News and Information
Advanced Degrees Result in Advanced Value
March 10, 2014
A new pair of studies show the value of earning advanced degrees:
Reports were released this week by the Pew Research Center and the Urban Institute with impressive data on the earnings premium enjoyed by workers whose highest educational attainment was an advanced degree.
Despite the stereotype that today’s recent college graduates are largely underemployed, Pew Research finds that Millennial college graduates earn more than the generation that came before them. The median monthly earnings of young adults with bachelor’s degrees rose 13% from 1984 to 2009. For young adults with a master’s degree, the increase over this period was 23% and for those with a doctorate/professional degree, 34%.
Similarly, Urban Institute’s analysis showed that the earnings premium for graduate degrees is sizable and growing. In 2002, average earnings for full-time workers ages 35-44 with master’s degrees were 8% higher than those for similar workers whose highest degree was a bachelor’s. By 2012, that difference was 21%.