Study: Higher Education Improves Quality of Life for Recipients, Society
Source: College Board

Benefits to the Individual

The typical college graduate who enrolls at age 18 earns enough in the first 11 years to compensate for taking time out of the labor force and borrowing to pay the full tuition at a public four-year college, the study shows.

In addition to higher personal earnings, the study also reports that the availability of employer-sponsored health benefits and pension plans increases with every level of education completed. For example, almost 70 percent of full-time employees with at least a bachelor’s degree have access to pension plans while only 53 percent of high school graduates have that access. The percentage drops to 32 for employees who do not have a high school degree. Likewise, the level of participation in available pension plans increases as education levels increase.
Societal Benefits

College graduates are also more likely than others to engage in behaviors that improve their health. Additionally, society reaps significant rewards when a higher percentage of its residents have postsecondary education, the study shows. Higher rates of volunteering, voting and donating blood correspond to higher levels of education as do lower unemployment and poverty rates. Similarly, socially valuable behaviors, such as tolerance for the opinions of others, seem to increase with education. A more educated workforce also would lead to higher wages for all.

+ Education Pays 2007 (PDF; 556 KB)
+ Benefits to Society (PDF; 85 KB)
+ Financial Benefits to the Individual (PDF; 88 KB)
+ Benefits to Health and Parenting (PDF; 89 KB)

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 15th, 2007 at 2:54 pm and is filed under Education, Social and cultural issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.