Is College Worth It? Here’s What The Numbers Show

The Value of Higher Education: It Matters for Higher-Paying Jobs

The Wisconsin job market remains strong, with December 2025’s 3.1% unemployment rate falling significantly below the national unemployment rate of 4.4%. Seeing such high demand for workers, is a college degree worth the time and expense? What kinds of jobs are plentiful now and what will future workers in Wisconsin need?

Coalition member Wisconsin Policy Forum examined Wisconsin job openings in this February 2024 report. Their report found that most job openings (74%) projected over the decade do not require a college degree or credential. In other words, 264,180 jobs are projected to open each year between 2020 and 2030 that need only a high school diploma or have no formal educational requirements. These plentiful job openings, however, pay $50,000 or less annually.

What about those higher-paying jobs, the ones paying more than $50,000 annually?

More than half (54,802, or 58.1%) will be in occupations that typically require a bachelor’s or advanced degree for entry. These are jobs such as registered nurses, accountants, general managers and teachers. And, the much smaller share of new, higher-paying jobs will overwhelmingly require an associate’s or bachelor’s degree: 77% of newly created jobs in the state.

Source: The Value of Higher Education, Wisconsin Policy Forum, Focus #3 • February 2024 https://wispolicyforum.org/research/the-value-of-higher-education/

What’s the takeaway?

Most of Wisconsin’s jobs do not pay more than $50,000 a year as of 2020. Just 26% (95,000) of Wisconsin’s projected annual openings are in occupations that paid median wages of at least $50,000.

If you want a higher-paying job, a two or four-year degree is going to open most of the opportunities out there.