College Educated Workers

Thomas Friedman states that college educated workers grew through the 1980’s. What has happened since 1993 according to the National Science Foundation has been a 40% increase of college graduates, reaching over 40 million in 2003 up from 29 million. Of those 40 million about 12% have their degrees in science or engineering. Listening to the media I thought the world was coming to an end and America was getting dumber. During this time period the population of the United States population has grown from 257.7 million to over 300 million (NPG). According to The Olympian “in February 2005, USA Today reported that 64 percent of high school graduates go to college, but the number of Americans with bachelor degrees is only 29 percent.” (Yamamoto) I understand this because I like many Metro State students have returned to school to finish my degree.

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research since 1980 the supply of college graduates have been growing at a rate of 2% while the demand as been averaging “3.27 to 3.66 percent per year.” This has allowed the wage premium that college grads have enjoyed over high school grads. High schools grads also face increase competition from immigrants. The average American wage has increase from $21,027.98 in 1990 to $38,651.41 in 2006. A debate is raging over whether real income has been keeping pace with inflation as the real inflation has come under scrutiny. Official inflation does not include food and fuel. In researching this item I came across this item on Business Week online, “Real College Grad Wages Plummet 5.5%” for the second quarter of 2008, wages adjusted for inflation (Mandel).

2003 College Graduates in the U.S. Workforce: A Profile. National Science Foundation, http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf06304/

Negative Population Growth http://www.npg.org/facts/us_historical_pops.htm

Yamamoto, Julie. Only 29 percent of Americans have a college degree
http://www.theolympian.com/columnists/story/227366.html

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). The Rise and Fall of the College Graduate Wage Premium. http://www.nber.org/digest/jan08/w12984.html

Social Security Administration. National Average Wage Index
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/AWI.html

Mandel, Michael. Real College Grad Wages Plummet 5.5%. Business Week
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/economicsunbound/archives/2008/07/college_grad_wa.html