Paul Fedorchak: Financially, it's never been more important to go to college

To The Daily Sun,

Back on June 5, a letter writer stated, “The lifetime wage earnings differential of a degreed person over a high school graduate has never been less. The degreed wage advantage has shrunk like an ice cube on a hot stove.“

Interestingly, both of these statements, which imply the same thing, are completely wrong. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau & U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the wage earnings advantage of having a college degree vs. a high school diploma increased steadily between 1980 and 2000, and then leveled off and remained at the year 2000 high point until at least this time last year.

In other words, contrary to what the writer stated, the college vs. high school “differential” has never been higher. An article summarizing this point, accessible through the link below, provides a nice graph showing this annual wage difference “adjusted for inflation and demographic differences between the two groups” (college vs high school grads).

(https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2019/06/despite-rising-costs-college-is-still-a-good-investment.html)

Paul Fedorchak

Gilford