Source: Fortune
Summary
A new report by the Postsecondary Education and Economic Research Center found that some graduate degrees, such as psychology and education, offer negative returns on investment, with costs outweighing potential earnings. The study analyzed 121 advanced degrees and found that even popular fields like computer science yield only a 6% return after adjusting for costs. The researchers used administrative data from the Texas Education Research Center to develop causal estimates and accounted for outside options, such as estimated earnings without a graduate degree. The study’s findings come as AI threatens to disrupt white-collar work and students question the value of higher education.
Our Reading
The numbers tell one story.
Fortune reports on a study that found some graduate degrees offer negative returns on investment. The worst returns are for psychology graduate degrees, with a -8% cost-adjusted return. Clinical psychology, social work, and curriculum and instruction degrees also offer negative returns. Computer science, a popular field, yields only a 6% return after adjusting for costs. The study’s authors, Joseph G. Altonji and Zhengren Zhu, used administrative data to develop causal estimates and accounted for outside options. The findings come as AI threatens to disrupt white-collar work and students question the value of higher education. The hidden cost of going back to school is becoming increasingly apparent.
Author: Evan Null
