How high schoolers can plan for post-college career paths in the age of AI technology

For the past few decades, the clearest path to a comfortable middle-class career in America has been through college. Research shows individuals with degrees earn more on average than those without one.

Even as wage premiums for those who earned college degrees have decreased slightly since the COVID-19 pandemic, in the 21st century, individuals with a degree earned 68% to 79% higher average wages than those with a high school diploma, research from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco showed.