The Rising Cost of Not Going to College

A recent study from the Pew Research Center found that on virtually every measure of economic well-being and career attainment, from personal earnings to job satisfaction, young college graduates are outperforming their peers with less education. Moreover, the findings show that when today’s young adults are compared with previous generations, the disparity in economic outcomes between college graduates and those with a high school diploma or less formal schooling has never been greater in the modern era.

Millennial college graduates aged between 25 and 32 who are working full time earn about $17,500 more annually than their peers who only hold a high-school diploma. This pay gap was significantly smaller in previous generations.