A bachelor’s degree is associated with $1.2 million more in median lifetime earnings.
The most widely cited national comparison reports $2.8 million for bachelor’s degree holders versus $1.6 million for workers with a high school diploma. The goal is not simply to earn a degree. It is to earn one with a plan that protects more of its financial value.
Compare the research ↓+$1.2Mmedian difference
THE SAFEST TAKEAWAY
Education can increase earning power. The size of the advantage depends on how it is measured.
Credible studies generally put the additional lifetime earnings associated with a bachelor’s degree at roughly $800,000 to $1.2 million or more. Georgetown’s $1.2 million median difference is the clearest headline comparison.
The figures are not interchangeable. Studies use different years, dollar values, age ranges, discount rates, definitions of full-time work, and treatment of tuition and forgone wages.
See every figure in context.
Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce
$2.8M bachelor’s vs. $1.6M high school — a $1.2M difference and 75% higher median career earnings.Full-time, full-year workers ages 25–64; ACS 2009–2019.
Read the source ↗University of Washington summary of Georgetown’s 2011 report
$2.8M median lifetime income for bachelor’s holders, reported as 84% higher than high school graduates.An earlier edition of Georgetown’s College Payoff research.
Read the source ↗Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
More than $800,000 in additional lifetime earnings for the average college graduate by retirement age.Accounts for tuition and wages forgone during college; reported in 2011 dollars.
Read the source ↗Brookings / The Hamilton Project (2014)
$1.19M for the typical college graduate vs. $580,000 for the typical high school graduate.Present-value estimate using a different methodology from Georgetown.
Read the source ↗Brookings / The Hamilton Project update (2020)
$1.28M median career earnings for bachelor’s holders in 2018 dollars.Uses a 3% annual discount rate; results vary substantially by major.
Read the source ↗University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension
About $2.5M for a bachelor’s degree vs. $1.60M for high school in Wisconsin.A Wisconsin-specific analysis using Census data.
Read the source ↗PolitiFact review of the common ‘$1 million more’ claim
Found strong support for the conclusion that bachelor’s holders typically earn at least $1 million more over a lifetime.A fact-check synthesizing Georgetown and related research.
Read the source ↗Improve the return, not just the résumé.
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