In 2024, the median income of households headed by someone with a bachelor’s degree or higher was $132,700—more than double the $58,410 median income of households headed by someone with only a high school diploma, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Between 2004 and 2024, earnings of those with a bachelor’s degree or higher rose 6.3%, while earnings of those with only a high school degree rose just 3.2%.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that, on average, full-time workers with a bachelor’s degree earned $1,533 per week in the third quarter of 2024, compared with $946 for high school graduates and $1,916 for workers with advanced degrees.

Zoom out to a lifetime, and the picture becomes even clearer. Bachelor’s degree holders earn $1.2 million more over their lifetime than peers with a high school diploma as their highest degree. In 2024, workers with a bachelor’s degree earned an 80% premium over peers with only a high school diploma.

Skeptics love to point out that debt eats into those returns. But Brookings Institution researchers addressed that directly. Their November 2025 analysis found that, after accounting for student debt payments, degree holders still outearn non-degree holders by an average of $8,000 a year.

Job Security That Weathers Economic Storms

When the economy turns, being able to rely on job security is critical.

As workers’ educational attainment rises, their unemployment rates decrease and earnings increase. In 2024, workers aged 25 and over with less than a high school diploma had the highest unemployment rate, at 6.2%. Bachelor’s degree holders, by contrast, are half as likely to be unemployed as their peers with only a high school diploma.

The pattern holds across economic cycles. Recent college graduates weathered the Great Recession far better than their peers who only earned a high school diploma. That resilience isn’t an accident. It reflects the broader, more transferable skill sets that four-year programs cultivate.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has tracked employment data for recent college graduates across the United States since 1990, providing a historical perspective on their entry into the labor market. The long-run employment premium for degree holders remains consistent across that entire timespan.

The Future Job Market Demands College Degrees

Research indicates that the future labor market will need more college graduates, not fewer.

• The Lumina Foundation projects that between 2021 and 2031, there will be an average of 18.5 million job openings per year, and about 12.5 million of those openings will require at least some college education.
• For workers on the middle-skills pathway, 66% of good-paying jobs created through 2031 will require at least a bachelor’s degree, up from 59% in 2021. For high school graduates, the share is expected to fall from 19% to 15% from 2021 to 2031.
• About 80% of jobs on the bachelor’s degree pathway will be considered good jobs, compared to half of those on the middle-skills pathway and roughly one-third of jobs for high school graduates who haven’t received additional education.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that 178 tracked occupations typically require a bachelor’s degree for entry. Employers will create an average of 320,800 annual openings for general and operations managers—more than any other bachelor’s-level occupation.

The employers who dropped formal degree requirements for some roles signaled that some narrow job categories had become over-credentialed. But across the broader economy, the bachelor’s degree pathway remains the dominant route to financial security.

Social Mobility: The Degree as an Equalizer

For first-generation college students, students from lower-income households and students from communities historically underrepresented in higher education, a degree means more than a salary bump. It represents a generational shift—a new baseline for the entire family.

In 2024, households headed by someone with a bachelor’s degree or higher had a median household income 2.3 times higher than those headed by someone with only a high school degree—up from about twice as much in 2004.

The incidence of poverty among bachelor’s degree holders is 3.5 times lower than among those with only high school degrees. Earning a degree doesn’t just raise income; it reshapes an entire life trajectory.

The Honest Conversation About Cost

None of this means students should take on excessive debt to attend any school at any price. The skepticism Americans feel about college costs is legitimate. A 2025 Lumina Foundation-Gallup study found that 70% of adults without a college degree say a bachelor’s degree is extremely or very valuable; yet 68% of adults say higher education is moving in the wrong direction.

The paradox is real: Americans believe in the degree; they don’t believe in what colleges currently charge for it.

The solution is informed decision-making, not abandonment. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s labor market tool tracks earnings and employment outcomes by field of study, with STEM and healthcare majors consistently outperforming the average. Financial aid, scholarships and employer tuition assistance can transform the debt equation entirely.

UNCF Makes College Possible

The narrative that college no longer matters conflates two separate problems: the legitimate crisis of college affordability and the imagined irrelevance of the degree itself. Americans are right to demand better value from institutions. But concluding, from rising costs alone, that the credential has lost its power is an inaccurate assumption.

The earnings premium a degree bestows is growing. The unemployment advantage is durable. The health benefits are substantial. The mobility pathway remains open. And labor market projections point unambiguously toward a future in which a bachelor’s degree is worth more, not less.

College matters. The question worth asking isn’t whether to pursue a degree; it’s how to pursue it strategically. Whether you’re a prospective college student or parent wondering if a degree is something worth pursuing, UNCF can provide the guidance you need. Explore the member institutions we support directly, learn more about our scholarship opportunities and read inspiring student stories on our blog.

You can also show your support for HBCU students by making a contribution to UNCF. Education is the greatest tool we have in creating a society in which economic mobility is available to all. Help us achieve this future by donating today!

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