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Higher education is worth the effort.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that higher levels of education are closely associated with higher average earnings for workers aged 25 to 64. For workers with less than a high school diploma, 2007 earnings were $20,689 — $7,601 less than earnings for workers with a high school diploma. The attainment of a college degree has an even greater impact on earnings. Graduates with a four-year degree earned an average salary of $47,240 in 2007, and those with a professional degree earned almost $90,000.

The difference in the salary earned by higher-educated workers compounds over a lifetime. The estimated earnings during the worklife (approximately 40 years) of a full-time worker who didn't complete high school are about $1 million dollars. Completing high school increases earnings by about a quarter of a million dollars, and completing a bachelor's degree raises worklife earnings to over $2 million.

Finally, people with less education often have fewer choices in life and are more likely to depend on government services than the rest of the population: 8.7 percent of high school dropouts were unemployed in June 2008 — versus 2.3 percent of college graduates.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement, 2008