Going to college may be expensive, but new research suggests that not going to college is expensive in an entirely different way.
According to the Associated Press, the Pew Research Center released data analysis that showed the earnings gap between people with a high school diploma and those with an undergraduate degree is the highest it has been in nearly 50 years.
People with only a high school diploma are earning an annual salary 62 percent lower than those with an undergraduate degree. In 1965, the latest year that data was available, that figure was 81 percent, a significantly closer gap.
"In today's knowledge-based economy, the only thing more expensive than getting a college education is not getting one," report co-author Paul Taylor, Pew's executive vice president told the AP. "Young adults see significant economic gains from getting a college degree regardless of the level of student debt they have taken on."
In a survey of college graduates aged 25 to 32, about nine of 10 said their bachelor's degree had paid or they at least expected it to in the near future. This would indicate that many graduates know the value of a degree despite college's rising tuition cost and increasing student loan debt.
The research also found that a college degree is leading to higher inflation-adjusted wages and that high school diplomas are worth less in income. The Pew researchers said that widening gap is a reflection of the earning's gap between the nation's rich and poor.
"Despite their higher levels of college completion, today's young adults overall are doing no better - and on many key indicators of economic well-being, they're doing worse - than older generations were doing when they were the same age that Millennials are now," Taylor said. "This is mainly because the economic penalties for not getting a college degree are so much stiffer now than in the past."
CLICK HERE to read the AP's full report.
CLICK HERE for the Pew report in full.
