Report: Higher degrees raise earnings, but Alabama struggles to keep graduates

Alabama’s college graduates earn significantly more income as their level of education rises, but the state struggles to retain many of its highest-paid graduates to other states, according to a recent report from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education.

The 2024 Employment Outcomes Report, based on an ACHE analysis of Alabama degree records and state labor data, shows a clear link between education level and income, ACHE Deputy Director Jim Hood said at a recent ACHE meeting.

Hood said that research also shows that higher education leads to a better quality of life, with benefits such as “improved health metrics, longer life, more civic engagement, and several other individual and societal factors.”

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But for most students, those benefits aren’t the main motivation.

“They go to school to make more money and get better jobs, right?” Hood said.

Hood presented the report’s findings on earnings using data on graduates’ wages five years after completing their degrees in 2017.

Challenges

Five years after graduation, the average salary for an Alabamian with an associate degree is about $48,600. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree earn nearly $59,000 on average — about 21% more — while those with a master’s degree earn 26% more than bachelor’s recipients. Doctoral and professional degree holders more than double average bachelor’s-level earnings.

Citing research from Georgetown University, Hood said projections show that by 2031, two-thirds of “good jobs” — those paying at least 60% of the median income for a worker’s age — will require a bachelor’s degree or higher.

In 2023, just 28% of Alabama’s population held a bachelor’s degree or above, Hood said.

“Roughly 75% of the working age population, 25 and 64, will not be qualified for 66% or two-thirds of the jobs by 2031,” Hood told commissioners.

“That’s why, under (Executive Director) Dr. Purcell’s leadership, we’re reaching out to these regions throughout the state to try to promote baccalaureate production – because we feel like that’s going to be the future of our workforce.”

The report also highlights challenges in keeping graduates in Alabama after they earn their degrees.

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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Trisha Powell Crain and originally published by Alabama Daily News.