College Graduate - Women in United States

United States

Income differences between people with a college degree and those with a high school diploma in the United States have widened since 1965, persisting into 2024. Individuals who hold a college degree have access to a wider variety of employment opportunities and are compensated more on average than those without a college degree. People with a bachelor’s degree earn a median of $2.8 million over their lifetime, while high school diploma holders earn a median of $1.6 million. Women in their 20s experience a substantial relative return on education compared to their male counterparts, as less-educated young women earn significantly less than young men with the same level of education.

However, more education does not guarantee higher earnings and less education does not always result in lower earnings. There are nonfinancial benefits to attaining more education. College graduates typically engage in healthier behaviors that contribute positively to health outcomes and longevity. For example, a 2017 study found that college graduates had a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease regardless of gender and socioeconomic factors. Furthermore, college graduates are more likely to take part in civic engagement activities like voting, community service and joining formal or informal group activities, which are also associated with healthier outcomes. In addition, children of college-educated women report better health status than children of mothers with less education.

A 2019 data analysis found that if every state in the U.S. had increased the percentage of people with a bachelor's degree by just 1% in the last decade, the nation would have earned an additional $130.5 billion in economic growth.

The U.S. has made significant strides in women’s education, with women earning more than half of the bachelor's degrees awarded nationally since 1982. Despite this success, non-Hispanic Black women and Hispanic or Latino women have significantly lower rates of college and university completion than non-Hispanic white women. A report by the Education Trust compared enrollment demographics from 101 highly selective public colleges with state population demographics and found that just 14% had a Latino student body proportionate to the population, and 9% had a proportionate Black student body.

According to America’s Health Rankings analysis, the prevalence of having a college degree is higher among:

• Women ages 35-44 compared with women ages 25-34.
• Asian and white women compared with American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic and Black women. 
• Women with an annual household income of $75,000 or more, who are more than six times more likely to have a college degree than women with incomes less than $25,000. 
• Women living in metropolitan areas compared with those in nonmetropolitan areas.

Cost is a barrier for many low-income students. To address the rising cost of college, policymakers should invest in need-based financial aid, reinvest in state-level higher education and ensure that free college programs cover the full cost of attending college. Public colleges and universities, which are more affordable and have more financial aid options, can also increase their outreach and support programs for students of color. 

Increasing access to high school guidance counselors can help bridge the college enrollment gap. Support from guidance counselors is linked to improved likelihood of completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), attending any type of college and attending a four-year institution specifically. College access programs have led to increased enrollment by providing low-income and underserved high school students with financial aid counseling, standardized test preparation, campus visits and other elements of the college application process.

Carnevale, Anthony P., Ban Cheah, and Emma Wenzinger. The College Payoff: More Education Doesn’t Always Mean More Earnings. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, 2021. https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/collegepayoff2021/.

Fabina, Jacob, and Zachary Scherer. Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2020. Current Population Reports. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau, 2022. https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2022/demo/p20-585.pdf#page=7.

Holtz-Eakin, Douglas, and Tom Lee. The Economic Benefits of Educational Attainment. American Action Forum, June 4, 2019. https://www.americanactionforum.org/project/economic-benefits-educational-attainment/.

Hummer, Robert A., and Elaine M. Hernandez. “The Effect of Educational Attainment on Adult Mortality in the United States.” Population Bulletin 68, no. 1 (June 2013): 1–16. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25995521/.

Kubota, Yasuhiko, Gerardo Heiss, Richard F. MacLehose, Nicholas S. Roetker, and Aaron R. Folsom. “Association of Educational Attainment With Lifetime Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.” JAMA Internal Medicine 177, no. 8 (August 1, 2017): 1165. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.1877.

Lawrence, Elizabeth M. “Why Do College Graduates Behave More Healthfully Than Those Who Are Less Educated?” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 58, no. 3 (September 2017): 291–306. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146517715671.

Lawrence, Elizabeth M., Richard G. Rogers, and Robert A. Hummer. “Maternal Educational Attainment and Child Health in the United States.” American Journal of Health Promotion 34, no. 3 (March 2020): 303–6. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117119890799.

Nichols, Andrew Howard. “Segregation Forever”?: The Continued Underrepresentation of Black and Latino Undergraduates at the Nation’s 101 Most Selective Public Colleges and Universities. The Education Trust, 2020. https://edtrust.org/resource/segregation-forever/.

Tamborini, Christopher R., ChangHwan Kim, and Arthur Sakamoto. “Education and Lifetime Earnings in the United States.” Demography 52, no. 4 (August 1, 2015): 1383–1407. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-015-0407-0.

Taylor, Paul, Kim Parker, Rich Morin, Rick Fry, Eileen Patten, and Anna Brown. The Rising Cost of Not Going to College. Social Trends. Pew Research Center, February 11, 2014.http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/02/11/the-rising-cost-of-not-going-to-college/.