Want a good job by age 30? Skipping college could doom your chances.
CBSN
Decades ago, young adults didn't need much more than a high school degree to secure a job with solid, middle-class wages. Today, such opportunities have become an anomaly, with a new study finding that young Americans without college degrees are more likely to be stuck in low-earning jobs than not by the age of 30.
In fact, earning a college degree is the surest path to landing a good job by age 30, according to an analysis from Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. A good job, as defined by the study, is one that pays a median annual wage of $57,000 by age 30.
The findings come amid growing skepticism about the value of higher education, with a majority of Americans saying they don't believe a college degree is worth the cost, according to a recent poll from the Wall Street Journal and NORC. But without a college degree, young Americans are unlikely to find economic stability by age 30, the Georgetown analysis suggests.