That means that directing high school students into liberal arts majors with promises of big bucks in their future is a lie-and subsidizing that lie with government dollars doesn't make it any less of a lie. Who earns the least? Majors in family and consumer science drama and theater arts elementary education theology visual and performing arts teacher education social work studio arts human services and community organization and early childhood education. According to the Census Bureau and the American Community Survey, the following majors earn most among graduates: petroleum engineering pharmaceutical science and administration metallurgical engineering mining and mineral engineering chemical engineering electrical engineering aerospace engineering mechanical engineering computer engineering and geological and geophysical engineering. As Cass points out, "the bottom half of the earnings distribution for college grads-not just enrollees, but graduates-sits lower than the top half of the earnings distribution for those with only a high school education." In other words, higher-earning high school graduates do better than lower-earning college graduates.Īnd major matters. Oren Cass of the Manhattan Institute points out that "The vast majority of community college enrollees drop out…fewer than 60 percent of students complete degrees within even six years at the schools where they first enroll."įurthermore, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, four in ten recent graduates work non-degree-requiring jobs. Yes, college educated people out-earn non-college educated people-but that's because they're different people with different levels of intelligence in many cases. There is little evidence to suggest that a college degree alone is likely to raise a given person's income. The cure for economic inequality lies in greater educational opportunity. Paying for college, the theory goes, will alleviate the burden of attending college for lower-income students, thereby opening job prospects and new economic vistas. One of the key platforms for Democratic contenders this year has become free college tuition.
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