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As families get ready to spend thousands of dollars for the upcoming college academic year, some wondering if they're making a worthwhile investment, consider this: New college grads consistently earn between 50% and 70% more than young workers without a college degree, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Moreover, the unemployment rate of new college grads, defined as those aged 22 to 27 with a bachelor's degree, is consistently about half the jobless rate for young workers who don't have a degree. Even during recessions, new college grads fare much better than their non-college counterparts.
In the most recent data published by the New York Fed — for March 2019 — the unemployment rate for new college graduates was 3.7% versus 6.8% for young workers. The jobless rate for all workers was 3.7% and for college graduates 2.2%.
Recent college graduates also had lower rates of underemployment compared with previous years. The underemployment rate refers to having jobs that don't require a college degree.
