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3 Oct 2013
Report

What’s the Value of an Associate’s Degree? The Return on Investment for Graduates and Taxpayers

Mark Schneider
Jorge Klor de Alva, Nexus Research and Policy Center

Given the high cost of earning a degree—and, frequently, accompanying debt burden that goes with it—students, parents, policymakers, and the media are questioning higher education's value. The report's authors look at the labor market success of students with an associate’s degree from a community college as their highest academic credential. These grads earn more income and are less likely to be unemployed than high school students.

The authors explored these questions:

  • Do graduates who earn an associate’s degree and find jobs experience returns, such as higher wages, that justify the costs they incurred obtaining that degree?
  • Do taxpayers receive a positive return on their investment in the production of associate’s degrees?

 

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Related Work

3 Oct 2013
News Release

Value_of_Associates_Degree.jpg

Return on Investment for Associate's Degrees Can Be High for Graduates and Benefit Taxpayers, New Study Shows

A national review of community colleges and their graduates’ financial return on investment finds that California and Texas have the most institutions with graduates in the top tier of wage earners. Thirty states have some community colleges whose graduates’ median net lifetime earnings trail those of the state’s high school graduates.

Further Reading

  • Higher Pay for Technical Associate's vs. Bachelor's Degree Graduates
  • Return on Investment for Associate's Degrees Can Be High for Graduates and Benefit Taxpayers, New Study Shows
  • Labor Market Experiences After Postsecondary Education: Earnings and Other Outcomes of Florida’s Postsecondary Graduates and Completers
  • The Value of Sub-baccalaureate Credentials
  • Earnings of Recent College Graduates
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Postsecondary Education

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