Back in 2016, Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce from the McCourt School of Public Policy published a study looking at the relationship between education and employment in the recovery period after the recession.

This groundbreaking study found that, out of 11.6 million jobs that have been created in the recovery period, people with some postsecondary education have occupied 11.5 million of them, totalling to over a whopping 95%. The study notes that the recession wiped out blue collar and clerical work, and that most of the jobs that have been created since then have been for white collar work, leading to this discrepancy. 

The jobs that hired the most people were management, healthcare positions, and technical jobs, all of which are more likely to require a degree as qualification than other kinds of work. This means that 65% of all employment is now held by people with at least some postsecondary education, and that bachelor’s degree holders also account for 57% of all wages.

People with a bachelor’s degree also lead the charge in terms of number of jobs filled, coming in at 4.7 million. This was followed by those with graduate degrees, who held 3.8 million jobs, and people with associate’s degrees, who held 3.1 million jobs. For contrast, those with no postsecondary education occupied just 80,000 jobs. 

Though this study is a few years old at this stage, and these statistics may have changed, these numbers tell us a great deal about the value of education in today’s economy. This study makes it clear that yesterday’s, today’s, and tomorrow’s employers will all value an education first.

For more information, look at this graph provided by Georgetown University and read the full report, America’s Divided Recovery: College Haves and Have-Nots, here.