This article was originally written for FirstGenerationStudent.com, now a part of ImFirst.org.
Dave Supa racked up student loan debt to earn a four-year degree in geography from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, but all that got him was a gig as an events manager for a beer distributor.
“You expect companies to be waiting outside and handing you a job while you still have your cap and gown on and a freshly printed bachelor’s degree in your hand,” says Supa. “But, like most graduates, I found out that doesn’t happen.”
Still, when his brother suggested he enter a program in marine technology at a community college, Supa rolled his eyes at the idea.
“I already had a four-year degree,” he says. “I didn’t want to go back to community college. I had the same perception as many other people: ‘A community college? Come on, man, I got a four-year degree!'”
But, surprising new research shows that community college grads are earning more than bachelor’s degree recipients—without the higher burden of money and time required by a four-year education.
Before he’d even graduated from Cape Fear Community College in North Carolina, Supa had a job lined up with great benefits, doing offshore seismic exploration for an oil and natural gas exploration company in Houston.
The typical new graduate from the marine technology program at Cape Fear makes $48,000, nearly 7 percent more than the average starting salary for graduates with bachelor’s degrees from four-year universities.
“I should have done this right out of high school and saved myself all that money,” says Supa, 27, as he prepares to start his training in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce has found that nearly 30 percent of people with associate degrees make more than their counterparts with bachelor’s degrees. Separate calculations by the American Institutes for Research show that new graduates from community colleges in Tennessee make $1,300 more than new bachelor’s degree holders, and, in Virginia, $2,500 more.
“Without a doubt, there is good evidence that an associate’s degree can lead to family-sustaining earnings,” says Jeff Strohl, the Georgetown center’s chief economist.
“We undervalue the community college,” Strohl says. “That perception, or at least some of it, is driven by people who don’t seem to understand that college doesn’t have to mean only a bachelor’s degree.”
This includes legislators in Washington and state capitals, who make the rules and fund the education system, says Christopher Mullin, director of policy analysis at the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC).
“Most people in Washington didn’t go to community colleges,” Mullin says. “But local employers, and people within the communities, know about the value of community college, and understand that our institutions play a crucial role.”
That’s one reason that eight percent of people who go to community colleges do so even though they already have a four-year degree, according to the AACC.
There’s no sign that this trend will slow, as demand continues for so-called “middle skills” professions that require no more than associate degrees, in such fields as information technology and computer processing, healthcare, engineering and draftsmanship and manufacturing.
More than one out of five jobs today, or 29 million in all, fall into this category, according to the Georgetown center.
“These are jobs that often have certifications or state licensures attached to them. For example, to become a nurse, you have to pass the national nurse licensing test, which gives you demonstrated competencies and knowledge, as compared to somebody who may have a bachelor’s degree in biology who doesn’t have a defined set of competencies that can be measured,” says Mullin.
“That’s been our sweet spot,” he says. “Our graduates have more of a specialized skill set than [those with] more general degrees” from four-year universities and colleges.
The salary advantage new graduates with associate’s degrees enjoy eventually closes: while community college grads will ultimately rack up about $500,000 more in lifetime earnings than people with only high school diplomas, they’ll make about $600,000 less than bachelor’s degree recipients over their careers, depending on their professions—but a community college also costs a comparatively cheapo $6,262, on average, according to the College Board, compared to $158,072 for a bachelor’s degree from a four-year, private residential university. And, only one in 10 community college students has to borrow to pay for tuition.
“It’s crazy to invest all this money in a four-year institution and walk out there with a six-figure debt, and then you have to figure out a way to pay it back with a $9-an-hour job,” says Supa.
Community-college graduates can also use their educations as foundations for subsequent degrees.
“You can start at an entry level in these middle-skills jobs, earning a decent salary, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay in that same job for the rest of your life,” says Mullin. “You’ll have somebody who will enter a middle-skills job and say, ‘You know what? I want to be the manager or floor leadership so I’m going to go back and get my bachelor’s degree in business administration that gives me the skills to lead and manage a group of people.'”
Many employers will even pay for all or part of that.
“Just because you get one degree doesn’t mean that has to be your last degree,” says Mullin. “Your first credential can be a really lucrative one, and can open up opportunities you may not have been aware of.”
That’s Supa’s plan. He wants to eventually go into management.