The Risky Returns of Higher Education

A university degree still promises higher pay on average—but for many students, the gamble is growing riskier. As tuition rises and earnings stagnate in some fields, the returns to higher education have become wildly uneven, leaving a significant share of graduates worse off than if they had never enrolled. In this episode, we explore why the college wage premium masks huge differences by subject and completion time, how new data is exposing which degrees deliver value and which do not, and why governments and employers are starting to rethink what education is really worth. The story suggests that the future of higher education may depend less on broad faith in college—and more on hard questions about outcomes, accountability, and choice.https://www.economist.com/international/2023/04/03/was-your-degree-really-worth-it