(Added value from associate degree 2003) Indeed, in addition to gaining access to jobs in corporate America, college graduates also have other advantages over non-graduates. The most obvious advantage is upward mobility. College graduates have a higher lifetime earnings than non-graduates. As a result graduates also have a better quality of life than non-graduates do.

Post Secondary education is also important later in life. An article found in the journal Social Work Research, explains that the attainment of a college degree it especially significant with women during pre-retirement (Pandey and Zhan 2002). The article asserts that having a college degree can help in solidifying a woman's well being after retirement (Pandey and Zhan 2002). The author explains that this is significant because retired women are twice as likely as retired men to live in poverty (Pandey and Zhan 2002).

The article contends that, "Economic well-being after retirement is determined largely by lifetime earning patterns and savings. Because men and women tend to follow different pathways through major role domains such as employment and family responsibilities (Bianchi & Spain, 1996; Rossi, 1980), their economic status in later life varies accordingly (Pandey and Zhan 2002)."

The article goes on to explain that the human capital theory which asserts that "investment in human capital through education can raise future returns in the labor market even though it may entail opportunity costs in forgone short-term earnings," is essential to understanding the positive impact that a college education has during retirement (Pandey and Zhan 2002). In this particular study the authors examined the impact of education on retired White and African-American Women. This study involved 614 women; 62.9% were white and 32% were African-American (Pandey and Zhan 2002). The average age of the women was 75.5 (Pandey and Zhan 2002). The results of the study indicated that White and African-American women maintained similar outcomes across the three educational groups as the full sample (Table 2). Women with postsecondary education received significantly...

The relationship between educational attainment and welfare income was reversed -- women with postsecondary education received the least, and those with less than a high school degree received the most. Thus, postsecondary education plays an important role in boosting both white and African-American women' social security and assets income and in reducing their reliance on public assistance."
Conclusion

The purpose of this paper was to explain why everyone could benefit from a college education. We found that college is essential to the economic environment that we are currently facing. The investigation is proof positive that a college education makes individuals more employable and leads to higher earnings. We also found that an associate's degree is an alternative to getting a four-year degree and can enhance earnings. Our research also suggests that a college education is essential to women at the time of retirement. The aforementioned research is evidence that everyone could benefit from a college education.