Compared to the average high school graduate, the earnings premiums were:
$495,000 over a lifetime for people who completed an associate’s degree;
$1 million for those who completed a bachelor’s degree; and
$1.7 million for those with a graduate degree.
For example, workers with a bachelor’s degree had median weekly earnings of $1,305 in 2020, compared with $781 for workers with a high school diploma. And the unemployment rate for bachelor’s-level workers was 5.5 percent, compared with 9.0 percent for those whose highest level of education was a high school diploma.
I’m not sure why the above comment was down voted so hard. This community should encourage insightful comments.
I do not consider the sentence, “Absolutely made up propaganda for those without the ability to verify the simplest of facts,” to be an example of brilliant insight; I suspect that the vote count would have been different if it had not been present.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 naw emojis are just triggering for the users here. Real good way to separate those who want to have a conversation and folks like you who are just concerned with toeing the line.
What’s your threshold of ‘in mass’? Because it was 1/9 recent college graduates working low wage jobs as of mid-2023.
In June 2023, about 11.2 percent of recent college graduates were working in low-wage jobs in the United States. This is a slight increase from June 2021, when 10.8 percent of recent college graduates were working low-wage jobs.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York classifies low-wage jobs as those that tend to pay around 25,000 U.S. dollars or less. Recent college graduates are defined as those aged 22 to 27 with a bachelor’s degree or higher and not enrolled in further study.
11% of recent graduates with degrees working low wage jobs feels like they’re actually working these roles en masse after all.
11% is certainly not nothing, but the vast majority are not working these jobs.
I’m not really sure how you can look at 11% and say “yes, they are working these jobs en masse”. A bit disingenuous.
Edit: Post OP and others continue to downvote - yet can’t counter.
I’m sorry college didn’t have the outcome you expected, it’s definitely no longer the golden ticket it once was. But to claim it isn’t a benefit at all, or indicate that most college grads are unable to use their degrees is at best misleading and at worst disinformation. There are a lot of variables, including the major you choose, and how much you spend to complete the degree.
Post OP and others continue to downvote - yet can’t counter.
Personally, I was turned off by you saying that the other commenter was being “A bit disingenuous.” just because you disagreed with them, despite the fact that I otherwise agree with your point.
This is dense. College degrees are still very profitable. They aren’t working in any of these roles in mass.
Absolutely made up propaganda for those without the ability to verify the simplest of facts.
I’m not sure why the above comment was down voted so hard. This community should encourage insightful comments.
It seems like overall college degrees are still a worthwhile financial investment on average.
If you disagree, dialogue.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2024/03/01/college-degrees-lead-to-142-trillion-gain-in-career-earnings-study-finds/
https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2021/data-on-display/education-pays.htm
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/18/median-return-on-investment-for-a-college-degree.html
I do not consider the sentence, “Absolutely made up propaganda for those without the ability to verify the simplest of facts,” to be an example of brilliant insight; I suspect that the vote count would have been different if it had not been present.
Averages and outdated statistics only tell some of the story… It’s not the boomer age anymore…
More pros and cons: https://www.lifehack.org/articles/work/5-reasons-whyyour-new-bachelors-degree-is-worthless.html
Realistically the situation keeps getting much worse, not better. Not just for students but also for faculty, et al.
Bad bot.
“Blah blah blah, I am just as bad at accepting facts as trump” - you
Removed by mod
I thought I was a bot? You’re the one insulting an trolling 🤷♂️.
Attacking a typo and calling me names because I pointed out a fact. Good Lord 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣.
Wow, nothing drives home “I’m not mad, you didn’t get to me!” quite like five emojis.
Anyways, this was fun, but since “toodles” didn’t get the point across, now I get to block you and retire from this exchange as king. Buh-bye! 🤙
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 naw emojis are just triggering for the users here. Real good way to separate those who want to have a conversation and folks like you who are just concerned with toeing the line.
Seems you’ve upset a lot of people without a college degree, or a lot of people doing nothing with their degree.
It’s a bummer people downvote facts when it hurts their feelings. Pretty much a page out of the conservative playbook.
What’s your threshold of ‘in mass’? Because it was 1/9 recent college graduates working low wage jobs as of mid-2023.
11% of recent graduates with degrees working low wage jobs feels like they’re actually working these roles en masse after all.
11% is certainly not nothing, but the vast majority are not working these jobs.
I’m not really sure how you can look at 11% and say “yes, they are working these jobs en masse”. A bit disingenuous.
Edit: Post OP and others continue to downvote - yet can’t counter. I’m sorry college didn’t have the outcome you expected, it’s definitely no longer the golden ticket it once was. But to claim it isn’t a benefit at all, or indicate that most college grads are unable to use their degrees is at best misleading and at worst disinformation. There are a lot of variables, including the major you choose, and how much you spend to complete the degree.
Personally, I was turned off by you saying that the other commenter was being “A bit disingenuous.” just because you disagreed with them, despite the fact that I otherwise agree with your point.
I stand by that. It is a bit disingenuous (purposefully or ignorantly) to call 11% “en masse”.