2026教育回报：高等教育对个人和社会的益处
THE BENEFITS OF HIGHER EDUCATIONFOR INDIVIDUALS AND SOCIETY Contact Information for the Authors trends@collegeboard.org Tables, graphs, and data in this report or excerpts thereof may be reproduced or cited, for noncommercialpurposes only, provided that the following attribution is included: Source: Pender, Matea, Jennifer Ma, Xiaowen Hu, and Ashley Edwards (2026).Education Pays 2026, New York:College Board. © 2026 College Board. www.collegeboard.orgresearch.collegeboard.org/trends ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank Dean Bentley, Jessica Bernier, Jessica Howell, and Michael Hurwitz for their thoughtful reviews. We alsothank the cooperation and support of many colleagues at College Board, including Connie Betterton, Mark Bloniarz, Education Pays2026 THE BENEFITS OF HIGHER EDUCATION FOR INDIVIDUALS AND SOCIETY Highlights As in previous editions,Education Pays 2026: The Benefits of HigherEducation for Individuals and Societydocuments differences in theearnings and employment patterns of U.S. adults with different levelsof education. It also compares health-related behaviors, reliance on share of American Indian/Alaska Native adults in the same agegroup with a bachelor’s degree was consistently less than 20%.(Figure 1.7A) Between 1984 and 2024, the gaps in the shares of adults age25 to 29 with a bachelor’s degree increased from 12 to 16percentage points between Black and White adults and increased In addition to reporting median earnings by education level, thisyear’s report presents data on variation in earnings by differentcharacteristics such as gender, race/ethnicity, occupation, collegemajor, sector, and state.Education Pays 2026also examines the In 2021-22, about 1 million certificates, 1 million associatedegrees, 2 million bachelor’s degrees, 880,300 master’s and203,900 doctoral degrees were conferred by postsecondary Among first-time full-time four-year college students who startedcollege in fall 2016, 65% had received a bachelor’s degree withinsix years, 12% had transferred out, and 2% were still enrolled in We present correlations between various outcomes and educationalattainment. It is worth noting that not all of the observed differencesin outcomes are attributable to education. However, reliablestatistical analyses support the significant role of postsecondary Among four-year college students within the same SAT quartile,those who came from neighborhoods with higher median family PARTICIPATION AND SUCCESS Educational attainment differs considerably across states. Although college enrollment rates have risen over time, gapsin enrollment rates persist across demographic groups. In 2022, the percentage of adults age 25 and older with atleast a bachelor’s degree ranged from 24% in West Virginia,25% in Mississippi and Arkansas to 46% in Colorado, 47% in In 2022, 58% of Hispanic and 59% of Black recent high schoolgraduates enrolled in college within one year of high schoolgraduation, compared with 64% of White and 81% of Asianstudents. Between 1982 and 2002, immediate college enrollmentrates increased by more than 10 percentage points for Black and Between 2000 and 2022, the increases in the share of adults25 and older with at least a bachelor’s degree ranged from 7percentage points in Alaska and New Mexico to 15 percentage THE BENEFITS OF HIGHER EDUCATION In 2022, female high school graduates enrolled in college withinone year of high school graduation at about the same rate asin 2002 (67% in 2022 vs. 66% in 2002), while male high school Individuals with higher levels of education earn more, paymore taxes, and are more likely than others to be employed. In 2024, median earnings of bachelor’s degree recipients age25 and older with no advanced degree working full time were$31,200 (62%) higher than those of high school graduates.Bachelor’s degree recipients paid an estimated $9,000 (82%) Within each SAT quartile, college enrollment rates are higher forstudents from neighborhoods with higher median family income While overall educational attainment has increasedover time, college persistence and attainment patternsdiffer considerably across demographic groups. The typical four-year college graduate who enrolls at age 18 andgraduates in four years can expect to earn enough relative to ahigh school graduate by age 34 to compensate for being out ofthe labor force for four years and for borrowing the full tuition and Between 1984 and 2024, the share of adults age 25 to 29 whoheld a bachelor’s degree more than doubled for Black individuals(from 12% to 30%) and for Hispanic individuals (from 10% to In 2024, among full-time year-round workers age 25 to 34,median earnings of female workers with at least a bachelor’sdegree were $71,360, compared with $39,770 for those with a Between 2004 and 2024, the share of Asian adults age 25 to 29with a bachelor’s degree increased from 60% to 73%, while the in mid-career, median earnings ranged from $55,000 forelementary education majors t
