I recently wrote two articles about the top 15 college degrees by starting salary and the top 10 college degrees by demand. On the face, it seems that those two articles are reason enough to get a college degree. However, those two articles only apply to a minority of college degree holders.

If you find yourself getting a degree that is on one of those two lists, you are one step ahead of the game. But for everyone else, what are other major motivators behind getting a college education?

8 Reasons to Get a Degree

If the fact that your college education is in demand or that you will get a high starting salary isn’t enough to persuade you, here are some more reasons.

1) Lifetime Earnings

According to the Census Bureau, over the average Adult’s working life a high school graduate will earn $1.2 million, an associate degree holder will earn $1.6 million, a bachelors degree holder will earn $2.1 million, and a masters degree holder will earn $2.5 million. Someone with a four-year college degree will earn almost twice as much!

Source: "The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings"

This will have a huge impact on your retirement opportunities and your day to day living.

Obviously some people will anecdotally have proof that some high school graduate they know makes $150,000 every year. However, these are anecdotes and are considered the exception to the rule. The numbers don’t lie. A degree will increase your earning potential.

2) Job Security

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), “Education pays in higher earnings and lower unemployment rates.”

In 2008, the BLS reported an unemployment rate of 2% for people with doctoral degrees, 2.4% for people with masters degrees, 2.8% for people with bachelors degrees, 3.7% for people with an associates degree, and 5.7% for people with a high school diploma. These statistics are about a year dated, but still prove a point.

Source: “Education Pays …”

Having only a high school diploma seems to double your chances of facing the unemployment line.

3) Total Compensation

On top of your salary, which is just part of your total compensation, you will get a bunch of other fringe benefits such as:

• Career training
• Vacation time and other paid time off (PTO)
• Health/Dental/Vision insurance
• Improved working conditions
• Greater professional mobility

The total compensation package will open your doors to success in the future.

4) Healthcare

The College Board has reported demographic statistics for college graduates based on research from the American Cancer Society. People with college degrees have a longer life expectancy and lower risk of obesity and heart disease. This is likely due to the fact that other studies have shown that college graduates have greater access to health care, better dietary habits, and lower rates of smoking.

The more routine checkups people get and less at-risk behaviors they participate in, the earlier they will catch serious problems.

5) Successful Children

Another pretty neat demographic statistic: Children of college graduates generally have a better quality of life, improved test scores, and improved cognitive abilities.

6) Work-Life Balance

You’ve probably heard this mantra before in professional companies, “Work Hard, Play Hard.” I won’t lie, I lived by this when I was working in college. I would work as hard as I could for 20 to 30 hours per week (my pay at times was results based), study as hard as I could to stay on the Dean’s list, and then play as hard as I could to make the most of the time!

College graduates are more likely to get the perk of the “fun factor.” They go to amusement parks more. They vote more. They read more.

7) Satisfaction

After obtaining my college education, the two most valuable “things” I learned were the ability to think critically and time-management skills. Thinking critically and strategically came from my coursework and time-management came from the hectic work-life-school balance.

There is also satisfaction derived from learning. Now, college isn’t the only way to learn, but it is definitely a formalized perk. ;)

That seems like a matter of opinion, right? And it is. However, a 2007 University of Chicago study showed that those who were most satisfied with their jobs had more education and made more money, while those doing unskilled labor reported being the least happy.

8) Getting Married

When people look for a spouse, they look for someone with a similar background usually. That may explain why 25 years ago only 6% of men between the ages of 40 and 44 and only a high school diploma had never been married. Now, it is up to 18%. For men between 35 and 39, it was 8% for men with only a high school diploma. That is now up to 22%.

Did non-college educated men simply decide they were against marriage? Or have more women gone to college and look for a similarly educated man, now?

Other Perks of a Degree?

Does anyone have any other perks that exist for getting a college degree?

Sometimes people make the argument that a college degree isn’t necessarily worth it based on numbers alone. However, the question at hand needs to look at non-quantifiable perks like work-life balance and satisfaction.

Remember, this doesn’t mean that you can’t be successful with only a high school diploma. But it does mean the odds are against you.