College Search Engine
Use our college search engine to start your career with a college degree in the field of your choice. Your first step is getting a college degree from your choice of qualified and well-recognized colleges. Some colleges offer certified programs; others offer full diploma and degrees and financial aid.
In the table below, you can define your college search engine parameters. This will help quickly return a list of the best schools in the nation. The college search engine results also features additional information about each school, which is displayed when you click on more. Once you have narrowed your college search results to your preferred list of college degrees, click the "Get More Info" button to get detailed information on any college degree programs.
If you are interested in other career areas, please feel free to re-use our college search engine by selecting a different course and get more information on 300+ top rated schools to serve all your educational needs. Just click search to return to college degrees search.
How Much Is Your Education Worth
Cost of Living
Additional Web Resources
When it comes to your earning power, your education is the most important thing you can do. And searching for college degrees can help you along the way. The more education you have, the better your chances of earning more "lifetime" income.
- Did you know that the average "lifetime earnings of a person with a 4 year college degree is about $1,000,000 more than the earnings of a high school graduate; $800,000 more than a person with an AA degree?
- Did you know that earning your Masters Degree increases your lifetime earnings by about $500,000?
- And, an Associate Degree will provide an additional $300,000 more than the high school graduate!
Take a look at the chart below. Here, you will see the average annual earning power for different age groups by education achieved. The information comes from data gathered during the U.S. 2000 census. College-search-engine.com has compiled the data into an easy to read graph. Not surprising, "professionals" (doctors, dentists, lawyers, and some engineers) receive the highest annual income.
Although the data covers an average of all persons, irrespective of gender, race or location, notice that those with college degrees or better, including college degrees, increase in annual income as age increases. In contrast, those with lower achieved education appear to plateau at an early age. That is because the job skills of a poorly educated person do not change very much as age increases. Therefore, older persons are unable to attain higher incomes as long as there are younger people willing to take the job for less. More income is attained when job skills are improves either through education or job experience.
This table covers the average "lifetime income of each education category. Notice how much more income you can expect by attaining more education.
Source = http://ferret.bls.census.gov/macro/032001/perinc/new04_001.htm Annual Demographic Survey 2000Values calculated consider typical work starting age for each education level achieved through age 65.
Most students secure their first job in one of 2 regions:Where they attended school - or - Close to their hometown. Since you are interested in college degrees, you may want to pay particular attention to the cost of living in this region. Use the table below to compare the cost of living in different metropolitan areas. Rows highlighted include locations where the most college degrees are offered. Cost of Living Index
Top Participating Metropolitan Areas Over 2 Million in Population
|
Metropolitan Area
|
Composite
|
Grocery
|
Housing
|
Utilities
|
Transpor-tation
|
Health
Care
|
Misc. Goods
& Services
|
| New York (Manhattan Only) NY |
231.8
|
141.5
|
460.3
|
179.8
|
119.6
|
185.8
|
135.2
|
| Oakland (Pleasanton) CA |
156.6
|
121.6
|
249.9
|
107.3
|
134
|
146.8
|
114.7
|
| Nassau-Suffolk (Nassau County) |
143.5
|
124.5
|
177.8
|
160
|
116.4
|
153
|
126.5
|
| Washington DC-MD-VA-WV |
137.8
|
110.2
|
196
|
97.1
|
136.4
|
123.4
|
114.4
|
| Boston MA |
136.2
|
114.5
|
186
|
138.2
|
118.7
|
130.7
|
110
|
| San Diego CA |
126.4
|
122.5
|
158.7
|
104
|
121.1
|
122.4
|
108.4
|
| Los Angeles-Long Beach CA |
123.1
|
110
|
155.5
|
119.8
|
113.5
|
114.3
|
107
|
| Seattle WA |
118.7
|
109.7
|
144.5
|
66.4
|
124.5
|
130.4
|
110.2
|
| Philadelphia PA-NJ |
116.9
|
107
|
132
|
145.1
|
107
|
98
|
107.9
|
| Riverside-San Bernardino CA |
114.7
|
114.4
|
108
|
135
|
113.8
|
131.7
|
108.9
|
| Detroit MI |
112.9
|
106.2
|
137.6
|
107.7
|
103
|
109.6
|
100
|
| Cleveland-Lorain-Elyria OH |
112.2
|
108.9
|
117.4
|
138.6
|
110.7
|
118.9
|
102.5
|
| Chicago (Joliet) IL |
109
|
109.3
|
109.6
|
110.7
|
115.8
|
112.4
|
105.5
|
| Minneapolis-St. Paul MN-WI |
105.4
|
99.5
|
104.9
|
101.6
|
107.8
|
130.2
|
105.4
|
| Atlanta GA |
103.2
|
106.7
|
101.8
|
97.1
|
99.8
|
114.9
|
103.5
|
| Phoenix-Mesa AZ |
102.3
|
104.9
|
95.7
|
105.2
|
109.5
|
114.8
|
101.9
|
| Dallas TX |
101.1
|
99.2
|
96.9
|
107.2
|
104.7
|
106.8
|
102.2
|
| St. Louis MO-IL |
97.3
|
99.6
|
95.9
|
96.1
|
99.5
|
105.7
|
95.7
|
| Baltimore MD |
97
|
97.2
|
92.4
|
121
|
97.1
|
94
|
95.5
|
| Houston TX |
94.5
|
93.3
|
83.8
|
100
|
105.8
|
110.7
|
97.1
|
Source: http://www.accra.org/edu_prof/pubs/coli_sample.htm
This is a good site to compare 2- and 3-Year-Average Medians Household Income(s) (year 2000) by state:
http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/income00/statemhi.html
This Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistical Data homepage covers a number of reports. Check out the Prices & Living Conditions and Compensation & Working Conditions reports. You may select a metropolitan area and occupation to find average wage rates.
http://www.bls.gov/data/home.htm
This website page is similar to the one above but it contains annual wage information for major metropolitan areas by occupation.
http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/compub.htm
Consumer Price Index by Region by year:
http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?cu
This is a great website resource. It presents Demographic, Social, Economic, and Housing Information by state and city. The Economic section includes some useful income information. The Social section covers attained education levels.
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Products/Profiles/Single/2000/C2SS/index.htm
Similar to the link above, this page gives you a quick look at Household Median Income by state.
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Products/Ranking/SS01/R07T040.htm
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