The Benefits

There is a strong correlation between education level and personal income,productivity, civic participation, life expectancy, employment status, and community strength.

• Kentuckians with bachelor’s degrees typically earn over $16,000 more per year than high school graduates.
• The average U.S. bachelor’s degree recipient can expect to earn 62 percent more over a 40-year working life than the average high school graduate.

• In 2006, about 27 percent of U.S. adults volunteered for community organizations. Among college graduates, the volunteer rate was 43 percent, over twice the 19 percent rate for high school graduates.
• In the 2004 presidential election, 76 percent of U.S. college graduates reported voting, compared to 49 percent of high school
  graduates.

• In 2005, 61 percent of U.S. college graduates exercised vigorously at least once a week as compared to 31 percent of high school graduates.
• College graduates in the U.S. are less likely to smoke.
• U.S. adults with a bachelor's degree are more likely to have health insurance.

• Incarceration rates for U.S. adults with some postsecondary education are significantly lower- about a quarter of that for individuals with only a
  high school diploma.
• Government spending for public assistance programs tends to decrease as levels of education increase.
• Kentuckians with higher education levels have lower rates of poverty

• Unemployment rates are much lower for college graduates than for high school graduates.
• The top states in educational attainment also rank highest
  on the New Economy Index, which measures innovation,entrepreneurship, and competitiveness in the global economy. Kentucky ranks 45th on this index.