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The Value of a Degree

Author

Listed:
  • Maria A. Cattaneo
  • Christian Gschwendt
  • Stefan C. Wolter

Abstract

The global rise in tertiary educational attainment has been attributed to various factors, most commonly higher expected earnings, improved protection against technological change, and prospects for upward social mobility. In a large-scale discrete-choice experiment with nearly 6,000 adults, we show that when these three factors are held constant, individuals show on average no additional intrinsic willingness to pay (WTP) for a university degree. Individuals are willing to forgo an amount of income roughly equivalent to the total cost of obtaining a university degree - including opportunity and direct costs-when trading off such a degree against basic vocational education. However, we observe significant heterogeneity depending on respondents' own educational attainment, gender and type of tertiary education: individuals with tertiary qualifications and men assign a higher value to higher education and the WTP is higher for university of applied degrees compared to academic university degrees.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria A. Cattaneo & Christian Gschwendt & Stefan C. Wolter, 2025. "The Value of a Degree," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0247, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    • Handle: RePEc:iso:educat:0247
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Autor & Claudia Goldin & Lawrence F. Katz, 2020. "Extending the Race between Education and Technology," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 110, pages 347-351, May.
    2. Cattaneo, Maria A. & Wolter, Stefan C., 2022. "“Against all odds” Does awareness of the risk of failure matter for educational choices?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    3. Ran Abramitzky & Victor Lavy & Maayan Segev, 2024. "The Effect of Changes in the Skill Premium on College Degree Attainment and the Choice of Major," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(1), pages 245-288.
    4. Christian Gschwendt, 2022. "Routine job dynamics in the Swiss labor market," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 158(1), pages 1-21, December.
    5. Cattaneo, Maria A. & Gschwendt, Christian & Wolter, Stefan C., 2025. "How scary is the risk of automation? Evidence from a large-scale survey experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education

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