$781 weekly and $40,612 over 12 months. In other words, data from the BLS indicates that receiving a bachelor’s

degree boosts earnings by 67% over what workers would have earned if they only obtained a high school diploma,

and a master’s degree yields average earnings that are nearly double those of workers with a high school diploma.

Given these statistics, we might expect many people to choose to go to college and at least earn a bachelor’s

degree. Assuming that people want to improve their material well-being, it seems like they would make those

choices that provide them with the greatest opportunity to consume goods and services. As it turns out, the analysis

is not nearly as simple as this. In fact, in 2019, the BLS reported that while just over 90% of the population aged 25

and over in the United States had a high school diploma, only 36% of those aged 25 and over had a bachelor's or

higher degree, and only 13.5% had earned a master's or higher degree.
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