What The Research Says
- Higher levels of education (at least up to a Bachelors Degree) are related to greater life expectancy, higher birth weights, fewer murders, lower rates of obesity, lower unemployment, higher incomes, and increased civic participation.
- Especially as it relates to increases in income, Graduate and Professional degrees only improve these life outcomes.
- There is some weak correlational evidence that very high levels of educational attainment can lead to lower levels of life satisfaction.
References
- Common Good Forecaster (United Way)
- Study Links Education, Health (USA Today)
- Educations Effect on Income (Infographic)
- Education and Happiness: a Further Explanation to the Easterlin Paradox?
- Does Education Make You Happy? (NY Times)
The Choices
Limited – School is for suckers and people who don’t have to pay for things, like food…
Score: +1 Risk, -1 Wealth, -1 Health
Bachelors – You have decided that you are going to get precisely as much education as society currently requires of you, and hope that society isn’t as much of a fickle jerk as it seems to be.
Score: -1 Risk, +1 Happiness, +1 Health
Graduate and Professional – Your thirst for knowledge is second only to your desire to never enter the real world.
Score: -1 Risk, +1 Wealth, +1 Health, +1 Happiness