WARNING!! Potentially misleading statistics ahead! Correlation ≠ Causality

Expected Full-Time Lifetime Earnings Relative to High School Graduates, by Education Level FIGURE 1.2 Page 12 Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2012, Table PINC-03; calculations by the authors.

Earnings of Top 10 Majors Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, 2011

Earnings of Bottom 10 Majors Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, 2011

Median Earnings for Social Science Majors Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, 2011

Estimated Cumulative Full-Time Earnings (in 2011 Dollars) Net of Loan Repayment for Tuition and Fees, by Education Level FIGURE 1.3 Page 13 SOURCES: U.S. Census Bureau, 2012, Table PINC-03; Baum and Ma, 2012; calculations by the authors.

Unemployment Rates Among Individuals Ages 25 and Older, by Education Level, 1992–2012 Figure 1.9A Page 19 SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013b.

Work Satisfaction Rates Among Employed Individuals Ages 30 to 45, by Education Level, 1972–2012 FIGURE 1.10B Page 21 Source: National Opinion Research Center, 2013.

Smoking Rates Among Individuals Ages 25 and Older, by Education Level, 1940–2012 FIGURE 1.16A Page 27 SOURCES: de Walque, 2004; National Center for Health Statistics, 2002–2013; calculations by the authors.

Age-Adjusted Percentage Distribution of Leisure-Time Aerobic Activity Levels Among Individuals Ages 25 and Older, by Education Level, 2011 FIGURE 1.17B Page 28 SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012, Table 29.

Understanding of Political Issues Among Individuals Ages 25 and Older, 2012 FIGURE 1.20A Page 31 SOURCE: National Opinion Research Center, 2013, 2012 Experiment Topic Module.

Percentage of Individuals Ages 25 and Older Who Volunteered and the Median Number of Hours Volunteered, by Education Level, 2012 FIGURE 1.20B Page 31 SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013c, Tables 1 and 2.

Postsecondary Enrollment Rates of Recent High School Graduates by Family Income, 1987 to 2012 FIGURE 2.1 Page 34 SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, 2013.

Percentage of High School Graduates Entering Four-Year Colleges, Graduating in STEM Fields, and Employed in STEM Fields FIGURE 2.10 B Page 43 SOURCE: Salzman, Kuehn, & Lowell, 2013, Figure A.