Stay in School=Make More Money

It’s no secret that the more you learn, the more you earn. The United States Department of Education estimates that young adults with a bachelor’s degree earn more than twice as much per year on average than young adults who didn’t graduate from high school. And according the the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics the higher your education the less likely you are to be unemployed. See: The Difference a Degree Makes in Unemployment Levels

Learn how much more you can earn each step of the way with a higher degree and decide where you want your road to stop.

High School Diploma or GED

Staying in school long enough to earn your high school diploma will earn you approximately $30,000 per year, which is $9,000 more per year than if you drop out of high school. If you estimate that most people graduate high school when they are around 18 years old and work until they decide to retire around age 62, that calculates out to about $396,000 more over your lifetime just to stay in school until graduation day.

Stay in School 2 More Years- Associate’s Degree

If you decide to continue going to school after graduation but aren’t quite ready to commit yourself to a four-year program, associate’s degrees offer the opportunity to get out into the working world sooner while still having an advanced degree. Associate’s programs are great for people who want to go into technical fields or start at lower-ranking positions and work their way up. The average annual salary for someone with an associate’s degree is $36,000, indicating a jump of $6,000 per year over high school graduates and $15,000 more than students who didn’t earn their diplomas.

But what if you stay in school 4 more years?