College is costly but worth it. This is the main message of the 2017 triennial report "Education Pays: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society". Read on to find out more.

The College Board conducted and released the study. It gives people insights about the thin line between higher education and salary, health, and employment. The researchers conclude that college education is an investment that pays over the course of a lifetime.

Other findings from the report highlight the deep impact of a college degree. According to Payscale, the median earnings of full-time workers age 25 and older with bachelor's degrees were $24,600. This is 67 percent higher than those of high school graduates.

In 2015, the unemployment rate for 25 to 34-year-olds with at least a bachelor's degree was 2.6 percent. It was 8.1 percent for high school graduates in this age range. Meanwhile, only 4 percent of people with bachelor's degree over the age of 25 lived in poverty. High school graduates are 13 percent higher.

The same source added that two percent of full-time workers with no high school degree, between the ages of 35 and 44, earned $100,000 or more. Five percent of high school graduates in that age range earned that much. Twenty-five percent of bachelor's degree holders fell in this category.

Consequently, smoking rates were 8 percent for college graduates and 26 percent of high school grads in 2014. Thirty-nine percent of college graduates also said they have volunteered in 2015, whereas only 16 percent of high school graduates said they have done the same.

Unfortunately, college enrollment rates continue to vary by income. Two years ago, 82 percent of students from the highest income quintile immediately enrolled in college immediately after high school. Well, sixty-two percent of students from the middle-income quintile did the same. Lastly, just 58 percent of students from the lowest-income quintile enrolled in college.

Tags Higher education, College Education, College Degree, College Graduates