Study: Associate’s Degrees and Technical Certificates Can Yield More than 4-Year Degrees

[Recursion]

http://www.pewstates.org/projects/stateline/headlines/study-associates-degrees-and-technical-certificates-can-yield-more-than-4-year-degrees-85899501858

Personally, my CCNE has earned me more than my BS or MS.

Students who earn associate’s degrees and occupational certificates often earn more in their first year out of college than those with four-year college degrees, according to a new study examining the average salaries of graduates in five states.

For the study, College Measures, a partnership between the American Institutes for Research and Matrix Knowledge Group, worked with Arkansas, Colorado, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia to obtain data on how much graduates from two- and four-year colleges in those states earned in their first year after graduation. College Measures aims to improve the decision-making process for students, parents and policymakers for a more efficient and productive higher education system.

“The findings challenge some conventional wisdom, showing for example that what you study matters more than where you study,” Mark Schneider, president of College Measures, said. “Higher education is one of the most important investments people make. The right choices can lead to good careers and good wages while the wrong ones can leave graduates with mountains of debt and poor prospects for ever paying off student loans.”

Schneider said states tend to put a lot of money into the flagship universities, the best-known research institutions in each state. But his study indicates state legislators should focus more attention and funding on community colleges, which “can represent a good way for residents of a state to get the training that they need to get into the local labor market and earn a reasonable wage.” Schneider said that regional four-year public colleges should also take a cue from community colleges and think more about how they can best train students to fill the needs of local job markets.

[mythology]

1. While the study may be technically true for the first couple of years

statistically a bachelor's degree will earn more for most people than an associate's degree or occupational certificate. The difference according to the BLS is just under $300 a week.

http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm

Yes, any post high school education will earn somebody more than a high school education, but this study is misleading when it talks about the average person with an associate's degree out earning a bachelor's degree.