While this viewpoint has its critics, the reality is the value of a degree has never been greater.
Despite public questions about a degree’s worth, the pay gap between college graduates and those without a degree reached a high in 2013.
According to new data, based on an analysis of Labor Department statistics by the Economic Policy Institute, Americans with four-year college degrees made 98 percent more an hour on average than those without a degree. And the wage gap is only increasing, up from 89 percent five years ago, 85 percent a decade earlier and 64 percent in the early 1980s.
College graduates are also more likely to be employed full time than their less-educated counterparts, and are less likely to be unemployed, at 4 percent versus 12 percent, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center.
Liberal arts graduates are not excluded from this reality. The vast majority with degrees in the humanities and social sciences are employed, and at salaries significantly higher than those having earned only a high school diploma.
Putting the cost of college in perspective, 30 percent of students are earning their degrees at institutions where tuitions range from $6,000 to $9,000 annually. At Indiana University Northwest, tuition and fees are at the lower end of this spectrum, furthering our commitment to the region’s students that a high-quality IU degree is accessible and affordable.
