Answer: $20,000 per year

Questions:

1. Was your estimate higher or lower than the actual answer? Why do you think you over/underestimated?
2. What are the factors that make this wage gap so large?
3. Do you anticipate this wage gap increasing or decreasing in the future? Why?

Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the Numbers (from Motley Fool):

It's no secret that those who graduate from college are more likely to command higher wages than workers with only a high school diploma. But the earnings gap between degree-holders and those without has reached its widest point in decades, according to Pew Research. These days, workers with college diplomas earn about 56% more than those with high school diplomas alone. Furthermore, as of 2015, younger workers aged 25 to 34 with college degrees earned roughly $20,000 more than similarly aged workers who didn't graduate college.

Not only that, but college-educated adults are also more likely to land full-time work than those who didn't attend college. In July 2016, unemployment held steady at 2.5% among working adults with college degrees, whereas that figure reached 5% for adults with just a high school diploma.  

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Here's an awesome interactive (with accompanying NGPF activity worksheet) to show how salaries differ based on college major. 

About the Authors

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

Danielle Bautista

Danielle is a native of Southern California and a recent graduate from the University of Maine, where she braved the frigid winters—a feat in and of itself—and earned her Bachelor's degree in International Affairs. She has a passion for working with non-profit organizations and serving populations in underprivileged communities. When Danielle isn't writing NGPF blog posts, spearheading various outreach projects, or managing contests and flash surveys, you can find her doing some sort of outdoor activity, learning a new hobby, or cracking what she thinks are witty puns!