The value of a college degree has tripled since the 1980s: report

Despite falling wages and rising tuition costs, the value of a college degree is still unquestionably high, a new report shows. A college degree today is worth $272,692 in lifetime wages—more than three times its value in the 1980s ($80,000) and more than double its value in the 1970s ($120,000), researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found. But the Great Recession, which brought widespread underemployment and record-breaking student loan debt for college graduates, has greatly slowed that growth spurt. The value of a college degree has fallen 11 percent since 2007.

Despite what appears to be a set of alarming trends, the value of a bachelor’s degree for the average graduate has held near its all-time high …

Federal Reserve Bank of New York study

The biggest reason college is still valuable is the fact that wages and job prospects for high school graduates are so low. College graduates earn 21 percent to 60 percent more than people who didn’t make it past high school. A four-year college graduate earns about $64,500 on average out of school and a two-year degree-holder earns $50,000, while those with just a high school diploma earn $41,000. There’s one caveat, however—underemployment. An estimated 44 percent of people who graduated during the Great Recession are employed in jobs that don’t require a college degree.