school diploma holders and a 29.6% premium
compared to associate degree holders.
DEGREE ATTAINMENT DOESN’T
GUARANTEE EQUITY
In some ways a college degree can exacerbate
income and racial inequalities, such as student
debt and ability to repay that debt, says
Marshall Anthony Jr., a senior policy analyst at
Center for American Progress, a public policy
research organization.
“A college degree doesn’t usually work the same
for everybody,” Anthony says
Black borrowers tend to take on greater
amounts of debt — about $25,000 more, on
average, than white borrowers, according to
federal data.
In 2016, among those with a bachelor’s or
higher degree, Asian full-time, year-round
workers ages 25-34 had higher median
annual earnings ($69,100) than their white
peers ($54,700), and median earnings for
both racial/ethnic groups were higher than
those of their Black ($49,400) and Hispanic
($49,300) peers, according to the most recent
available data by the National Center for
Education Statistics.
Higher debt and lower wages also means
Black borrowers will accrue more interest over
time: Four years after graduating from college,
Black graduates have $52,726 in student
loan debt compared to White graduates
at $28,006, according to a 2016 Brookings
Institution study.