A College Degree; Your Ticket to $1,000,000

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average U.S. full time worker earns $676 a week. You will probably not be shocked to learn that the Department of Labor found a direct correlation between workers' educational level and their earning power. Workers who had failed to complete high school earned about $396 a week, nearly $300 less than the overall average. High school graduates who did not attend college earned $562 a week on average, and workers with at least a college undergraduate degree earned about $1,000 a week, $325 above the overall average.

And, employees with a graduate degree averaged about $1,150 a week, twenty percent more than those with an undergraduate degree only.

Several other surveys indicate that the Department of Labor reports understate the differences in income by educational level. In fact, it is often reported by reliable researchers that the lifetime earnings differential between high school and college graduates exceeds $1,000,000. And, most economic and labor experts believe that the earnings gap between high school and college graduates will grow significantly in future years.

A report by the Washington Research Council states that the new economy of the future will require "higher and higher levels of education" and that advanced education will become more and more important for those hoping to land the highest paying positions.

In addition, well educated workers will continue to be better protected against unemployment, overseas outsourcing, and increasing worldwide competition than their less educated colleagues. But, higher incomes and better job security are only two of the benefits of higher education.

What about career and job satisfaction? A study by Reardon, Lenz, Sampson, and Peterson in 2000 found that people spend approximately 86,000 hours of their lives working. That is the equivalent of about ten years...way too long to spend in a career and/or a series of jobs in which one is not happy. Of course, those with the most education and those willing to continue their education and career training while working are the most likely to qualify for a variety of jobs, win promotions and/or change careers, maximizing the chance that their job satisfaction will be higher than their less educated counterparts.

There seems to be no doubt that undergraduate and graduate degrees lead to significantly greater earnings, a wider range of employment opportunities, more frequent career advancement, and significantly increased job satisfaction. Because the value of higher education is increasingly valued by employees and employers alike, and because scholarships and financial aid are now more readily available than ever before to students in online education programs, the number of working adults enrolled in part time degree programs is at an all time high.

Whether earned online or on campus, in a part time program or a full time program, a college degree has never been worth more than it is today.

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Daniel Kane has served as a teacher, counselor, and university dean. Among his websites are one on the top ten online colleges, and another on online education and online degrees.