Perhaps you are still contemplating if higher education is right for you?
Consider this. Three quarters of the fastest-growing occupations need postsecondary education and 67 percent of all job openings now require more than a high school diploma.1 We encourage you to reap the personal benefits of a college education. Among them include:
- A Bachelor’s degree is worth $2.8 million on average over a lifetime. 2
- The earnings of U.S. workers with only a high school diploma earn 34 percent less than those with a bachelor’s degree.
- College graduates not only earn more, they live longer.3
- College graduates are twice as likely to vote, do voluntary work and give blood.
- Workers without a college education are more likely to face unemployment.
- The unemployment rate of those with only a high school diploma is nearly twice that of those who have obtained a bachelor’s degree. 4
- There is no better safeguard against poverty than the attainment of a bachelor’s degree.5
- Divorce rates for college graduates are plummeting, but the divorce rate for high school grads is now twice as high as that of college graduates.
- High school grads are twice as likely to smoke as college graduates and much less likely to exercise.
A Four Year Degree Monetary Benefits
Education attainment remains the most obvious contributor to the development of our human and knowledge capital. There is a clear relationship between growth in degree attainment and the prosperity of a region or a state. When an area does not develop its human capital infrastructure it cannot grow or attract high-value industries. If industries can’t find the talent pool they need, they will seek other locations. States with a high attainment of bachelor’s degrees, have a higher per capita output in their economies and thus are more prosperous communities.6
So if you are a prospective student, check us out. If you an alum come see us or drop me a line (mhclause@crk.umn.edu) about what you’ve been up to.
We welcome our alums, friends and neighbors to come to campus and enjoy some of our exciting activities.
Go Golden Eagles!
Chancellor Mary
References
- (US Department of Education, 2020).
- (The College Payoff)
- Rivedal, 2019
- Brook, David. “The Education Gap,” New York Times, September 25, 2005
- Ibid.
- U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. “Per Capita GDP and educational attainment by state.”