Dive Brief:
- According to a new study of Maine college graduates, a bachelor’s degree will boost an individual’s lifetime earnings by 75%.
- A high school graduate can expect to earn $545,360 over a lifetime, but that figure jumps to $953,937 for college grads, according to the Maine Development Foundation report, "The Fiscal Return on Higher Education in Maine." For individuals with graduate degrees, the expected lifetime earnings figure is $1.3 million.
- In spite of the economic benefits of college education, a five-year forecast of state funding sees state appropriations for higher education declining every year for ultimately more than a decade, Mainebiz reports.
Dive Insight:
The author of the study, Phil Trostel, a professor of economics at the University of Maine, says he did the study to refute a common misperception: that young adults can’t stay in Maine because the state has no good jobs for college graduates, according to Mainebiz. The study shows that college degrees also decrease the burden of an individual on state public services. Adding up the costs for corrections, unemployment, public assistance, worker's compensation, Medicaid, and uncompensated care, a person without a high school degree will need $82,021 in public spending, compared to $7,862 for a person with a graduate degree. And degrees make a difference for state and local taxes paid: An individual with less than a high school education will pay $67,081 in local property taxes and state income and sales taxes, while the taxes paid by an individual with a graduate degree is $178,687.
