Why is College a Worthwhile Investment?"

Do workers who graduate with a bachelor's degree still out-earn workers without a college degree? Yes, but the price of attending college has gone up, so the net return of a college degree has gone down a little bit. Still, over a lifetime, college graduates earn about $900,000 more relative to high school graduates. Even if you discount that figure to take into account the types of students who go to college, the "opportunity cost" of not being in the labor force and other factors, the net value of a college degree is still about $350,000 over your lifetime compared with a high school degree.