THE MONEY VALUE OF EDUCATION.

White Ribbon, Volume 24, Issue 277, 18 July 1918, Page 7

THE MONEY VALUE OF EDUCATION.

The Bureau of Education, Department of the Interior, of the (Government of the United States, issued last >ear a Bulletin entitled, “The Money Value of Education.” It is a very striking production, and shows in many different ways, and with convincing clearness, that even from the ixrint of view of power to make money there is nothing truer than th.it “education pays.” The Bulletin is illustrated with diagrams, of which we copy two, one shoving the relative value of the uneducat«d ta the educated from the point of view of power to serve the community; and tlv; other, the value stated in terms of money of every day a boy spends in school. I.

These figures were obtained by a detailed investigation of the history of the eight thousand persons mentioned

in the 1899-1900 edition of “WTo’s Who in America.” A similar investigation of the 1910-1911 list gave “nearly identical results. 11.

These figures are derived from the history of the graduates of the Springfield (Mass.) High School up to the year 1907. The Bulletin states that they represent a fair average of what may be ext>ected from a good s* hool system. Probably the figures for our own country, if availably would be more convincing still. Unfortunately, none have been compiled, but this is what the School Journal has to say to New Zealand boys and girls about it: “Some shrewd boy or girl may ask, ‘Does it pay to continue my education?’ Well, figures bowing the extent to which it pays have not been

compiled for New Zealand, but let us give you some figures that have been compiled elsewhere. Two groups of citizens w'*re taken: (a) those who left school at 14, and (h) those- who left school at 18. It was found that those who left school at 14 and began to earn money at on< e, received by the time they reached 25 years of age, only two-thirds of what was received by others who remained at school till they were 18, and for four years earned nothing. Moreover, .it 25 years of age those who stayed at school for the longer period were, on the average, earning nearly two and a-half times as much in yearly salary as those who left school earlv.”