5 Ways Ed Pays How a college education can help you lead a better life

Video Click on the link below and view video the video on YouTube:

Reflection on video What information presented in the video was new to you or something you had not considered before? How does pursuing educational training beyond high school help individuals? Communities? Look at the following slides and discuss how further education pays off financially.

T-2-4 T= Technical training and certification Technical college (i.e. Texas State Technical College) Community College (i.e. Houston Community College) Military training 2= Two-year Associate Degree 4= Four-year Bachelor’s Degree College or university (i.e. University of Houston or Austin College) Education after high school gives you greater earning power. This education can be in the form of technical certification, a two-year associates degree, or a four year bachelor’s degree. Additionally, students who have earned a bachelor’s degree may decide to pursue additional schooling and earn a master’s degree, a doctorate degree or a professional degree, like becoming a doctor, lawyer, or pharmacist. Let’s look at the next slide to see the difference in the salaries for these different areas.

Median Earnings and Tax Payments of Full-Time Year-Round Workers Ages 25 and Older, by Education Level, 2008 Sources: The College Board, Education Pays 2010, Figure 1.1; U.S. Census Bureau, 2009; Internal Revenue Service, 2008; Davis et al., 2009; calculations by the authors. Education, Earnings, and Tax Payments The median earnings of bachelor’s degree recipients working full-time year- round in 2008 were $55,700, $21,900 more than the median earnings of high school graduates. About $5,900 of the additional $21,900 in earnings of four-year college graduates went to federal, state, and local governments in the form of higher tax payments. Median after-tax earnings were $16,000 higher for those with a bachelor’s degree than for those with only a high school diploma. Individuals with some college but no degree earned 17% more than high school graduates working full-time year-round. Their median after-tax earnings were 16% higher. The median total tax payments of full-time workers with a professional degree in 2008 were over three and a half times as high as the median tax payments of high school graduates working full-time. After-tax earnings were almost three times as high. Individuals with higher levels of education are more likely to have earnings and more likely to work full-time year-round. Including all adults or all working adults in this figure would increase the income differences associated with higher levels of education. Eighty percent of college graduates ages 25 or older had earnings in 2008 and 60% worked full-time year-round. Sixty-three percent of high school graduates ages 25 or older had earnings, and 44% worked full-time year- round.

Expected Lifetime Earnings Relative to High School Graduates, by Education Level Sources: The College Board, Education Pays 2010, Figure 1.2; U.S. Census Bureau, 2009; calculations by the authors. Lifetime Earnings The calculations in this figure are based on earnings of individuals working full-time year-round. Because the proportion of adults working full-time year- round increases with education level (for example, 67% of college graduates and 55% of high school graduates between the ages of 45 and 54 worked full- time in 2008), the lifetime earnings differentials would be larger if all adults — or all adult workers — were included in these calculations. Higher earnings correspond to higher tax payments. If after-tax earnings were used in this calculation, the ratio of lifetime earnings for individuals with more than a high school diploma to lifetime earnings for high school graduates would decline slightly.

Unemployment Rates Among Individuals Ages 25 and Older, by Education Level, 1992–2009 Sources: The College Board, Education Pays 2010, Figure 1.10a; Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010d. Unemployment In 2009, with an average annual unemployment rate of 7.9% for individuals ages 25 and older, unemployment had risen sharply for all levels of educational attainment. The 4.6% unemployment rate for those with at least a four-year college degree was 5.1 percentage points lower than the 9.7% unemployment rate for high school graduates. In 1999 and 2000, with low overall unemployment rates of 4.0% and 4.2%, respectively, the gap between the unemployment rates for college graduates and high school graduates was 1.7 percentage points. From 1992 through 2009, the annual unemployment rate for individuals with some college but less than a four-year degree was between 0.7 and 1.7 percentage points lower than the unemployment rate for high school graduates.

T-2-4 Name the different types of educational training available to high school graduates. Given the advantages of pursuing education after high school, why do you think many people choose not to do so? What additional help or information do you need to formulate your educational plans after high school?