As the price of a college degree continues to rise, there's growing evidence that the monetary payoff isn't quite as big as often advertised. The best estimate now is that a college degree is worth about 300,000 in today's dollars--nowhere near the million figure that is often quoted.

"That million number has driven me crazy!" says Sandy Baum, a Skidmore economist who studied the value of a college degree for the College Board last year.

Baum's research showed that college graduates earn, on average, about 20,000 a year more than those who finished their educations at high school. Add that up over a 40-year working life and the total differential is about 800,000, she figures. But since much of that bonus is earned many years from now, subtracting out the impact of inflation means that 800,000 in future dollars is worth only about 450,000 in today's dollars.

Then, if you subtract out the cost of a college degree--about ,000 in tuition and books for students who get no aid and attend public in-state universities--and the money a student could have earned at a job instead of attending school, the real net value in today's dollars is somewhere in the 300,000 range, a number confirmed by other studies.

But, especially these days, that still makes a college degree one of the most lucrative investments a person can make, Baum notes.

Better yet, college graduates can go on to earn advanced degrees, which return even bigger payoffs. The average holder of a bachelor's degree earns about 51,000 a year, Baum calculates. But those who've gone on to earn MBAs, law degrees, or other professional degrees earn about 100,000 a year.

In addition, Baum found that there are plenty of other rewards for a degree. The quality of the jobs college graduates get is far better, for example. College graduates are more likely to get jobs with health insurance. And it is easier for them to find and hold jobs. The unemployment rate for college graduates was just 2.2 percent last year, half the unemployment level of those with only high school diplomas.

There are lots of other nonmonetary benefits as well. College graduates are healthier, contribute more to their communities, and raise kids who are better prepared academically, studies show.

Other researchers have found that the payoff of a degree is especially lucrative for students from low-income families, since the education and credential give them a chance to break out of low-paying careers.

大学文凭价格持续攀升，而其货币回报却未如广告所宣传的那样美好。以现如今的美元估计，大学文凭最准确的价值大约是30万美元，远达不到人们常说的百万美元。

“百万美元这个说法快让我发疯了！”Sandy Baum 说。她是一位Skidmore 经济学家，去年，她研究了大学理事会成员心中的大学文凭的价值。

Baum的研究显示大学毕业生平均年薪大约比刚毕业的高中生高2万美元。她指出，如果是加上40年的工龄，总的工资级差大约是80万美元。但是因为大多数的红利都是很多年之后的事，再除去通货膨胀的影 响，也就是说将来的80万美元在现在大约只值45万美元。

然后，如果减掉大学文凭的费用－－如果是在州立大学读书，并且没拿奖学金，学费和书本费支出大概是，000美元，并且还要除去一个学生不上大学这段时间所能挣的钱，以现在的美元看，大学文凭净值约30万美元。这个数字也为其它的研究所证实。

Baum提到，大学教育，尤其是在现在，仍然是一个人所能做的最有利的投资。

更好的是，大学毕业后还能再读个高级学位，得到的薪水回报将更大。据Baum的计算，一个学士平均年薪大约5万1千美元，而一个MBA，法律硕士或是其它职业学位的毕业生可以拿到将近10万美元的年薪。

 另外，Baum发现文凭还能带来很多其他回报。大学毕业生所获得的工作要好很多。举个例子，大学毕业生更容易取得有社会保险的职位，更容易找到工作并保住工作。去年大学毕业失的失业率大约是2.2％， 而这个数字只是那些高中文凭毕业生的失业率的一半。

此外，文凭还有很多非金钱的回报。众多研究表明，大学毕业生更健康，更加关注自己所在的社区，他们的子女也有更好的受教育的机会。

其它研究人员也发现学历所带来的回报对那些来自低收入家庭的学生尤其具有诱惑力，因为教育和文凭给了他们摆脱低收入职位的机会。