James D. Robb is Associate Dean for External Affairs and Senior Counsel at Cooley Law School.
The College Board has just released a study demonstrating the positive effects of higher education. In its study called Education Pays 2013 – The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society written by Sandy Baum, Jennifer Ma, and Kathleen Payea, the College Board cites a vast amount of data to conclude that a college education pays dividends, and a professional degree tops the charts.
- Individuals with higher levels of education earn more and are more likely than others to be employed.
- The financial return associated with college credentials and the gaps in earnings by education level have increased over time.
- Federal, state, and local governments enjoy increased tax revenues from college graduates and spend less on income support programs for them, providing a direct financial return on investments in postsecondary education.
- College-educated adults are more likely than others to receive health insurance and pension benefits from their employers.
- Adults with higher levels of education are more active citizens than others.
- College education leads to healthier lifestyles, reducing health care costs.
- College-educated mothers spend more time with children and alter the composition of that time to suit children’s developmental needs more than less educated mothers.
- College education increases the chances that adults will move up the socioeconomic ladder.
- Substantial evidence indicates that the associations described above are the result of increased educational attainment, not just of individual characteristics.
These conclusions are consistent with those I highlighted in a prior post, The Economic Value of a Law Degree. The malicious scam bloggers and the ill-informed naysayers who bash legal education, and indeed higher education, continue to lose out. The present time continues to be a great time to enter to law school.
