By Robert Kelchen, Associate Professor, Seton Hall University
Commissioned by Higher Learning Advocates 

The main reason why most students go to college is for a better future, including better labor market outcomes and higher wages. A national survey of full-time students entering four-year colleges shows that 85 percent of respondents considered getting a better job to be a very important reason to attend college and 73 percent also considered making more money to be crucial. Particularly among today’s students—many of whom are returning adults, the first in their family to attend college, and attending part-time—making a better life for themselves and their families is the main reason they make sacrifices to attend college.

Read the full paper here.