College wage premium, 1979–2015
| Year | College/High school wage premium |
|---|---|
| 1979 | 26.38% |
| 1980 | 28.16% |
| 1981 | 29.15% |
| 1982 | 31.27% |
| 1983 | 33.50% |
| 1984 | 36.68% |
| 1985 | 39.28% |
| 1986 | 42.04% |
| 1987 | 44.07% |
| 1988 | 45.40% |
| 1989 | 45.91% |
| 1990 | 48.54% |
| 1991 | 47.43% |
| 1992 | 50.54% |
| 1993 | 51.30% |
| 1994 | 52.73% |
| 1995 | 52.74% |
| 1996 | 51.21% |
| 1997 | 52.85% |
| 1998 | 54.97% |
| 1999 | 56.86% |
| 2000 | 57.21% |
| 2001 | 57.49% |
| 2002 | 56.26% |
| 2003 | 55.40% |
| 2004 | 55.22% |
| 2005 | 57.13% |
| 2006 | 57.37% |
| 2007 | 58.79% |
| 2008 | 59.57% |
| 2009 | 58.25% |
| 2010 | 60.18% |
| 2011 | 59.63% |
| 2012 | 60.89% |
| 2013 | 63.66% |
| 2014 | 60.94% |
| 2015 | 63.16% |
Note: The college wage premium is the percent by which wages of college graduates exceed those of otherwise equivalent high school graduates, regression adjusted.
Differentials are estimated with controls for experience (as a quartic), region (4), marital status, race/ethnicity, and education, which are specified as dummy variables for less than high school, some college, college, and advanced degree. Log of hourly wage is the dependent variable. Estimates were made on the CPS-ORG data as described in SWA Appendix B, and presented in SWA Table 4.13.
Source: EPI analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata
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