The college wage premium has stagnated in recent years: The log wage difference between workers with and without a college degree
| Year | Estimate |
|---|---|
| 1979 | 0.299 |
| 1980 | 0.306 |
| 1981 | 0.313 |
| 1982 | 0.326 |
| 1983 | 0.342 |
| 1984 | 0.362 |
| 1985 | 0.382 |
| 1986 | 0.395 |
| 1987 | 0.415 |
| 1988 | 0.425 |
| 1989 | 0.423 |
| 1990 | 0.434 |
| 1991 | 0.435 |
| 1992 | 0.440 |
| 1993 | 0.446 |
| 1994 | 0.455 |
| 1995 | 0.455 |
| 1996 | 0.460 |
| 1997 | 0.468 |
| 1998 | 0.471 |
| 1999 | 0.479 |
| 2000 | 0.488 |
| 2001 | 0.487 |
| 2002 | 0.478 |
| 2003 | 0.476 |
| 2004 | 0.477 |
| 2005 | 0.482 |
| 2006 | 0.486 |
| 2007 | 0.491 |
| 2008 | 0.501 |
| 2009 | 0.497 |
| 2010 | 0.513 |
| 2011 | 0.515 |
| 2012 | 0.511 |
| 2013 | 0.519 |
| 2014 | 0.515 |
| 2015 | 0.519 |
| 2016 | 0.528 |
| 2017 | 0.518 |
| 2018 | 0.514 |
| 2019 | 0.520 |
| 2020 | 0.520 |
| 2021 | 0.516 |
| 2022 | 0.521 |
| 2023 | 0.510 |
Notes: The college wage premium in Figure F is estimated from year-specific sample-weighted regressions of Version 1.0.47 of the EPI Current Population Survey extracts of the log hourly wage on college degree attainment, a quartic polynomial in age, and gender, race, marital status, and state fixed effects.