1. November 12, 2012
Slide Stack The Nonfinancial Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society
Susan R. Madsen
Orin R. Woodbury Professors of Leadership and Ethics
Utah Valley University

2. Outline Health and Well-being Civic and Community Engagement Parenting
Smoking
Exercise
Obesity
Low Birth Weight and Breast-Feeding
Civic and Community Engagement
Volunteerism
Voting
Parenting
Self-Development
Intellectual and Cognitive Development
Other Societal Benefits

3. 1 Health & Wellbeing Live longer lives (on average)
Have an overall healthier lifestyle (exercise more, healthier diet, lower alcohol abuse, lower cholesterol levels, higher fiber intake, smoke less)
Are less overweight or obese

4. Health & Wellbeing
Have increased life satisfaction and overall happiness
Are more resilient and less depressed (better mental health)
Acquire more resources to pay for health insurance

5. Smoking
Smoking rates among college graduates have been significantly lower than smoking rates among other adults since information about the risks became public.
College graduates were at least as likely as others to smoke before the medical consensus on the dangers of smoking became clear.
Smoking rate of college graduates had the largest drop in all categories.
Source:
Education Pays 2010

6. Smoking Rates
Source:
Education Pays 2010

7. Obesity & Exercise
Within each age group, college-educated adults are less likely than others to be obese.
Children living in households with more highly educated adults are less likely than other children to be obese.
At every age, individuals with higher levels of education are more likely than those with lower levels of education to engage in leisure-time exercise.

8. Source: Goals for the Common Good
Obesity and Education
Source: Goals for the Common Good

9. Obesity Rates
Source:
Education Pays 2010

10. Obesity Among Children/Youth
Education Pays 2010
Source:

11. Exercise Rates
Education Pays 2010
Source:

12. Low Birth Weight and Breast-Feeding
Mothers with higher levels of education are less likely than others to have low-birth-weight babies and are more likely than others to breast-feed their babies.
Overall, mothers with only a high school education are 31% more likely than mothers with a bachelor’s degree or higher (8.9% vs. 6.8%) to give birth to babies weighing less than 5.5 pounds.
Source:
Education Pays 2010

13. Civic and Community Engagement2
Participate substantially more in civic and community activities
Voting
Donating blood
Filling leadership roles
Be a more conscientious civic and community volunteer

14. Volunteerism
The percentage of people who donate their time to organizations and the number of hours people spend in volunteer activities are higher among individuals with higher levels of education.
College graduates are more likely to donate blood (National Health Interview Survey).
Higher levels of education provide students opportunities to apply what they have learned in non-profit organizations and other community settings (service-learning, internships).

15. Volunteering Rates
Education Pays 2010
Source:

16. Voting
In every age group, adults with higher levels of education were more likely to vote than those with lower levels of education.
Among individuals ages 25 to 44, there was a 32 percentage point gap between the voting rates of four-year college graduates and high school graduates.
The voting rate gap for individuals ages 18 to 24 was 30 percentage points.

17. Source: Goals for the Common Good
Voting Rates
Source: Goals for the Common Good

18. 3 Parenting Give birth to healthier babies
Spend more time reading to their children
Prepare children better academically for school
Have children who participate in extracurricular activities

19. Parenting Provide healthier lifestyles for their children
Work higher paying, more flexible jobs
Have more college-educated children who can better provide for self and families

20. Parenting
Children of parents with higher levels of educational attainment are better prepared for school and, while in school, are more likely than other children to engage in educational activities with their parents.
Children between the ages of 3 and 5 whose parents had bachelor’s degrees were more than twice as likely as children of high school graduates to recognize all of the letters of the alphabet (39% vs. 18%).

21. Parents and Children
Children whose parents had some college but no degree were 50% more likely than children of high school graduates to recognize all of the letters of the alphabet (27% vs. 18%).
Among parents whose highest degree was a bachelor’s degree, 68% read to their children daily. This compares to 57% of parents with an associate degree, 47% of parents with some college but no degree, 41% of high school graduates, and 26% of parents who did not complete high school.

22. Parents and Children
Parents with higher levels of education more frequently participate with their school-age children in a wide variety of activities, ranging from going to a library to participating in community/religious /ethnic activities, to attending concerts or other live events.

23. Source: Goals for the Common Good
Reading Proficiency
Source: Goals for the Common Good

24. Benefits to a Reading Citizenry
Source: Goals for the Common Good

25. 4 Self-Development Improved self-understanding
Greater independence and feelings of control in life
Superior leadership skills
Higher ethical and moral standards and reasoning

26. Self-Development Stronger social skills
Better self-concept/self-esteem
Openness to diversity and racial understanding
Greater ability to make reasoned, reflective judgments
Stimulating occupations and increased quality of life

27. Intellectual/Cognitive5
Better lifelong learning skills
More intelligence/knowledge (e.g., English, science, math, social sciences, reading)
Stronger teamwork and interpersonal skills

28. Intellectual/Cognitive
Increased ability to integrate ideas and concepts
Stronger written and verbal skills
Higher critical and creative thinking, as well as decision making skills
Enhanced quantitative and analytical skills

29. Other Societal Benefits6
Societies that have higher levels of education are safer; more educated individuals are less prone to commit criminal behavior.
For every year of increase in the average schooling level within a community, there is a 30 percent decrease in murder.
Communities that have a well-educated citizenry have fewer incidences of depression and suicide.

30. Source: Goals for the Common Good
Incarceration Rates
Source: Goals for the Common Good

31. Poverty Rates
The 4% poverty rate for bachelor’s degree recipients was one-third of the 12% poverty rate for high school graduates.
The poverty rate for all associate degree recipients was 7%, compared to 9% for individuals with some college but no degree.
The 12% poverty rate for bachelor’s degree recipients living in families headed by unmarried females was about one-third of the 35% poverty rate for high school graduates living in similar families.
2008 Data

32. Households in Poverty
Education Pays 2010
Source:

33. Public Assistance
The percentage of high school graduates ages 25 and older living in households qualified for and receiving Medicaid was three times as high as the percentage of those with a bachelor’s degree or higher participating in this program.
In 2008, 8% of high school graduates ages 25 and older lived in households that relied on the Food Stamp Program, compared to just over 1% of those with at least a bachelor’s degree. The pattern was similar for the National School Lunch Program.
Source:
Education Pays 2010

34. Public Assistance Programs
Source:
Education Pays 2010

35. References
American Human Development Project. (2009). Goals for the common good: Exploring the impact of education. Retrieved from
Association of American Colleges and Universities. (2005). Liberal education outcomes: A preliminary report on student achievement in college. Retrieved from
Baum, S., Ma, J., & Payea, K. (2010). Education pays: The benefits of higher education for individuals and society (Trends in Higher Education Series, Report No. 7). Retrieved from
Pascarella, E. T., & Terenzini, P. T. (2005). How college affects students: A third decade of research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.