Fact Of The Day #18: College Power Pays Off (INFOGRAPHIC)

A worker with a high school diploma is twice as likely to be unemployed as a worker with a college degree. A worker holding a bachelor’s degree earned an average weekly salary of $1,053 in 2011, nearly double the $638 weekly salary for those with a high school education.

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• Ted Turner

  Turner was expelled from Brown University after he was caught with a woman in his dorm room, which was against college regulations. He is now known as a wildly-successful businessman for founding CNN and TNT.

• David Plouffe

  Plouffe left the University of Delaware in 1989 to pursue a full-time career in politics. He later went back and completed his full undergraduate degree in May 2010. He is known today as the senior advisor to President Barack Obama.

• Ellen DeGeneres

  DeGeneres dropped out of the University of New Orleans, after one year of studying communications, to get her start as a stand-up comedian.

• Tiger Woods

  Woods dropped out of Stanford University after two years to start a sports career as a professional golfer.

• Mark Zuckerberg

  Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard University and moved to Palo Alto, Calif. to encourage the world to "share" through his revolutionary social network.

• Russell Simmons

  Simmons left Manhattan City College a few credits shy of a degree in sociology. Then he formed <a href="http://www.notablebiographies.com/news/Sh-Z/Simmons-Russell.html#b" target="_hplink">Rush Management</a>, a management company for artists. Now, he is known for co-founding the pioneering hip-hop label Def Jam.

• Brad Pitt

  Pitt dropped out of the journalism school at the University of Missouri with just two weeks before graduation. Today, he is basically photographed during every public second of his day. Together with his wife Angelina Jolie, Pitt supports the tabloid journalism industry by walking around with his children.

• Natasha Bedingfield

  Bedingfield dropped out of the University of Greenwich after one year to focus on singing and songwriting. Her album, <em>Unwritten</em>, debuted at #1 in England.

• Steve Jobs

  Jobs dropped out of Reed College in Portland, Oregon only after 6 months, but he did continue to audit classes. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc.

• Madonna

  Madonna dropped out of University of Michigan to pursue a career in dance. Today she is one of the world's top-selling female recording artists of all time according to <a href="http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2012/4/madonna-beats-elviss-no1-albums-record-as-mdna-tops-uk-chart/" target="_hplink">The Guinness Book of World Records. </a>

• Pete Wentz

  Wentz dropped out of DePaul University, where he studied political science, one quarter shy of graduation to focus on his music career. Now he is known as the bassist and primary lyricist for the American rock band Fall Out Boy. He also started his own record label, launching Panic! At The Disco and many of the biggest bands on the Warped Tour as well as hit-makers Cobra Starship.

• Kanye West

  West dropped out of Chicago State University to focus on his music career. He is now a famous rapper (and Kim Kardashian's boyfriend) and runs his own label, GOOD Music. Never one to shy away from his past or to dodge controversy, West owned his decision, calling his debut album <em>College Dropout</em>.

• Oprah Winfrey

  Winfrey dropped out of Tennessee State University in 1972. Then she became anchor of WTFV-TV and focused on her career. She finished her degree in 1987. She is known for her successful self-titled talk show, her magazine, her own television channel and a leading global philanthropist.

• Bill Gates

  Gates dropped out of Harvard after two years to found Microsoft with Paul Allen.

• John Mayer

  Mayer dropped out of Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass. after two semesters and moved to Atlanta with a friend to start a two-man band.

• Ralph Lauren

  Lauren dropped out of Baruch College in New York after two semesters and served in the United States Army. Though he never attended fashion school, his brand is among the most visible in the world.

• Lady Gaga

  Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (her legal name) dropped out of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts after her freshman year to shock the world and grow her legion of monsters.

• John Lennon

  Lennon was expelled from Liverpool College of Arts before his final year. He went on to tour as the rhythm guitarist and singer for The Beatles, so the universe is probably better off that he didn't graduate.

Comments

[Parachute4Teens]

02:44 PM on 10/24/2012

Just plain misleading.

First, the red herring issue: high school grad vs bachelors degrees. The employment and salary statistics of those with those with AA degrees, apprenticeships, technical education or certificates are not mentioned. Yet, these workers do very well in both employment and salary. There are thousands of jobs for those with AA degrees or technical certificates that pay far more than bachelors degree jobs. (The man who just bought my house in California was a tanker captain. He earned $350,000 annually)

Work vs. education: My daughter, a family physician, may never out earn the person who operates a hospital's EKG lab. Why? Because the person who provides the EKG needed only two years of schooling to become an EKG tech, compared to my daughter's 11 years of schooling and training to become a physician. The person running the EKG lab had 9 years of employment to build up their earning power. Many hospitals hire out their EKG functions. This means that whoever provides the EKGs owns the business. Annual salary, well over $120,000.

I have researched these issues since 2004. In 2008, the Bureau of Statistics said that 75% of all jobs needed additional education or training after high school, but only 21% of those jobs needed bachelor's degrees. By 2018, that number is expected to rise a whopping two percent to 23%.

Carol Christen, author What Color Is Your Parachute for Teens.

[Kathy Larocque]

07:48 AM on 08/20/2012

There will be plenty of exceptions to every statistic, but the statisitic is there for a reason.
Unemployment rates for college grads is HALF of that for high school grads and almost 1/3 of the rate for high school dropouts. In a tight market, are you better off (statistically) with a degree? By far......

[DEmusicman]

11:41 AM on 08/20/2012

Until you get older and more knowledgeable, then being competent becomes a hug liability. Competence, it seems, embarrasses management. So, rather than fix their own problems and inadequacies, management routinely layoffs and destroys competent, educated and experienced people. Yes, I know this is counterproductive and on the surface absurd. But as the many hundreds of 50 plus people I know will testify, all are educated, experienced and competent and all are unemployed. Statically this is near impossible but there they are. And corporate management's answer to this grievous crime? We can't find any competent people out there." Three questions for management: 1) did you even look? 2) You realize that you laid off many competent people? 3) Do you even know what quality is?

[JStading]

10:32 AM on 08/19/2012

Sorry - these charts are popular amongst the education industry because it may dupe some people into thinking that a degree is worth money - it's not.  There are tons of unemployed college grads and they have zero hope of getting out of debt at this point. It's neo-indentured servitude. 

My advice: get an AA from a community college and wait to get a job that actually requires a degree before getting one. It makes very little sense to get a 4 year degree at this stage in the game.

[DEmusicman]

08:19 PM on 08/18/2012

Regrettably there seems to be a belief that educated and experienced person do well in corporate America. While that may have been true at one point, the correlation between career success and education/experience is not verifiable. More and more education, experience and competence now lead to career death as far too many managers have no idea who or what they are managing and worse are fearful of anyone who is competent and innovative. The solution? Get rid of them. And they have. Tens of millions of today's unemployed are educated, experienced and competent people who "threatened” the boss culture and as a result lost their jobs and their futures. Totally destroying people for being successful is completely against what this country stands for but it is sadly what it has become. When mediocrity and stupidity are rewarded, is it any wonder that that is what is pursued?

[Paleo Man]

01:21 PM on 08/18/2012

There are lots of cars in garages. There is an amazingly high correlation between being a car and being in a garage. But if I go into a garage, it will not cause me to turn into a car. It won't cause me to turn into a car even if someone writes lots and lots of articles on how great a correlation there is between cars and garages.

[bernikitty]

10:06 AM on 08/19/2012

Plagiarist.

At least use quotation marks and give credit for the quote, even if you are paraphrasing.

[Paleo Man]

01:14 PM on 08/18/2012

Actually, better go back to college and get a better science education and learn the difference between correlation and causation. And that correlation does not necessarily equal causation. People who graduate from college tend to have higher IQ's to start with, than people who don't ultimately graduate. People who have higher IQ's make more money whether or not they graduate from college. That fact that college graduation correlates with higher earnings does NOT mean that college graduation causes higher earnings. Control for IQ in your supposed statistics and then get back to us.

[Indygrl76]

04:11 PM on 08/18/2012

If you are trying to assert that formal education is not important and IQ is then it is clear that you are deficient in both...

[Howard53545]

07:47 AM on 08/18/2012

Better get your sorry butt in college.

[meanlady21]

09:15 PM on 08/17/2012

before you get that degree make sure it's worth the money. Some degrees today aren't going to get you a good paycheck.

[missouriwatcher]

09:02 PM on 08/17/2012

The value of a college education should not be merely measured in dollars and cents.  Its most important value is in graduates being able to reason in a logical and critical manner, have some understanding of a wide range of topics with the knowledge of where to more easily obtain information, as well as being able to express themselves better with more precision than someone who never got a degree.

[Parachute4Teens]

02:50 PM on 10/24/2012

This might have been true when one didn't have to choose between ever owning a home and getting a college degree. However, for $80,000 (about the least amount one can spend to get a bachelor's degree) one had better be both educated and able to earn a living.

In addition, the idea that one must have a college degree to learn to think, express oneself, understand where to obtain information, solve-problems or to be well educated is only about 40 years old. Before this, only 5% of US citizens had a college degree, but many were considered well educated. Even before Gutenburg started printing books, self-education was the norm.

[missouriwatcher]

09:30 PM on 10/25/2012

In order to be capable of expressing oneself to the fullest in a variety of settings, college is useful and even essential for most.  My paternal grandfather went to school for only a couple of days, and as an adult taught himself to read--that is dedication and determination.  He was a cowboy and then a family farmer; never earned much and was fortunate to have had Social Security.  The self-education you mention means using one's own experiences, provided one learns from such, and applying what tools one has with self-determination.  Relatively few people have ever succeeded very well with that.  Before Gutenburg, and after, the nobility provided liberal arts education to their heirs, usually via tutors.  Commoners either did what their parents did; or if they were lucky, they managed to get into a guild or joined a religious order to get some sort of education.  I was the first person in my family to obtain a college degree and as a result, I have been able to get a job with good benefits and adequate pay.  All of my children also completed college degrees and have decent jobs, as well.  Only 2 of my 4 siblings and their kids have it anywhere near as good.  So, does everyone need a college education?  By no means.  Society requires all sorts of workers in order to function well.  Should everyone attempt a college degree?  Certainly not; but if it helps them reach their goals, they should do it.

[mburgh]

05:26 PM on 08/17/2012

Why don't tell the sad stories of the millions of people who dropped out of college for dubious reasons like women who find a guy, get pregnant, drop out and then find themselves abandoned. I've seen this happened time and time in my years of teaching. They don't have either a. rich families or b. amazing talent.

[gov111w]

04:36 PM on 08/17/2012

I got my college degree after having been in the work force for 20 years. I did receive some discriminaltion from HR types during my career but was making 6 figures and had a VP title before the degree. The decision to get the degree was really a social one and I'm gald I did...but the lack of a degree is no reason not to be as successful as you can, and you can certainly be very successful in many technology field without one.......Bill Gates is an excellant example !

[missouriwatcher]

09:06 PM on 08/17/2012

Aw, too bad you did not write this before enjoying those cold beers; the misspelled words really detract from your effectiveness.  Good message, though.

[Robert SF]

03:19 PM on 08/17/2012

"A worker with a high school diploma is twice as likely to be unemployed as a worker with a college degree."
===

That's only because increased productivity took the low hanging fruits of blue collar work first. But that's changing; half of all college graduates since 2006 are unemployed. Increased productivity in form of better and faster computers and software is affecting even intellectual jobs, like lawyer. That's because even intellectual jobs consist largely of routine, and computers are really good at routine.

I'm not saying it's better not to be college educated, but putting everyone through college is not the solution. Education only confers an advantage when few have it. When everyone has it, it's no longer a competitive point.

[DEmusicman]

08:17 PM on 08/17/2012

I question that stat as many of my friends have advanced degrees and years of serious experience and are unemployed and can't get the time of day from corporate America. What is that explanation for that then?

[meanlady21]

09:18 PM on 08/17/2012

I agree with you. Corporations are starting to low ball people regardless if they have a degree or not and in some cases if you have too much education they won't hire you. The rules have changed, some degrees have very little value today.

[Robert SF]

12:20 PM on 08/18/2012

Which stat do you question? The 50% unemployment among recent college grads? It's not at odds with your experienced friends unemployment. The business sector increasingly needs fewer people, which includes people with experience. They just don't need them. There's no work for them to do.

[pcs5141]

03:07 PM on 08/17/2012

It is sad when 20+ years of experence in a particular job means nothing when trying to get a similar job vs a college grad with NO EXPERENCE.Lets call it DEGREE DISCRIMINATION !!!!!!

[bernikitty]

10:20 AM on 08/19/2012

I have seen the same thing in Alabama. No degree, no offer, but in new York for instance, I built a very successful career as a graphic artist without a degree.

My theory is that, in NY there is still an immigrant mindset. Where people come over here with nothing except the desire to be successful. That is why is you can impress someone with your enthusiasm and drive you can get the job. They know having a degree doesn't make someone a great employee.

Here in alabama, no one wanted to pay me to do something I had twenty yrs experience doing in one of the most face-pace competeive places in the world (NYC). So I went back to school, for my ADN.

[skytracker]

03:02 PM on 08/17/2012

It's simply amazing ... in todays world you have to get a college education, but on the down side, the price of a sound college education continues to increase. One day soon, it will take your entire career to pay-off college .... that is if it does not already!

[DEmusicman]

08:18 PM on 08/17/2012

College educations frequnelty make one even more unemployable....

[maxwelldog]

04:29 AM on 08/17/2012

my cost was around $7000, not including the home I was buying at the time.
four years during the Reagan tyranny.
My return on investment?
Well, I'm glad you asked that.
So far, this year, I have earned around $450 for my paintings, and another $250 on painting walls for folk.