Perhaps you are still contemplating if higher education is right for you?

Three students chatting outside Owen Hall


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

Female student walking with a smile outside Hill Hall

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

  1. (US Department of Education, 2020).
  2. (The College Payoff)
  3. Rivedal, 2019
  4. Brook, David. “The Education Gap,” New York Times, September 25, 2005
  5. Ibid.
  6. U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. “Per Capita GDP and educational attainment by state.”