Greetings,
In my further research I thought I would first touch more on incomes for college graduates over the years, as there is still more information to uncover here. The article, "Salary Trends Through Salary Survey: A historical Perspective On Starting Salaries For New College Graduates," by Andrea Koncz, shows figures on reported average starting salaries for various bachelors degrees dating back to the 1960's up until 2015. This article is really informative because it not only includes the salaries as time has moved on, but it also includes the adjusted value of those average salaries. This gives us a better idea of the value of the college degree over time for income purposes.
This article provides great insight on my overall question. The first figure shown in the article is a table representing the average starting salaries of various bachelor degree graduates reported every year since 1960 with their percentage change from year to year. And then it also shows the adjusted average starting salary since 1960 along with its percentage change from year to year in value compared to 2015's economic value accounting for inflation. Here is a video by The Guardian that explains inflation.
If you are looking from one year to the next it tends to fluctuate as there are stretches where income values increase and there are stretches where they decrease. Actual income amounts have a somewhat constant upward trend, however, only until recent years. The lowest value the degree had been was 1994 when it was valued at $44,560. The highest the value has been was 1969 when it was worth $59,169.
In 2015, the average starting salary was $50,219, this is the same as the value this year since all other values are based off of this year. It took a large fall from 2011 to 2012 when starting salaries actually dropped from $51,171 to $44,259 in just one year. The value of these salaries dropped from $53,166 to $45,102. They have been increasing every year since that fall, however, in 2015 neither the value nor the income had reached what they were in 2011. They also provide a graph that represents the change in value from 1960 to 2015.
Overall my reaction to this article is that it is proving that the value does not change too dramatically overtime but at times there have been large differences. It seems to be back on the upward trend as 2015 was reported. This tells us that even as inflation rises the bachelors degree is still remaining relevant in value for starting incomes, but it doesn't seem to be on an upward trend overall in value as education continues to progress. This also doesn't account for the amount paid to achieve these degrees.
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Hi Dillon,
ReplyDeleteI am excited again to read more on your finding on your blog topic. I love your examples of income in the past and how it fluctuated over the years. Back in the earlier times a lot of jobs that want degrees now never needed them back then. So it goes to show that we might be overpaying or I guess paying without a purpose to do a job these days that needed no training to now needing it I can see as a way we are over paying. I read a quote from the host of the show Dirty Jobs Mike Rowe "We're lending money we don't have to kids who can't pay it back to train them for jobs that no longer exists." I agree with this quote; it's true some jobs we had in the past we don't have anymore, but yet college still lends out money for these degrees knowing this. Also, jobs that don't need degrees. I believe the hype on everyone needs a college degree to succeed is not genuine, and students should not feel pressured to go to college just because they are told it is the only way they will secede. I love this topic your writing about, and I can't wait to see how it all comes together in your last post.
This post gives some real insight as to what degrees pay off comparative to the economy. I hear all too often that degrees aren't worth the money. Frankly, I'm starting to wonder the same thing. The numbers you have thrown out for starting salaries are about what I'm making right now and I'm about to get a raise. Though I have less room to move up in the company I work at, I also have no loans. I appreciate you pushing the topic of inflation as a major factor in the equation. Inflation is a natural part of the economy and as prices increase, wages increase and vise versa. The major question I have is: have the rates for college tuition, compared to a specific university's tuition rates historically, ever had a decrease due to a recession or economic downfall?
ReplyDeleteHey Dillon I think it is insane that salaries have almost dropped ten thousand dollars. That is good that they have been increasing since then. One of the questions that this lead me to wonder if the increase of minimum wage may have an effect on the dollar value? Overall I agree that value does not change a whole lot.
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