College Is (Still) Worth It

Every week I hear from recent college graduates who question the value of their higher educations. They are indebted, un- or underemployed, and horribly discouraged.

But they would most likely be much, much worse off if they hadn’t gone to college.

That’s partly because their opportunities as the economy recovers will expand exponentially. But even today, they are faring much better than their less educated brethren. According to Friday’s Labor Department report, the unemployment rate for college graduates was just 3.7 percent in January. That is less than half the rate for those with no more than a high school diploma (8.1 percent).

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.

AsI’ve noted before, the wage premium for those with a bachelor’s degree compared to those without one is also growing, particularly when you factor in the fact that college-educated people are more likely to be employed at any given time than less educated workers.

One troubling trend hidden in all of these numbers is that the unemployment rate for those with some college but no degree â€" 7 percent â€" is not that much lower than that for people with no college at all. Given very high dropout rates at the nation’s institutions of higher education, this means that a lot of people are racking up student loan debt without seeing the return that that investment was supposed to bring them.