User talk:Atcovi/Are college degrees necessary for success?

What do we need in order to pass this essay?
—Atcovi (Talk - Contribs) 22:49, 18 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Visual appeal, including animations and colour (this will be presented on a powerpoint)
 * Mechanics, including proper grammar and spelling (shouldn't be difficult)
 * Presentation skills, including no stuttering and effective tone (will be voice recorded presentation)
 * Expert connections, including presenting accurate info effectively.
 * Facts and info is well, including history of the topic and [relation to program topic?].
 * APA Style Reference Guide at the end
 * More than 7 minutes but less than 10 minutes

Is it really that simple?
I have seen variations of this for years. What is not clear is to me is what does the phrase "earn 66% more" actually mean. Does it mean a starting salary that is 66% higher, an average salary throughout a person's life, or does it mean total earnings throughout one's life.

Let me illustrate with an example. Assuming the average non-college-person earns a wage between the ages of 18-60. This means 42 years of uninterrupted employment. Let's say this average person (X) has an average income from employment of 30,000^. Total lifetime earning=30,000*42=1.26^ million

If person Y goes to college, for say 4 years, increasing their average income to 49,800^ (66% more than X), but reducing the number of years worked from 42 to 38, then total lifetime earning=49,800*38=1.89^ million. So Y, who is a college-educated-person has a lifetime earning of 50% more than X.

But in real life the story does not end here. For example many countries tax individuals on their income, and several countries tax higher-earning individuals at higher %.

If country Z taxes X at a 10% rate, X's take-home-pay is 1.26-.13=1.13^ over X's lifetime. If country Z taxes Y at a 20% rate, Y's take home pay is 1.89-.36=1.51^ over Y's lifetime. So Y has an after-tax lifetime earning of 34% more than X.

I could go on making this even more complex by introducing years of unemployment as a result of illness, layoffs, looking after children, elderly parents; supply and demand factors; how many years does it take to get a degree, etc. But I just wrote this to illustrate that using the original 66% is way too simplified.

I hope it is OK to add these comments here? Ottawahitech (discuss • contribs) 16:46, 12 November 2021 (UTC)