Share

There have always been sceptics about the value of higher education.  The recession and the way that the information technology sector has shaped and opened up the job market have not exactly helped.  The cost of tertiary study can be epic and when you add to this IT role models like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg who never completed university, things are not necessarily propelling people towards undertaking a 4 year degree.

But the message to emerge out of the current recession, according to economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, is that if you want to keep your job, if and when it happens again, it´s better to be well-educated than well-paid.  In 1973, only 28% of jobs required a post-secondary education, but in 2008 that figure was 59%. Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce scholars say this number will increase to 63% within the next decade.  In 2008, the median salary of a college graduate with a Bachelor of Arts was $55,777 USD, compared with $33,800 for those who are only high-school educated.  The figures for unemployment percentages follow suit, with almost double the number of high-school only graduates unemployed compared with college graduates.

Jobs in the IT industry increased by 4.3% in the last year, and while a select few made it without higher education, about 86% of the industry has some form of tertiary study behind them.

Bottom line: the odds are better with an education, and the IT industry is booming.  Click here to view some courses you can study in the United States.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com

Tags: Bachelor of Arts, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Georgetown University, Higher Education, Steve Jobs, United States