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The economic premium in education

Can money buy a good education?

Students in wealthy communities do better than those from economically poor ones. This is what we learn from standardized testing. Standardized testing has shown over and over again, that the average performance for any particular school is directly related to the income status of parents. Yet, there is more to money in education than the eye can see. Some students in wealthy communities do poorly, while some students in poor communities excel.

Can a good education buy more money?

In education, money matters to people. It matters because people believe that one needs money to have access to good education, and that a good education translates into higher life time earnings. It is this believe that an advanced degree translates into higher paying jobs that creates a push to have everyone entering college. This is true for the average life-time earnings differences, but actual incomes vary enormously among individuals with the same education indicating that other factors than the degree itself are actually critical to earn more money. So what is it that a higher education offers? What is the value of an academic degree?

Next: On standardized testing