ICAPP STUDY SHOWS PAYOFF FOR ABAC GRADUATES

Graduates of Abraham Baldwin College find that their degrees do pay off, according to a new statewide study on higher education in Georgia titled “The Value of University System of Georgia Education.”

Commissioned by the University System of Georgia’s Intellectual Capital Partnership Program (ICAPP), the study places a dollar value on the quality education University System students receive.

Researchers at Georgia Tech analyzed the earnings of nearly 90,000 University System of Georgia students who graduated between 1993 and 1997 and found that, overall, the increased earnings resulting from their college degrees added $1.25 billion to the state’s economy during 1998, the most recent year for which data was available.

For the purpose of the study, 980 ABAC graduates were polled. These graduates earned a total wage of $27,023,427 in 1998. Their average salary was $27,575. By attending ABAC, these graduates increased their salaries by $7,169 per year. Over a 40-year career in the workplace, ABAC graduates would earn $286,760 more than graduates with only a high school diploma.

“We’ve known all along that higher education does pay off,” ABAC President Mike Vollmer said. “I think this study reiterates that fact, and also the fact that ABAC graduates get a quality education that they can put to use in the marketplace.”

Vollmer said he was pleased with another aspect of the report that showed there will be 18,130 openings for Registered Nurses in the state between 2000 and 2010.

“Our nursing program is doing fantastic right now,” Vollmer said. “We have an excellent pass rate on the state licensure exam, and nursing is now the largest single major at the college.”

Other top jobs available through 2010 include openings for 15,130 computer support specialists, 10,060 accountants and auditors, 6,320 computer software engineers, and 5,940 network and computer system administrators.

Projections from the Georgia Department of Labor indicate that occupations requiring a higher education degree will make up 25 percent of all the state’s jobs by 2010.

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