The Earnings Premium: Major, Gender, and Double Majors in Economic Cycles

The value of higher education is currently being questioned. This article uses microdata from the 2009–2022 American Community Survey (ACS) to analyze the impact of educational attainment, major, and double majors on labor market outcomes. By analyzing earnings and college majors, this research refines our understanding of education’s value for researchers, policymakers, and prospective students. Our work corroborates previous findings that bachelor’s degrees contribute significantly to higher earnings and that the choice of college major affects earnings. We also show that the increased resilience to economic downturns found for bachelor’s degree holders is positive for all majors, and that the positive impact differs by gender. We also show that the wage differential for BD holders follows a bell-shaped curve throughout a person’s lifetime. The decline in the wage premium in later years is particularly pronounced and starts earlier for women.