More Americans Are Getting College Degrees

(Bloomberg) -- The overall number of undergraduates at U.S. colleges and universities has increased sharply in recent years.

Since the end of the recession, more that 13 million wage and salary workers with a Bachelor's degree or higher, 25 years and over, have been added to the full-time employment rolls. Last year, the percentage of those age 25 years and over who completed at least a 4-year college education increased to 35%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

A new report, released from the Pew Research Center, shows that this growth has been fueled almost exclusively by an influx of students from low-income families and students of color attending less selective four-year colleges and universities.

The percentage of poor and minority attending minimally selective colleges and universities rose to 25% in 2016 from from 14% in 1996, while the percentage attending very selective four-year institutions only rose from 10% to 13% during the same 20-year period.

With soaring tuition costs and more undergraduates attending for-profit post-secondary institutions, undergraduates today are more likely to borrow to pay for college expenses than the previous generations. Furthermore, since more selective higher learning institutes are associated with better results in terms of completion rates and post-college earnings many graduating from less selective schools face increased challenges. One is more likely to finish a undergraduate education at more selective, often costlier, institutions.

Obtaining a college degree has not translated into increasing earnings. Median incomes for a person with a Bachelor's degree has declined slightly from 1990 according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

But, the divergence between those in the 25th and 75th percentiles widened. In 1990, Bachelor's degree holders in the 25th percentile made $34,311 in inflation adjusted dollars vs. $57,656 for those in the 75th. By 2018, annual wages for the former group have fallen to $31,000 while jumping to $60,000 for those in the 75th percentile.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Tanzi in Washington at atanzi@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Tanzi at atanzi@bloomberg.net, Wei Lu

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