March 28, 2024
What’s the value of a college degree?
SAN FRANCISCO – (INT) - The value of a college education has risen to its highest point in decades, but too few Californians are earning degrees, according to a report by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC).

Between 1990 and 2016, median earnings increased by 18 percent for Californians with at least a bachelor’s degree while dropping by 15 percent for those with only a high school diploma. The typical full-time, year-round worker with at least a bachelor’s degree earned $80,000 in 2016, compared to $36,000 for the worker with just a high school diploma.

The report examines the connection between higher education and economic mobility in the state. It looks at the wage premium associated with a college degree: the ratio of average annual earnings for workers with at least a bachelor’s degree compared to those with no more than a high school diploma. The wage premium has grown even as the share of college graduates in the workforce has increased—an indication that the demand for college graduates has outpaced the growing supply.

Among the key findings:

• The benefits of a college degree extend beyond wages. College-educated workers are more likely to be employed and more likely to have jobs that provide non-wage compensation such as paid vacation leave, employer-provided health insurance, and retirement plans.

• Graduate education confers additional gains, while career education gains fall short. The wage premium for a graduate degree has increased more rapidly than that for a bachelor’s degree. Postsecondary career education brings wage gains that tend to be smaller than those conferred by a bachelor’s degree.

• More students are eligible for college, but equity gaps persist. Low-income Latino and African American students who would be the first generation in their families to attend college—a majority of the state’s public high school population—are less likely than their peers to get a diploma, enroll in college, and graduate. Among young adults born in the state, 60 percent of Asian Americans and 40 percent of whites have at least a bachelor’s degree, compared to 21 percent of African Americans and 18 percent of Latinos.

“A college degree is the ticket to a good job and upward mobility in California,” said Hans Johnson, report coauthor and director of the PPIC Higher Education Center.
Story Date: December 17, 2018
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