Investing in Education in Georgia

ARCHE Report Quantifies the Benefits of Investing in Education

The number of years a student remains in school has a direct correlation to a wide range of factors that influence that student's quality of life. The same correlation also affects job success and other measures of prosperity for Georgia citizens (higher salaries, home ownership, children who tend to do better in school, etc.) and for society as a whole (more talented workforce, higher tax revenues, lower spending for prisons & public assistance and healthier citizens). These are the issues examined in a newly published report by the Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education (ARCHE).

Higher Return: How Investing in Education Pays Off For Georgia was sponsored in part by the Georgia Power Foundation and the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation. The report analyzes data from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey and other federal and state government data sources. Human Capitol Research Corporation compiles and analyzed the data for ARCHE.

The report contains 20 charts that provide a graphic understanding of the benefits of staying in school and completing an education that matches a student's personal and career goals.

One of those charts compares the salary for a high school graduate with the salary of a college graduate in 26 job categories. Example: full time Food Service Manager with HS diploma ($32,120) vs. Food Service Manager with college degree ($55,445)

Again from the study: People with college degrees average higher personal incomes and are less likely to be unemployed.

View the full report online on the ARCHE website.

Thank you to Beth Day for sharing the press release that provided the background and web link on the study.