Key Points
- Bachelor’s degree holders earned a median of $81,800 in 2024 ($31,200 (62%) more than high school graduates) and took home $22,200 more in after-tax income, according to College Board’s Education Pays 2026 report.
- The typical four-year college graduate who enrolls at 18 and borrows to cover full tuition can expect to break even with high school peers by age 34.
- The benefits extend beyond earnings: bachelor’s degree holders have lower unemployment rates (2.6% vs. 4.3%), lower poverty rates (4% vs. 13%), and are more likely to have employer-provided health insurance and retirement plans.
College remains a strong financial investment, and the latest data from College Board makes that case with the most recent numbers available. The Education Pays 2026 report (PDF File), shows that workers with a bachelor’s degree continue to significantly out-earn their peers with only a high school diploma and that the gap shows no signs of closing.
In 2024, the median earnings of bachelor’s degree recipients age 25 and older working full time were $81,800, compared to $50,600 for high school graduates. That’s a $31,200 difference (62% more) every single year. After accounting for taxes, bachelor’s degree holders took home $22,200 more annually, a 56% premium in after-tax income.
The report comes at a time when public confidence in higher education has declined. A 2025 Gallup survey found that the cost of college is one of the top reasons Americans feel less confident about the value of a degree. But the data tells a more nuanced story: one where the financial returns still hold up, even after factoring in tuition, student loan debt, and years of forgone earnings.
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The College Earnings Premium Grows Over Time
The earnings advantage of a college degree isn’t just a "starting salary" story. According to the report, the gap between bachelor's degree holders and high school graduates widens substantially as workers move through their careers.
For full-time workers age 25 to 29, bachelor’s degree holders earned a median of $61,200 compared to $38,800 for high school graduates. By ages 55 to 59, those numbers were $93,900 and $51,900, respectively—a 53% increase for degree holders versus a 34% increase for those with only a diploma.
The premium is even steeper for workers with advanced degrees. In 2024, median earnings for workers with a professional degree reached $142,300, while those with a doctoral degree earned $125,000 and master’s degree holders earned $100,500.
Among mid-career workers age 35 to 44, 40% of those with a bachelor’s degree earned $100,000 or more, compared to just 13% of high school graduates. At the top end, 34% of advanced degree holders earned $150,000 or more.
Field of study matters too. Computer science and mechanical engineering majors led early-career earnings at $87,000 and $80,000, respectively, with mid-career earnings reaching $120,000. However, computer science is currently seeing strong headwinds and it will be interesting to see how this shakes out over the coming years.
Performing arts and elementary education majors fell at the other end of the spectrum, earning $44,000 and $45,000 early career and $75,000 and $55,000 at mid-career.
When Does College Pay For Itself?
One of the most practical questions for families weighing the cost of a degree: how long does it take to recoup the investment?
The report calculates that the typical four-year college graduate who enrolls at age 18, graduates in four years, and borrows to cover the full published price of tuition, fees, textbooks, and supplies can expect to earn enough (relative to a high school graduate who starts working at 18) to break even by age 34. That accounts for both the direct cost of college and the opportunity cost of four years out of the workforce.
"The average college graduate breaks even on their investment by age 34, even if they had to fully borrow the total cost of attendance."
For students who receive the average amount of grant aid and pay the net price, the break-even age drops to 30. For those attending public two-year institutions, the payoff arrives even sooner: associate degree recipients who pay published prices break even by age 33, and those paying net prices break even by age 31.
After that break-even point, the earnings advantage compounds every year. The longer college graduates remain in the workforce, the greater the total return on their investment.
College Graduates Face Lower Unemployment Rates
In 2025, the unemployment rate for workers age 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree was 2.6%, compared to 4.3% for high school graduates and 6.1% for those without a high school diploma. That gap has persisted consistently over the past two decades, widening during recessions and narrowing during recoveries but never disappearing.
Employment rates tell the same story. Among adults age 25 to 64, 84.1% of those with a bachelor’s degree or higher were employed in 2025, compared to 78.8% for associate degree holders, 74.7% for those with some college but no degree, and 70.3% for high school graduates.
The report does note one important caveat: about 34.4% of all college graduates in December 2025 were underemployed, meaning they worked in jobs that don’t typically require a college degree.
That rate has fluctuated between 30% and 35% since 1990, according to Federal Reserve Bank of New York data cited in the report. Still, even in those roles, degree holders tend to earn more than their non-degreed colleagues.
How This Impacts Your Finances
The financial benefits of a college degree ripple well beyond a paycheck. The report shows that degree holders are far less likely to live in poverty, less likely to rely on government assistance programs, and more likely to have access to employer-sponsored benefits that protect household finances over time.
In 2024, just 4% of adults age 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree lived in households in poverty, compared to 13% of high school graduates and 23% of those without a high school diploma. The gap is even more dramatic for single-parent households: 11% of those headed by bachelor’s degree holders lived in poverty versus 33% for households where the parent held only a high school diploma.
College graduates are also significantly less reliant on public assistance. Only 3% of bachelor’s degree holders lived in households that received SNAP benefits in 2024, compared to 14% of those with just a high school diploma and 25% of those without one. Medicaid participation followed the same pattern: 10% for degree holders versus 29% for high school graduates.
On health insurance, 66% of full-time bachelor’s degree holders had employer-provided coverage in 2024, compared to 51% of high school graduates.
For retirement plans, the pattern held: 45% of private-sector workers with a bachelor’s degree were offered a retirement plan, versus 37% for high school graduates. In the public sector, those figures jumped to 73% and 65%, respectively.
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Editor: Colin Graves
Robert Farrington is the founder of The College Investor and is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading voices on student loan debt and saving for college. He holds an MBA from UC San Diego Rady School of Management and has spent over 15 years researching, writing, and advising on student loans, 529 plans, financial aid programs, and saving and investing for young professionals.
Robert has been featured in the The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, NBC News, and Forbes, where he has been a regular personal finance contributor for over a decade. His work combines both professional expertise and personal experience – he successfully navigated his own student loan repayment journey and has helped thousands of readers do the same.
He is committed to making the intersection of personal finance and education transparent and accessible. You can learn more about Robert on the About Page or on his personal site RobertFarrington.com.