As the price of a college degree continues to rise, there’s growing evidence that the monetary payoff isn’t quite as big as often advertised. The best estimate now is that a college degree is worth about 300,000 in today’s dollars--nowhere near the million figure that is often quoted.
大学学费年年攀升，而毕业后的工资回报却未如广告所大肆宣传的那样年年见长。以现如今的美元估计，大学学历最准确的价值是——30万美元，远不及常为人所引用的100万美元那么值钱。
"That million number has driven me crazy!" says Sandy Baum, a Skidmore economist who studied the value of a college degree for the College Board last year.
“100万美元都快让我想疯了！” 桑迪. 波美说道。这位斯克迪默学院的经济学家于去年为大学理事会研究了大学文凭的价值。
Baum’s research showed that college graduates earn, on average, about 20,000 a year more than those who finished their educations at high school. Add that up over a 40-year working life and the total differential is about 800,000, she figures. But since much of that bonus is earned many years from now, subtracting out the impact of inflation means that 800,000 in future dollars is worth only about 450,000 in today’s dollars.
波美的研究表明大学毕业生的平均年薪只比那些刚毕业的高中生高一点，大约为2万美元。根据她的计算，如果加上40年的工龄，总的工资级差将会达到80万美元。但因为大多数的红利都是很久之后的事，所以除去通货膨胀的影响，并将未来价值80万美元兑换为现在的美元来考虑，这个数字为45万美元。