June 27, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Education pays

In 2000, college graduates age 25 and over earned nearly $400 more per week (at the median) than workers who stopped with a high school diploma.

[Chart data—TXT]

The median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers age 25 and over who are college graduates were $896 in 2000, compared with $506 for high school graduates with no college.

College graduates have experienced growth in real (inflation-adjusted) earnings since 1979. In contrast, the real earnings of workers who dropped out of high school have declined.

Data on weekly earnings by education are from the Current Population Survey. The figures for college graduates refer to all college graduates age 25 and over, including those with advanced degrees. Find out more in Working in the 21^st Century, (Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 2001).

 

Related TED article:

• College grads have biggest wage increase in 1999