The income gap between grads and non-grads is the widest it has been in half a century
University tuition may be rising steeply, but so is the cost of not getting a college degree.
A new study on higher education in the United States finds that the economic gap between millennials with and without college degrees is the widest it has been in almost 50 years, and that the college educated are doing better on virtually every economic measure.
Among the key findings are that people aged 25-32 with a bachelor’s degree or more have a median annual income of $45,000 and lower unemployment (3.8%), while high school graduates only make $28,000 and 12.2% of them are unemployed. The study also showed that just 5.8% college graduates lived in poverty compared to 21.8% of their lesser-educated peers.
It’s not all about numbers, either: Young people with college degrees are also more likely to be married, less likely to live at their parents’ home and more likely to be satisfied with their jobs, the study finds.