Postsecondary education provides important benefits to the individual and to society. The following studies report on these benefits.

• Mark Kantrowitz, The Financial Value of a Higher Education, Journal of Student Financial Aid 37(1):18-27, NASFAA, July 2007.
  • A bachelor's degree is worth $1.2 million more in lifetime income than a high school diploma, a 27% return on investment.
  • A doctoral degree is worth $1.7 million in lifetime income than a bachelor's degree, and a professional degree (doctor, lawyer) $2.9 million more than a bachelor's degree.
  • A bachelor's degree yields $133,000 more in cumulative federal income tax revenue, a 14% return on investment for the federal government.
  • Replacing loans with grants in the financial aid packages of low income students (AGI < $50,000) would pay for itself if it yielded a 32% increase in the number of low income students graduating with bachelor's degrees. Under certain reasonable assumptions it would pay for itself if the increase were just 15%.

• Mark Schneider, How Much Is That Bachelor.s Degree Really Worth? The Million Dollar Misunderstanding, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, May 2009.
  • Adjusted return on investment analysis for different types of colleges, based on actual salary data ten years after graduation. Demonstrates significant added value from the most selective private non-profit colleges.

• Sandy Baum and Jennifer Ma, Education Pays: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society, College Board, 2007.

  (Press Release, Benefits to the Individual, Benefits to Society, Benefits to Health and Parenting)

  • 11 year payback period for the cost of a higher education
  • increased access to employer-paid health benefits and pension plans
  • improved health and healthier lifestyles (less likely to smoke, more likely to exercise)
  • increased volunteerism
  • increased voting rates
  • more likely to donate blood
  • lower unemployment
  • lower poverty
  • increased tolerance

• Albano JD, Ward E, Jemal A, Anderson R, Cokkinides VE, Murray T, et al., Cancer Mortality in the United States by Education Level and Race. J Natl Cancer Inst 99:1384-1394, September 2007.

  Cancer patients with a higher education are less likely to die of cancer than cancer patients with just a high school diploma. The study examined mortality rates for lung, breast, prostate and colorectal cancer for patients with 12 or fewer years of education compared with patients with more than 12 years of education.

• Measuring the Effects of Education on Health and Civic Engagement, OECD. (Proceedings)