This report examines whether a college degree protected recent graduates from a range of poor employment outcomes during the recession, including unemployment, low-skill jobs, and lesser wages. The report draws upon data from the 2003-2011 Current Population Survey (CPS) to examine the early labor market outcomes of 21- through 24-year-olds. The…

A college degree often translates into economic success: Americans who start at the bottom of the income ladder "quadruple" their chances of making it to the top when they earn a four-year degree, according to past research by the Pew Economic Mobility Project. Nevertheless, many young people from the bottom and middle of the ladder…

In an effort to better understand how Americans' mobility outcomes compare with those of their counterparts in other nations, the Pew Economic Mobility Project partnered with the Russell Sage Foundation and the Sutton Trust to commission a multi-country study on economic mobility, "Cross-National Research on Intergenerational Transmission of…

Past research from Pew's Economic Mobility Project (EMP) has shown that a college degree quadruples the chances that an individual born into the bottom income quintile will reach the top quintile in adulthood. For community colleges in particular, the project has shown that getting a community college degree increases earnings by an average of…