A College Degree Is Worth Less If You Are Raised Poor
Benefits of Higher Education Differ by Socioeconomic Background
People with bachelor’s degrees tend to earn more over their lifetimes, but those who grew up poor typically benefit less from higher education, according to a brief from the Brookings Institution. A College Degree Is Worth Less If You Are Raised Poor finds that college graduates from low-income families earn about 90 percent more over their careers than high school graduates from low-income families, but that the boost is much higher – more than 160 percent – for college graduates from high-income families. These findings suggest that simply promoting post-secondary education for low-income Americans may not be enough to increase social mobility, according to the author.