by : Steve Wilcott

Be Happier and Healthier With A College Education

It has always been clear that a college graduate could make moremoney than a high school graduate but new research is showingthat college degree holders and their families are generallymore happy and healthy than those with just a high schooldiploma.

The money equation has never been simpler math. A collegegraduate will make on average twice as much per year than a highschool graduate. Over an average working lifetime that will addup to a million dollar gap in earning power. A person with amasters degree can make triple the money and a doctorate willbring in as much as four times the income as a high schooldiploma.

But the intangible value of a college education have long beenin doubt and debated widely. Now studies are showing aremarkable list of quality of life benefits that accrue tocollege graduates versus their high school only counterparts.

That list includes longer life spans, better access to healthcare, and better dietary and health practices. In other words,better overall health. But the list also includes things thatmake people happier. Things like greater Internet access,greater attendance at live performances, greater participationin leisure and artistic activities and more book purchases.

A college education makes better citizens as well. Collegegraduates have less dependency on government assistance, lowerlevels of criminal activity and incarceration, greater communityservice and leadership, and more volunteer work. Who would yourather have living next to you, a high school graduate orsomeone with a university degree?

Knowledge is indeed power and not every college graduate is asaint and not every person with only a high school education isa sinner. But it appears that those who have more knowledge doless damage to their society on average and contribute a greatdeal more. One only need look at societies where education wasbanned to see the result.

The other intangible but real impact of a college education ison the children of those who complete a college degree program.Once the door has been opened they gladly follow through. Theyend up improving their own lives and their children's lives aswell. Just as welfare pulls children under, education lifts themhigher.

Not everyone can attend university or college for a wide rangeor reasons that are almost all related to finances. But everyyear more of those barriers get knocked down and more and morestudents walk through. Knowing what we know now, wouldn't thisbe an even greater country if everybody who wanted to could havea college education