Now that the fall semester is underway anyone second-guessing their decision to return to school might want some reassurance. Post-secondary education is expensive, after all, and it represents a real opportunity cost if you are sitting in a classroom instead of out in the workplace somewhere getting paid.
And yet – it turns out the economic benefits of a post-secondary education are big. As Felix Salmon, a writer for the Reuters news agency put it recently, “[T]he only thing which has been rising faster than college tuition costs is the wage premium that college graduates receive over those without a degree. A degree is becoming more important, not less, in our digital economy. And so while the cost of going to college is rising, the cost of not going to college is, arguably, rising even faster.”
Salmon is writing about the US situation, but it’s almost certainly the same on this side of the border. And it’s not just the wage premium upon graduation. Employment rates for those with a post-secondary education are much better than those for workers with a high school diploma or less. Canadian figures from 2009 indicate that “82% of the adult population aged 25 to 64 with a tertiary [post-secondary] education were employed, compared with 55% of this age group with less than a high school education.” Not only are college or university graduates more likely to be employed, they’re most likely paid better to boot. So relax and enjoy your time in the classroom. It’s time (and money) wisely invested.