Investor Presentaiton
The rate of return to a college degree is high in the US and TN
Estimated Internal Rate of Return to a College Education, 2011-2021
United States
Tennessee
Some College, No Degree
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
9%
13%
16%
7%
11%
14%
Notes: Author's calculations using American Community Survey, 2011-2021. The internal rate of return is the
return that would make someone financially indifferent between investing time and tuition/fees in a college
education versus going straight to work after high school.
Lifetime earnings with HS are 9% lower in TN than
nationwide, but earnings with a BA/BS are 12% lower.
.
Financial benefits of investing
in college: the value of
additional lifetime earnings (in
present value, 2021$) with
different levels of a college
education.
The college investment is
valued at the U.S. average net
price of college for 2-4 years
plus 2-4 years of income that
students could have earned if
they did not go to college.
For comparison, the long-term
average real return to stocks is
about 7%.
16
June 2023 |http://haslam.utk.edu/boyd-center
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