Infographic "Visualizing Development: Why Study?"

The introductory text reads, “Why Study? From a life-span perspective, college graduation is a good investment, for individuals (they become healthier and wealthier) and for nations (national income rises). That long-term perspective is the main reason why nations that control enrollment, such as China, have opened dozens of new colleges in the past two decades. However, when the effort and cost of higher education depend on immediate choices made by students and families, as in the United States, many decide it is not worth it, as illustrated by the number of people who earn bachelor’s degrees.”

A subheading reads, Current College Enrollment Among U.S. 18 to 24 Year Olds. A bar chart follows that compares the percent of enrollment among 4 different ethnicities, White, Black, Hispanic and Asian, across the years, 2000, 2010, and 2017.

A text to the side of the bar charts reads, If this graph showed how many in each group ever attended college, the numbers for Black and Hispanic people would be closer to the numbers for Asian people, many of whom earn both Bachelor’s and advanced degrees during this six-year period.

A subheading reads, Highest Level of Education Attained by U. S. Adults, followed by an introductory text that reads, The percent of U.S. residents with high school and college diplomas is increasing as more of the oldest cohort (often without degrees) dies and the youngest cohorts aim for college. The data below are for people ages 25 and older. In 1968, half of them reached high school age when education past eighth grade was a luxury, expected for those who were rich, native-born, and white, not for the general population.

Three graphs are shown next. The first graph compares the percent of men and women in the years, 1968 and 2018 having completed 8 years or less of primary school. In 1968 (Men, Women): (41 percent, 39 percent). In 2018 (Men, Women): (3 percent, 3 percent). The second graph compares the percent of men and women in the years, 1968 and 2018 having completed 4 years of high school. In 1968 (Men, Women): (17 percent, 21 percent). In 2018 (Men, Women): (30 percent, 32 percent). The third graph compares the percent of men and women in the years, 1968 and 2018 having completed 4 years or more of college. In 1968 (Men, Women): (9 percent, 8 percent). In 2018 (Men, Women): (31 percent, 28 percent).

A subheading reads, Income Impact. An introductory text reads, Over an average of 40 years of employment, someone who completes at least a Master’s degree earns 1.5 million dollars more than someone who leaves school in eleventh grade. That translates into more than 200,000 dollars for each year of education from twelfth grade to a Master’s. The earnings gap is even wider than those numbers indicate because this chart includes only adults who have jobs, yet finding work is more difficult for those with less education.

A bar chart compares educational achievements on the horizontal axis against annual income in the vertical axis for two age groups, 25 to 34 year olds and 45 to 54 year olds. The educational achievements labels on the horizontal axis are as follows, Not a high school graduate; High school graduate; Some college, no degree; Associate’s degree; Bachelor’s degree; Master’s degree; Professional degree. The data in the chart are as follows: