at http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2010/section2/indicator17.asp.

May 2010 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the employment status of the United States civilian population 25 years and over by educational attainment. Here are the national unemployment rates for non-seasonal employees:

13.6% of those with less than a high school diploma
10.3% of those with a high school diploma but no college
7.8% of those with some college or an associate's degree
4.7% of those with a bachelor's degree or higher

You can check out the full table at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm.

More information about other ways that higher education pays off is soon to come.

Hot Off the Press: Worst Paying College Degrees

Here's an article from HotJobs listing the top 10 worst paying college degrees. Keep in mind that the figures cited are for individuals holding bachelor's degrees with very little work experience.

10 Worst Paying College Degrees

If your dream career falls into one of these categories, don't despair. Completing graduate work in these fields will greatly improve your career outlook. Articles such as these can serve to drive students away from these fields in the short-term, thereby creating potential long-term shortages that will make the career more in demand and better compensated. Education is a classic example of this trend.