Higher education: A rare privilege

If you're an undergraduate, congratulations! You're already among the top 50 percent of Americans when it comes to educational attainment. According to the U.S. Census Bureau as of 2005 46.2 percent of adult Americans had never taken a class above the high school level.

That leaves 53.8 percent of the population. Roughly half of that group - 25.7 percent of all Americans - has "some college," according to the census. This is a broad category which can range from taking a single online class to earning an associate's degree at a community college to dropping out three credits shy of a bachelor's degree. A mere 28 percent of Americans earn a bachelor's degree.

It's not clear how many in the "some college" category can be said to have "gone to college" in the sense of having matriculated at an institution like this university. But even if we assume that all of the "some college" folks has spent some time at a four-year college, only half of the population has had that experience.

I have to admit that these figures surprised me. Our popular culture makes it seem as though everyone goes to college. Virtually every TV show about high school-aged students has an "applying to college" story arc. There are countless "Outrageous Spring Break Moments" programs, featuring college students taking a break from partying on their campuses to party in Florida or Mexico. College athletics are big business, and when you see tens of thousands of fans in stadiums across the country, it is easy to assume that many of them are alumni of a particular institution. The issue of U.S. News and World Report which ranks colleges and universities generates extensive media coverage every year, presumably because a lot of people are interested.

Popular culture's assurance that it is normal to go to college calls to mind another widely held assumption among Americans: They will be able to earn a good living and be part of the middle class. Going to college is seen as a transitional period in which young adults gain the preparation and training necessary to secure a job in a profession which allows them to prosper as a member of the allegedly vast American middle class. Both of these ideas - going to college and being part of the middle class - are believed to be part of a typical American life.

Going to college and, more importantly, earning a bachelor's degree is indeed a predictor of whether someone will be able to afford a middle-class lifestyle. Mean earnings for an individual with a bachelor's or advanced degree is more than $54,000 a year, while individuals in the "some college" category average around $35,000. Folks without any college at all - remember, that's about half of the population - have mean earnings of less than $30,000. It seems clear that the incomes that correlate with middle-class prosperity are much more likely to be earned by those who have bachelor's degrees.

Going to college is not normal or typical. Earning a bachelor's degree is even more unusual. I suspect some of you were unaware of these statistics; perhaps you were under the impression that "most people" went to college and got a degree. If you are enrolled at this university, you are a fortunate individual, even if you're working two jobs or assuming student loan debt to pay your tuition. Enjoy yourself, study hard, and be thankful.

Jeremy Sullivan is a doctoral candidate studying American history. He can be reached at sullivandbk@gmail.com.