Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 18, 1995 TAG: 9506220002
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CAROL KLEIMAN CHICAGO TRIBUNE
DATELINE: CHICAGO LENGTH: Medium
After all, no one wants to plunk down money to get a degree only to find it makes no difference in their paychecks.
Other speculation is that college graduates are filling jobs that require only a high school education because they can't get work in their specialties.
``Of course I believe that a college education is essential,'' a manager said, ``but then again, I know so many college grads who, even though they are physically able to do so, can't even tie their shoes.''
One place to determine the earning potential of college grads is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tracks employment and wages.
``On the average, college graduates do earn substantially more than all workers,'' said Chuck Jirik, an economist with the bureau's Chicago regional office. He also is program manager of mass layoff statistics, which the bureau recently began tracking again.
``Take a look at the median earnings of each group,'' advised Jirik, who has a bachelor of arts in political science and economics from Roosevelt University and has done graduate work at DePaul University and the University of Illinois.
In 1992, the average high school graduate had a median salary of $21,241 annually. And all college graduates employed that year, including those with advanced degrees, had a median salary of $37,359.
``That's a 76 percent premium over the high school graduate,'' Jirik said. ``And the pay is even better when you get an advanced degree. People with a professional degree, such as a doctor, lawyer or dentist, as a group, had median annual earnings of $67,131.
``That's a 216 percent premium.''
The average Ph.D. in 1992, the economist noted, earned $52,403 annually - a 147 percent difference.
Basing his analysis on studies by Thomas A. Amirault and Kristina J. Shelley of the labor market for college graduates, Daniel E. Hecker, economist in the bureau's office of employment projections in Washington, echoes Jirik's conclusion.
Hecker writes in the Monthly Labor Review that the research ``provides clear evidence that on average, college pays.''
He adds: ``Among the different groups making up the college graduate labor force, however, there were significant variations in outcome'' according to profession.
Citing a study of the bachelor's degree class of 1990 by the National Center for Education Statistics, Hecker says ``health professionals and engineering graduates experienced the best outcome in terms of earnings and relatedness of employment to the major field of study.''
Those who ``did the worst'' were history and humanities majors.
``There are no guarantees,'' Jirik observed, ``but you want to go to college anyway.''
Then there's the question of just how good the jobs are that college grads get. Jirik gives a historical perspective: ``In the 1960s, college grads knew they would get good jobs,'' he said.
``Only about 10 or 11 percent took jobs requiring a high school diploma. But in the late 1960s, that started to change. By the 1970s, 17 percent were taking those jobs. In the 1980s, it moved up to 18 to 19 percent. That percentage is projected to continue throughout the 1990s.''
That means more than 80 percent of college graduates are working in fields for which they have trained.
However, Bureau of Labor Statistics projections from 1992 to 2005 indicate a slight increase of college grads holding noncollege jobs because of a more competitive job market and ``slightly'' more entrants to the job market.
``In real terms,'' Jirik said, ``about 75 percent of college graduates at all levels entering the work force between 1992 and 2005 are expected to find college-level jobs.''
The economist's advice, based on the findings: ``Stay in school.''
by CNB