Georgia Higher Learning and Earnings
Georgia Higher Learning and Earnings David Evans II January 2017 Executive Summary By 2025, over 60 percent of jobs in Georgia likely will require some form of a college education, whether a certificate, associate’s degree, or bachelor’s degree.1 Expected earnings are an important factor in making the decision to pursue a certain degree or major, but these data have not previously been publicly available. With this in mind, the Georgia Higher Learning and Earnings Report presents earnings information for Georgia technical college and college/university graduates who work in Georgia after earning their degrees.2 It presents median, 25th percentile, and 75th percentile wages by degree category (certificate, bachelor’s, etc.), technical college or college/university, program of study, and whether the student graduated with the HOPE scholarship/grant for the first and fifth year after graduation. In addition, it explores award patterns by gender and race/ethnicity.3 In addition to degree type and program of study, it is important to note that many factors, such as student ability/motivation, college selectivity, and job market conditions affect earnings, so the results in this report should not be interpreted as a guarantee of employment or earnings. The report is limited to wage data on graduates who work in Georgia for employers that provide wage data to the Georgia Department of Labor, so it does not include wages earned in out-of-state jobs, as an independent contractor, or as a federal or military employee. With this in mind, the results should be seen as one piece of information that students and parents can use when making program and degree choices.
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