Income by education level

Educational attainment is strongly correlated with income in the United States. Although the incomes of both men and women are associated with higher educational attainment (higher incomes for higher educational attainment), large income gaps linked to race and gender remained at each educational level. In 2003, average incomes ranged from $13,459 for a male high-school dropout to $90,761 for a male with an advanced degree. The most significant average income difference was between those who had some college education or an associate degree and those who had a Bachelor's degree. While those with some college averaged $31,046, those with a bachelor's degree averaged $51,194, over $20,000 (64.9%) a year more.

The second most dramatic difference in average income was between those with a Bachelor's degree with $51,940 and those with an advanced degree who made $72,824, roughly $21,000 (42.2%) more. The least significant difference was between those who had graduated from high school and those who had either some college or an associate degree. Here the difference was a mere $3,766 or 13.8%. The difference between those with a high school diploma ($30,000) and those who did not complete high school ($18,826) was $8,454 or 45%.
Overall, the income in the United States for all sexes, races and levels of educational attainment was $36,308 annually.

Even though African immigrants are claimed to have higher educational attainment rates than any other group, they were the hardest hit during the most recent recession beginning in 2007. This shows that race and/or ethnicity may play a role in income levels and job selection.

**SOURCE: US Census Bureau, 2003**

The change in median personal and household income since 1991 also varied greatly with educational attainment. While both the overall median personal and household income increased since 1991, this increase did not take place on all levels of educational attainment. The overall income increased over the course of the 1990s, reaching its high in 1999, but has been decreasing ever since. In 1991 the median household income in the US was $40,873 in 2003 dollars, while the median household income in 2003 was $45,016. In 1999, however, the median household income was $46,236, 2.7% higher than today. While this trend held true for all levels of educational attainment the extent of chorinical fluctuations in income were greatly influenced by educational attainment.

Overall, the median household and personal income decreased for those with more than a 9th grade education but less than a four-year college degree since 1991. In other words, the median household income decreased for households and individuals at the high school drop-outs and graduate, some-college, and an associate degree level. Income did, however, increase for those with a Bachelor's degree or more. The following table shows the median household income according to the educational attainment of the householder. All data is in 2003 dollars and only applies to householders whose householder is aged twenty-five or older. The highest and lowest points of the median household income are presented in bold face.

**SOURCE: US Census Bureau, 2003** Yellow indicates the year with the lowest median income while green indicates the year with the highest reported median income.

Among the races, educational attainment retains its dramatic effect on average income which varies significantly at each educational level. European Americans (White Americans) had the highest average income at every level of educational attainment. However, the proportion of those having college degrees is greater among Asian Americans than among non-Hispanic whites, and the overall highest average income is found among Asians. All races except Whites ranked last on at least one level with African Americans ranking last on the non-high school, high school and advanced degree level.

Asians were second highest on the college graduate level and had the highest overall income among the general population. They also had the lowest average annual income for those with some college education or an associate degree. Racial income difference were also significant at every level of educational attainment with the largest racial inequality being between European and African Americans who did not complete high school and those with advanced college degrees.

Overall, European Americans with an advanced degree had the highest average annual income with $74,122. Asian Americans had the second highest with $72,852. Hispanics and African Americans had the lowest annual incomes among those with advanced degrees averaging $67,679 and $59,944 annually. The largest racial inequity was between European Americans with a Bachelor's degree who made $53,185 and Hispanics who made $12,263 or 29.9% less with an average annual income of $40,949. However, Asian Americans as a whole earn more than any other race due to a greater percentage of them being educated overall, an example of Simpson's paradox.

## Occupation

The educational attainment varied significantly among the different types of occupations. The highest occupational attainment was among those in the Professional and related fields followed by those Business, Management and financial related occupations. The professional/managerial fields were the only two occupational fields where college graduates with a Bachelor's degree or higher represented the majority. Among professional occupations, 99.1% of the population graduated from high school, 90.2% had some college education or an associate degree and over two thirds, 68.2% had a Bachelor's degree or higher.

Business and managerial occupations were second with 97.8% having graduated from high school, 79.5% having some college or an associate degree and just over half, 53.4% having a Bachelor's degree or higher. While nearly all employment fields feature a population where over 80% had graduated from high school with over a third having some college education or an Associate degree, the fields relating to agriculture, construction, manufacturing, and transportation did not. These, often described as blue collar, fields featured a labor force where less than a tenth of the population had a Bachelor's degree or higher, less than half had some college or an Associates, and less than 80% had graduated from high school.

Overall, the least educated occupational field was agriculture, ranking last on all educational levels. Here 55.4% had graduated from high school, roughly one fifth (20.8%) had some college education or an associate degree and 6.8% had a Bachelor's degree or higher. While the largest occupational field, that consisting of professionals and relating occupations was also the largest field, the fields with lower educational attainment combined were larger than the professional and managerial fields combined. Overall, 38.02% were employed in the professional and managerial fields while 61.89% were employed in the other white and blue collar fields were those with a bachelor's degree or higher constituted less than a third of the work force.

## Financial value of degrees

From Wikipedia:Issues in higher education in the United States
In 2019, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis published research (using data from the 2016 *Survey of Consumer Finances*) demonstrating that large and increasing income and wealth premiums for families with heads of household with post-secondary education as compared with those without in aggregate data are misleading. After controlling for race and age cohort, the income premium for families with heads of household with post-secondary education has remained positive but has declined to historic lows for families with heads of household born since 1980 (with more pronounced downward trajectories with heads of household with post-graduate degrees), while wealth premiums for the 1980s cohort has weakened to the point of statistical insignificance (in part because of the rising cost of college). Research from the center-left think tank Third Way claims that, in 2018, more than half of institutions left the majority of their students earning less than $28,000—the typical salary of a high school graduate.

Other research shows that selection of a four-year college as compared to a two-year junior college, even by marginal students such as those with a C+ grade average in high school and SAT scores in the mid-800s, increases the probability of graduation and confers substantial economic and social benefits for most undergraduates. However, the admission of so many marginal students does impact graduation rates, partly due to the need for these students to take noncredit remedial courses in English, reading, math or science.

In The Case Against Education, economist Bryan Caplan notes that the bulk of what students learn is quickly forgotten after final examinations. It merely serves the purpose of signalling to employers that a graduate is probably brilliant, diligent, and willing to tolerate serious boredom. To remedy this situation, he proposes a massive shift in emphasis from academic degrees to vocational training. Public spending on university education should be eliminated so that underemployment-prone degrees will become less attractive to students of average ability. The vast public funds thus saved could then be redirected to other purposes.

Some fields of study produce many more graduates than the professions can take in. Due to the resulting higher education bubble, these graduates often have to consider jobs for which they are overqualified, or that have no academic requirements. Employers have responded to the oversupply of graduates by raising the academic requirements of many occupations higher than is really necessary to perform the work.

Failure to acquire degree-relevant employment soon after graduation often has a long-term impact on one's career, particularly for women and those with non-STEM degrees. Students can reduce the risk of underemployment by thorough evaluation of the employment prospects of each major, by taking full advantage of work experience programs, by choosing a high-demand specialization within a profession, and by acquiring broadly desirable skills. In addition to those that are specific to a particular profession, employers in any profession are looking for evidence of critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills, teamworking skills, information literacy, ethical judgment, decision-making skills, fluency in speaking and writing English, problem solving skills, and a wide knowledge of liberal arts and sciences.

People with higher education have always tended to have higher salaries and less unemployment than people with less education. However, the type of degree has a large impact on future earnings. Average annual earnings range from $27,000 for high school dropouts to $80,000 for those with a graduate degree. Undergraduate earnings range from $46,000 in education to $85,000 in architecture and engineering. Graduate earnings for those same majors are $61,000 and $107,000 respectively. It must be kept in mind, however, that these figures are only averages. There is a significant amount of overlap in the earning power of different levels of education, and the different fields of study.

Although vocational education is usually less financially lucrative in the long term than a bachelor's degree, it can still provide a respectable income at much less cost in time and money, sometimes with the option of upgrading to a bachelor's degree at a later date. Even ten years after graduation, there are many people with a certificate or associate degree who earn more money than those with a B.A.

It can also benefit university graduates, since some four-year schools fail to prepare their graduates for the kinds of jobs that are available in their surrounding regions. One in twelve community college students already possess a bachelor's degree.

Gainful employment is a concept that ties college attainment with improved job opportunities. In 2010, the Obama Administration began enacting gainful employment policies that required career colleges to maintain transparency and accountability about their effectiveness, and tied federal Title IV funding with gainful employment performance. Under Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, these policies have been unraveled, partly because they did not apply to non-profit and public colleges.
They have been replaced by the Department of Education's College Scorecard, which enables students to see the socio-economic diversity, SAT/ACT scores, graduation rates, and average earnings and debt of graduates at all colleges.

PayScale's analysis of schools and return on investment shows that a number of schools have a negative ROI. PayScale also offers analysis of College ROI by career path.

In 2018, the Urban Institute published a report on college ROI, noting that "Although higher education pays off for many, the exact returns for an individual are highly uncertain and evolve over time." The report added that factors include "the cost of higher education after grants; the length of time in school and the likelihood of certificate or degree completion; the earnings returns from a given level of degree, major, or institution; the student's demographic background; and local economic conditions."

### College majors sorted by employment rates, wages and graduate degrees

Below is a table of college majors which can be sorted by various criteria. The data are from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the United States Census Bureau, and the American Community Survey. Note: The unemployment and underemployment rates are for recent college graduates (less than 28 years of age). National unemployment and underemployment rates come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. National percentage of graduate school completion is from the American Community Survey.