How Much Is a College Degree Worth?

How much is a bachelor’s degree worth? More than $25,000 a year, according to a March 2007 report from the U.S. Census Bureau. Adults aged 18 and older with a bachelor’s degree earned an average of $54,689 in 2005, while high school graduates earned $29,448. A two-year associate’s degree brings an average annual premium of $8,500 over a high school diploma.

Community colleges are the gateway to higher ed and better jobs for many Americans. In fact, nearly half of all postsecondary students attend community colleges. Because of their relative low cost and accessibility, community colleges serve large numbers of low-income and first-generation college students. But to achieve a degree, students must stay in school. Unfortunately, nearly half of all students who start at a community college fail to earn a degree or transfer to another school within six years.

MDRC has a group of projects focused on designing and evaluating promising interventions to help community college students remain in school and earn credentials. Opening Doors is testing reforms in curricula and instruction, enhanced student services, and financial aid supplements. The early results from two programs — one in Louisiana that offered performance-based scholarships and another in New York that improved instruction while personalizing the college experience — are particularly encouraging.

MDRC is participating in Lumina Foundation for Education’s ambitious Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count initiative, which involves 82 community colleges in 15 states and many national partner organizations. Its goal is to raise the achievement of groups that have traditionally faced the most significant barriers to success, including low-income students and students of color. Participating colleges will examine student transcripts and other data to identify factors that may contribute to or impede students’ progress; they will use this information to plan improved instruction and other college services.

Other MDRC projects are investigating emergency financial aid programs, learning communities, and programs that integrate student support services with intensive academic instruction and supports. Finally, MDRC is a partner in the National Center for Postsecondary Research (NCPR), which is housed at the Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University, in New York City. Supported by the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education, NCPR is focused on studying the effects of programs designed to help students make the transition to college and master basic skills needed to advance to a degree. (Join the NCPR e-mail list here.)

For More Information, Click Here.