Students who take 6 years for a BA earn less than Associate's degree holders

[Beliavsky]

<p>[How</a> graduating on time pays off – Schools of Thought - CNN.com Blogs](<a href=“http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/28/how-graduating-on-time-pays-off/]How”>http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/28/how-graduating-on-time-pays-off/)</p>

<p>

The University of Tennessee’s Center for Business and Economic Research found that people who earned bachelor’s degrees within four years saw, on average, higher wages than those who earned similar degrees within six years.</p>

<p>The difference between the wages of four-year and six-year graduates: about $6,000.</p>

<p>…</p>

<p>Those who earned a bachelor’s within six years made about $6,000 more than students who attended college but didn’t earn a degree at all.

</p>

<p>The study was of students in Tennessee. Table 12 of the report [A</a> Profile of Non-Completers in
Tennessee Higher Education](<a href=“http://cber.bus.utk.edu/pubs/bfox285.pdf]A”>http://cber.bus.utk.edu/pubs/bfox285.pdf) shows that the wage premium for getting an Associate’s degree within two to four years was higher than the premium for getting a Bachelor’s in six years but lower than the premium for getting a BA in four years. Students with lower high school grades and test scores are less likely than better-prepared students to earn a BA, and when they do earn a BA, they are less likely to do so in four years, as documented in the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1450001-college-graduation-rate-calculator.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1450001-college-graduation-rate-calculator.html&lt;/a&gt; thread. Not everyone should be aiming for a BA.</p>