College wage premium, by gender, 1973–2011

* Percent by which wages of college graduates exceed those of otherwise equivalent high school graduates, regression adjusted

Source: Authors' analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata

Documentation and methodology

Differentials are estimated with controls for experience (as a quartic), region (4), marital status, race/ethnicity, and education, which are specified as dummy variables for less than high school, some college, college, and advanced degree. Log of hourly wage is the dependent variable. Estimates were made on the CPS-ORG data as described in Appendix B, and presented in Table 4.13.