beyyond the financial benefits of a degree
•Summary
•Introduction
•Graduate job quality
•The health benefits of a degree
•Intergenerational effects
•Citizenship
•Positive attitudes
•Spillover to the wider economy
•Anything else?
•References
•Footnotes

Summary

Mark Wilberforce from the Department of Education and Skills gives a lowdown on the non-monetary benefits of a degree. Research suggests that:
•Graduates enjoy higher quality jobs than non-graduates.
•Graduates enjoy better health outcomes, by being less likely to smoke, more likely to exercise, and less prone to depression.
•Graduates’ children also benefit from the educational success of their parents: graduates tend to have a greater involvement with their child’s education.
•Graduates are more influential in the community, by being active citizens who are more likely to vote and participate in voluntary activities.
•Graduates show positive attitudes towards diversity and equal opportunities, such as on race and gender equality issues.
•Graduates, with their higher levels of skill, are a source of wider innovation and economic growth.

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Introduction

Much has been said about the extra earnings power that graduates enjoy, and the ‘graduate premium’ is a well-researched field. But of course, getting a degree is not only about money – graduates, and society alike, benefit in a far wider and more profound sense from a high-skill workforce.

This article draws on a wide range of analysis, but the Department for Education and Skills (DfES)-funded Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning is the driving force behind much of this work.

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Graduate job quality

It is well known that graduates earn more from their jobs than non-graduates, and they have a lower risk of unemployment. But job quality goes further than this: graduates are more likely