Money Skills for Real Life: GearUP College

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Finishing High School

The College Payoff

How Much Education
Do I Need?

Obstacles:
This College Thing ...
Is it the Right Thing?

College Costs

Ways to Finance
Your Education

The College Payoff

The numbers tell it all. The more you learn, the more you earn. If you graduate from college, you can expect to earn $22,000 more per year than someone with just a high school diploma. And if you don’t graduate from high school, you can expect to earn $32,000 less per year than someone with a four-year college degree.

Keep in mind, though, it’s not just the diploma that matters. Other long-term training required for machinists and electricians also offer the same payoff as a college diploma.

If you keep on learning after high school, you will be far more qualified for job opportunities than if you don’t. Did you know that 85 percent of jobs require some level of education beyond high school?

Degree	Additional Annual Income by Earned Degrees
High school dropout, no degree
High school diploma	$9,724
Two-year college associate’s degree	$7,445
Four-year college bachelor’s degree	$15,173
Post-Master's degree (two to six years of additional coursework)	$15,505
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2005 Annual Social and Economic Supplement)

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