Majoring in business typically pays off. While graduates' earnings and federal student loan debt vary by institution and degree level, the majority of business programs lead to median earnings that are roughly 10 times graduates' debt payments two years after program completion. "The Most Popular Degree Pays Off: Ranking the Economic Value of…

This article highlights research in "The STEM Dilemma: Skills That Matter to Regions", which was recently published by the Upjohn Institute. The book looks at the regional workforce through the lens of the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) associated with regional occupations. This fine-grained approach uses data in the…

We compared the wages of economics degree holders with of those in 49 other fields of study using data from the 2006 Canadian population census. At the undergraduate level, economics majors earned the sixth highest average wage in 2005. When demographic controls were applied, they ranked ninth on the salary scale. When we compared the wages in 15…

Overskilling is the phenomenon whereby a worker's skills are underutilised in his or her job. Overskilled workers are employed, but they are underutilised and mismatched, in that their skills and abilities are not a good match with the requirements of the job. Overskilling can lead to decreased wages and job satisfaction, which suggests that the…

This paper assesses the extent to which Rhode Island's workforce lacks skills that are in demand among the state's current and potential employers and, if so, whether such a skills gap or labor market "mismatch" significantly restrains employment growth in the state. Using an index developed by Sahin et al. (2014), we find that…

As the United States grinds its way through a halting economic recovery, one thing has become abundantly clear: The recession of 2007 continues to reshape the economy in significant and permanent ways. Perhaps the most profound change is the accelerating disappearance of good-paying jobs that require only a high-school education or less. That…

The unemployment rate dropped to 7.8 percent in September, falling below 8 percent for the first time since January 2009. Furthermore, the share of working-age Americans who are employed increased to 58.7 percent, the highest level since May 2010. Employers added 114,000 jobs last month, and an average of more than 145,000 over the past three…

As the college class of 2011 graduates in the aftermath of the Great Recession, some graduates are struggling to find a good job--or any job at all. As a result, many are questioning whether the time and expense of college was worth it. The authors try to answer this question by comparing the economic benefits of a college degree to its costs, as…

This article documents a model for forecasting earnings of the nontraditional student based on macrolevel changes in educational attainment within the workforce using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. It also presents a theoretical case that illustrates the value of improving one's educational attainment level in order to sustain an annualized…

The May employment numbers broke from the positive news of the last few months and revealed weakness in the job market. Not surprisingly to most Americans, these numbers indicate the job market remains tough--particularly for the nation's young adults. College seniors graduating this spring will enter a job market vastly different than the one…

Investing in higher (tertiary) education is one of the more significant decisions a person can make. In some countries, such as Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, and the United States, the direct costs of higher education can be large, often requiring a significant investment of an individual's personal funds, either in up-front payments or loan…

On the basis of official statistics, poverty has halved in Ghana over the period from 1991 to 2005. Our objective in this paper is to assess how far this fall was linked to the creation of better paying jobs and the increase in education. We find that earnings rose rapidly in the period from 1998 to 2005, by 64% for men and by 55% for women. While…

General acceptance of the strong relationships between education, income, and public economic strength is at the core of all of college attainment goals at the national and state levels. The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) and the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) have collaborated to develop online tools…

This article examines the economic effect of education in terms of its impact on the earnings of workers in an information technology (IT)-diffusing economy, based on data from Hong Kong's 2006 by-census and survey on the usage and penetration of IT in industries. Education enhances the productivity of workers and increases their lifetime incomes.…

This study investigates the economic outcomes of education for wage earners in Pakistan. This is done by analysing the relationship between schooling, cognitive skills and ability, on the one hand, and economic activity, occupation, sectoral choice and earnings, on the other. In Pakistan, an important question remains largely unaddressed: what…