How Much Are Good Grades Worth? One Massive Chart Purports to Have the Answers.

From time immemorial, teachers and parents have been telling young students to study up, get good grades and reap the rewards of hard work later.

But how much exactly are good grades worth?

Using data from a variety of sources, including the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the team at eBay Deals produced an infographic breaking down exactly how different degrees — and even individual grades — correlate to extra earning potential over the course of a lifetime.

According to the analysis, a high school degree is worth more than a quarter of a million dollars...

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...an associate's degree adds nearly half a million dollars in lifetime earnings...

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...and a bachelor's degree-holder will, on average, earn more than $1 million more than a high school graduate.

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Of course, college major matters a great deal: The average engineer earns more than five times as much as the average teacher over the course of a lifetime.

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Graduate school tends to have an enormous positive impact in earning potential across all sorts of professions...

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...and professional degrees tend to boost incomes even further.

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Perhaps the most interesting finding in the analysis was the correlation of grades earned in school and lifetime earnings.

One study cited in the analysis showed a linear relationship between grades and income, meaning a string of A's isn't just good in school — it could mean the person earning those grades has the right skills to navigate the workforce and command higher pay than someone who settles for C's and D's.

(H/T: Business Insider)

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