????對(duì)此，專家們會(huì)說(shuō)，雖然攻讀學(xué)位的費(fèi)用不斷增加，但是就讀大學(xué)依然有所回報(bào)。

????有統(tǒng)計(jì)資料證明了這一觀點(diǎn)。與只有高中學(xué)歷的工人相比，大學(xué)畢業(yè)生一生平均多收入100萬(wàn)美元，最終使高達(dá)六位數(shù)的前期投資得以回報(bào)。但是，中途退學(xué)或大學(xué)畢業(yè)時(shí)債臺(tái)高筑、無(wú)法使學(xué)位投資有所回報(bào)的學(xué)生案例比比旨是。

????我們?nèi)绾问菇y(tǒng)計(jì)資料和具體案例保持一致呢？紐約聯(lián)邦儲(chǔ)備銀行（Federal Reserve Bank of New York）提供的圖表說(shuō)明，如果我們只著眼于平均情況，就會(huì)錯(cuò)失很多信息：

????與普通的高中畢業(yè)生相比，底層四分之一擁有大學(xué)學(xué)歷的工薪階層所得薪酬大體相當(dāng)，而且40年來(lái)這種情況沒有發(fā)生真正的改變。事實(shí)上，這個(gè)圖表說(shuō)明，或許由于高薪藍(lán)領(lǐng)工作（如制造業(yè)工作）的消失，大學(xué)學(xué)位對(duì)底層四分之一的工薪階層來(lái)說(shuō)更加重要。當(dāng)然，過(guò)去40年來(lái)攻讀學(xué)位的費(fèi)用增長(zhǎng)了12倍，而把通貨膨脹因素考慮在內(nèi)后，大學(xué)畢業(yè)生的薪酬并沒有出現(xiàn)增加。

????If you listen to the experts, they’ll tell you that, despite the rising cost of a degree, college still pays off.

????And the statistics bear this argument out. A college graduate will on average make $1 million more than a worker with just a high school degree over the course of his lifetime, making even a six-figure upfront investment well worth it in the end. Yetanecdotal evidence abounds of students who either flunked out of college or graduated with large debt loads and are still unable to land jobs that will make the investment in a degree pay off.

????How do we reconcile the statistics with these stories? This chart from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that we can miss a lot when looking at just the average experience:

???The bottom quarter of earners with a college degree don’t make more money than the average high school graduate. And this hasn’t really changed much in 40 years. In fact, this graphic shows that a college degree has become more valuable even for the bottom quarter of earners, likely as a result of the evaporation of high-paying blue collar jobs, like those in the manufacturing industries. Of course, over the past 40 years, the cost of a degreehas increased 12-fold, while a degree holder isn’t making more money at all, when accounting for inflation.