Economic Opportunity and the Value of College





Why should I go to college?

10 years after graduating Virginia high schools, your earnings will likely be higher.


By and large, college graduates earn more than those that don't complete a credential. Further, college graduates generally experience higher rates of employment - they are less likely to become unemployed. As you study this chart, something to keep in mind is that the more time spent in school means less time working. Why is this is important? Because these wages all represent 10 years after high school graduation and the median wage of $26,805 for individuals with only a high school diploma have nine or ten years work experience compared to four, five or six, for those with a bachelor's degree with a median wage of $43,611. Time matters.



Wage differences exist among groups. There are wage differences by gender and race ethnicity. These differences are often the result of structures in the economy that benefit one group over the others, either directly or by rewarding choices/behaviors that are more easily accessed by some groups.



Learn more about the economic value of a degree here.


Won't I have to borrow a lot for college?

The reality is that many students have to borrow for college.
It is probably not as much as you think.



There is little question that the cost of college, of any college, is not cheap. Sticker prices at four-year colleges, especially with room & board, can look frighteningly high if not completely out of reach. For this reason, the US Education Department requires colleges to calculate and report the Net Price of Attendance and provide a Net Price Calculator on their websites. (You can find links to these on SCHEV's Institution Profiles below.) Many students & families borrow for college and it can be a good investment. However, borrowers should understand, that by itself, a college degree does not guarantee a job. There is risk and reward based on multitude of factors.




Associates Graduates with Student Debt
$15,152   Median Debt

Bachelor's Graduates with Student Debt
$26,720   Median Debt




Virginia's community colleges are highly affordable. Most students (58%) graduate with no debt at all. Even at Virginia's four-year colleges, both public and private (nonprofit), 38% of students graduate with no debt at all.

Learn more about student debt at Virginia's colleges.

Learn more about how to pay for college here.

Will student debt affect my lifestyle (a budget tool)?




What about wages over the long-term?


1992-931993-941994-951995-961996-971997-981998-991999-002000-012001-022002-032003-042004-052005-062006-072007-082008-09

One of the things we learn by looking at wages over time is that there is a great deal of variance. What this means, is that there is not one experience, one outcome, that is the same for everyone that completes a college degree. Over time, wages increase. For some individuals they increase more, for others they increase less. We also learn that salary compression is a real thing - new hires are often hired at wages that exceed wages of employees that have been in place for some years. Because of this, later years of graduates may show markedly higher wages.

Notice how the upper ranges grow wider in the later years following degree completion. This indicates much greater variation in outcomes. This occurs for a number of reasons including earning advanced degrees, certifications, licenses, and sometimes just being lucky to be in the right place at the right time. Success is often attributable to personal skills - the ability to get along with others, communicate well, problem-solve, and identifiying opportunities when they show up.


To explore earnings over periods of up to 25 years, visit this page.

To explore earnings ocomparisons by discipline, visit this page.




Does major matter? It certainly can!


There are many possible majors to choose that can lead to worthwhile careers after completing an Associate degree of Applied Science (AAS). Further, such a degree does not prevent one from completing bachelor's degree or beyond later in life. George Mason University and Radford University are just two examples of institutions with a transfer track for the AAS.



Learn more about the AAS here.


There are so many possible majors and related occupations for the bachelor's degree it can easily be overwhelming. Talk to your counselor, your teachers, professionals in your community, about the possibilities. There are 44 four-year colleges offering undergraduate programs leading to bachelor's degree in the Commonwealth. Some of these have dozens of majors. If a topic interests you, there is probably a program for it.




Learn more about the bachelor degree programs and outcomes here.

Where are Virgnia's colleges?






Type of Colleges and Universities       
Click the college name to go to the institution profile.
InstitutionTypeTotal EnrollmentUndergraduate Enrollment
Appalachian College of PharmacyPrivate Four-year or above, Grad./Professional Only 1900
Averett UniversityPrivate Four-year or above872872
Blue Ridge Community CollegePublic Two-year3,4623,462
Bluefield UniversityPrivate Four-year or above1,012805
Bridgewater CollegePrivate Four-year or above1,5971,552
Brightpoint Community CollegePublic Two-year9,4409,440
Central Virginia Community CollegePublic Two-year3,3703,370
Christendom CollegePrivate Four-year or above623525
Christopher Newport UniversityPublic Four-year or above4,8684,758
Danville Community CollegePublic Two-year2,4112,411
Eastern Mennonite UniversityPrivate Four-year or above1,394896
Eastern Shore Community CollegePublic Two-year677677
Eastern Virginia Medical SchoolPrivate Four-year or above, Grad./Professional Only 1,4590
Edward Via College of Osteopathic MedicinePrivate Four-year or above, Grad./Professional Only 7060
Emory & Henry CollegePrivate Four-year or above1,232958
Ferrum CollegePrivate Four-year or above960960
George Mason UniversityPublic Four-year or above39,03227,528
George Washington UniversityPrivate Four-year or above1,350578
Germanna Community CollegePublic Two-year7,6807,680
Hampden-Sydney CollegePrivate Four-year or above, Men Only881881
Hampton UniversityPrivate Four-year or above, HBCU3,5153,062
Hollins UniversityPrivate Four-year or above, Women Only 795687
J Sargeant Reynolds Community CollegePublic Two-year7,7597,759
James Madison UniversityPublic Four-year or above21,59319,726
Laurel Ridge Community CollegePublic Two-year6,3376,337
Liberty UniversityPrivate Four-year or above93,34947,988
Longwood UniversityPublic Four-year or above4,8413,940
Mary Baldwin UniversityPrivate Four-year or above2,1061,479
Marymount UniversityPrivate Four-year or above3,2942,041
Mountain Empire Community CollegePublic Two-year2,2532,253
Mountain Gateway Community CollegePublic Two-year1,0751,075
New River Community CollegePublic Two-year4,1374,137
Norfolk State UniversityPublic Four-year or above, HBCU5,4574,992
Northern Virginia Community CollegePublic Two-year52,86952,869
Old Dominion UniversityPublic Four-year or above24,28619,622
Patrick & Henry Community CollegePublic Two-year2,0502,050
Paul D Camp Community CollegePublic Two-year1,2371,237
Piedmont Virginia Community CollegePublic Two-year4,8644,864
Radford UniversityPublic Four-year or above10,6957,307
Randolph CollegePrivate Four-year or above565507
Randolph-Macon CollegePrivate Four-year or above1,5541,554
Rappahannock Community CollegePublic Two-year2,6292,629
Regent UniversityPrivate Four-year or above10,9704,858
Richard Bland CollegePublic Two-year2,1492,149
Roanoke CollegePrivate Four-year or above1,9221,922
Shenandoah UniversityPrivate Four-year or above4,1742,267
Southern Virginia UniversityPrivate Four-year or above1,0531,053
Southside Virginia Community CollegePublic Two-year3,1233,123
Southwest Virginia Community CollegePublic Two-year2,2952,295
Sweet Briar CollegePrivate Four-year or above, Women Only 362356
Tidewater Community CollegePublic Two-year16,76916,769
University of LynchburgPrivate Four-year or above2,6921,822
University of Mary WashingtonPublic Four-year or above4,2933,993
University of RichmondPrivate Four-year or above4,0683,302
University of VirginiaPublic Four-year or above25,64217,274
University of Virginia's College at WisePublic Four-year or above1,9061,906
Virginia Commonwealth UniversityPublic Four-year or above29,41722,183
Virginia Highlands Community CollegePublic Two-year2,0862,086
Virginia Military InstitutePublic Four-year or above1,6981,698
Virginia Peninsula Community CollegePublic Two-year6,2566,256
Virginia State UniversityPublic Four-year or above, HBCU4,0203,656
Virginia TechPublic Four-year or above37,02430,020
Virginia Union UniversityPrivate Four-year or above, HBCU1,5221,212
Virginia Wesleyan UniversityPrivate Four-year or above1,3611,283
Virginia Western Community CollegePublic Two-year5,7385,738
Washington and Lee UniversityPrivate Four-year or above2,1781,818
William & MaryPublic Four-year or above8,9396,236
Wytheville Community CollegePublic Two-year2,2442,244






There is unquestionably much more to life and education than getting a job. Individuals pursue postsecondary education for a variety of reasons, including lifelong learning and personal skills development. They pursue higher levels of education to benefit their community, the Commonwealth, and the nation, as well as themselves. There is also no question that some individuals pursue a career as the primary focus of their educational pursuit. This is especially true when one considers the breadth of degree and certificate opportunities the public and independent colleges and universities of the Commonwealth have to offer.

In using the data contained within these reports, users should exercise great care to understand the limitations of the available data and their meaning. Wage outcomes of graduates do not measure the quality or effectiveness of any institution. Instead, they provide basic facts about the experiences of graduates after entering the workforce and indications as to broadest levels of outcome in the Commonwealth - full-time employment, part-time enrollment, and enrollment in higher-level programs.

SCHEV does not endorse or recommend using these data to evaluate program or institution quality. While it may be tempting to rank and compare programs at multiple institutions, any ranking that does not consider family wealth of the graduates, Virginia residency, and the mix of gender & race/ethnicity is necessarily flawed as all of these are factors in individual earnings.

    The first thing to know about the statistics within these pages is that one cannot calculate a placement rate or employment rate. This is because the data available (as described below) are limited to individuals working in Virginia and in jobs covered by unemployment insurance. This is far from everyone working.
    These data are not projections of what newer or future graduates may or will earn. Instead they are rigorous observations of the experience of a subpopulation of graduates. Users can use the distributions of wage outcomes by institution, degree, and major, as a guide to a range of possible outcomes. These outcomes, combined with data on debt that are presented in the reports, can help the user to determine if the range of earnings of past graduates will support the level of debt the user believes they might accrue.
    Users should understand there three things that really drive wage outcomes for a group of graduates at an institution: the mix of programs, the characteristics of the student body (demography matters); and the predominant locations in which graduates work (after all, Northern Virginia has generally higher wages then elsewhere in the state).

Notes/Definitions

Debt: All debt figures refer to education-related debt processed through institutions. i.e. student loans. Unless specified as PLUS loans for undergraduates, the student debt refers to loans taken out by the student, not by parents or relatives. Further, reported student debt calculations are based on graduates who borrowed only. This is why we report the percentage of students/graduates wth debt.

 

Sample Budgets: These estimates are from the Living Wage project at MIT and are based on the estimated cost of a single adult living in Virginia. Tax and FICA withholding estimates based on a single, unmarried filer.

O*NET in-it


Limits on the Display of Data

The most important limit to understand is that these short-term measures of outcomes are not meaningful for evaluating the effectiveness of institutions or programs. These are not measures of employment rates, nor they comparable to the so-called Gainful Employment metrics produced by the US Department of Education. These measure are meant to inform readers of the outcomes of graduates in the near-term following degree completion and represent individual behavior and local economies more than any other factor.

In order to protect confidentiality and to accommodate both the many small programs in the Commonwealth and the limits of the available data, these reports will display program-level data only under the following conditions:

1. Generally, single-year data will not be reported at the level of institution/degree/and program, only rolling five-year aggregates. For example, graduates of 2005-06 will be reported with those of 2004-05, 2003-04, 2002-03, and 2001-02.

2. Data at the institution and degree level, will be reported as annual data (without the five-year rollups). This is also true for data at the state-level for degrees and programs. 3. The number of wage-reported graduates must be equal to or greater than 15 with full-time wage equivalent (FTWE) reported wages.

4. At least 30% of the cohort of graduates must have been matched and reported with full-time wage equivalent (FTWE) reported wages, or 20% with a minimum of 200 graduates.

5. The current definition of FTWE is at least three quarters of wages must be reported for each year.

6. Wages and earnings are not adjusted for inflation.

The wage data included in these reports represent only the following individuals:
1. Graduates successfully matched to the Unemployment Insurance Wage records collected by the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC).
2. Graduates employed in Virginia by an entity that reports to the VEC. This excludes federal employees, including those within the Department of Defense.

What employers are subject to the Unemployment Tax and must be registered and file with the Virginia Employment Commission? They must have met one of the following criteria:

  • One or more employees (ten employees if your operation is agricultural) for some portion of a day during any 20 different weeks in a calendar year
  • A $1,500 or more total gross quarterly payroll ($20,000 if your business is agricultural; $1,000 if domestic labor)
  • Acquired a business subject to this tax
  • Been subject to the Federal Unemployment Tax
  • A governmental operation or political subdivision
  • A nonprofit organization under Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and had four or more employees for some portion of a day during any 20 different weeks in a calendar year

Source
These criteria mean that individuals working as consultants, independent contractors (including many psychologists, counselors, barbers, cosmetologists, IT workers, and P-14 wage employees of the Commonwealth) may be excluded, as are a list of others that may be found here.