This is the seventh of a series of blogs on education. The first six are:
1. The USA Was The Greatest Nation On This Planet -- Was http://newyork.storeboard.com/blogs/education/the-usa-was-the-greatest-nation-on-this-planet--was/190391
2. Mexico Cares More About College Education Than The USA http://newyork.storeboard.com/blogs/education/mexico-cares-more-about-college-education-than-the-usa/190910
3. Oregon Has A Solution For Student Debt Crisis http://newyork.storeboard.com/blogs/education/oregon-has-a-solution-for-student-debt-crisis/191306
4. Are Men Just Stupid? http://newyork.storeboard.com/blogs/education/are-men-just-stupid/191722
5. College Is Now Mostly For Kids With Rich Daddies http://newyork.storeboard.com/blogs/education/college-education-is-now-for-kids-with-rich-daddies/192096
6. Want A Job After College? http://www.storeboard.com/blogs/education/want-a-job-after-college/192376
Blog No. 7: Median Salaries By Degree Type
You’re 24 years old. For the past six years, you’ve earned enough money to go to sports events with friends regularly.
Six years ago, you thought ‘this is a great life.’ You hated high school so much that you thought ‘I’ll never go to school again after I graduate.’ Six years ago, you enjoyed work. Now, though, you’re frustrated. Periodically, you get a raise, but friends who went to college now earn much more money than you. You also need more money because you recently got married.
This isn't the life you envisioned six years ago. You need a change that will improve the rest of your life significantly. The change could be going to school.
“Education is a good way to develop skills -- and it may lead to better employment prospects and higher earnings,” concludes “Job outlook by education, 2006-16,” a 2008 Occupational Outlook Quarterly article written by two Bureau of Labor Statistics economists. “Every additional level of education completed leads to increased earnings and lower rates of unemployment.”
Higher-Level Degrees Means More Money
Six years ago, you didn't have the maturity to sacrifice short-term pleasure for long-term financial gain.
You do now – and your incentive to make sacrifices might increase after you scrutinize “Earnings and unemployment rates by educational attainment,” a Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) chart.
The chart says that the median annual salary for a high school graduate in 2012 was $33,904. Americans who attend college but don’t earn a degree earn $37,804 annually. The increase is partly attributable to the jobs skills that people learn even when they don’t earn a degree.
Associate’s degree graduates have a median annual salary of $40,820, while bachelor’s, master’s and professional degree graduates earn $55,432, $67,600, and $90,220, respectively.
In addition, the BLS reports that the unemployment rate for people who are at least 25 years old was 8.3 percent for high school graduates, 4.5 percent for bachelor’s degree graduates, 3.5 percent for master’s degree graduates, and 2.1 percent for professional degree graduates.
Occupations Matter
The Occupational Outlook Quarterly report lists which occupations have “high earnings premiums” and “low earnings premiums” when you earn an associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degree.
The best occupations for high school graduates who earn an associate’s degree include molders, plumbers, auto mechanics, butchers and carpenters (Table 23). Plumbers earned a median salary of $37,927 in 2006 if high school graduation was their highest educational attainment, but $45,005 if they went to college for up to two years.
A bachelor’s degree helped property and real estate managers. Their median salary in 2006 was $33,968 when they graduated high school and $61,963 when they graduated college (Table 16). Managers of non-retail sales workers and insurance sales agents also benefited tremendously from college, while postal service clerks, tellers and data entry keyers benefited the least (Table 17).
A master’s degree helped financial analysts, tax preparers and financial managers the most (Table 9) and editors, writers and architects the least (Table 10). Financial analysts earned a median salary of $74,760 if they earned a bachelor’s degree and $109,983 if they earned a master’s degree.
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