“Nonequality in the US education system has high costs for society, according to a new thought experiment from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW).  The Cost of Economic and Racial Injustice in Postsecondary Education finds that the US economy misses out on $956 billion dollars per year, along with numerous nonmonetary benefits, as a result of postsecondary attainment gaps by economic status and race/ethnicity. Improved career counseling at the college level could further narrow earnings gaps. However, wealth inequality is too big a problem for education to solve alone because it can’t erase gaps created through centuries of oppression and discrimination.

Press release: “In partnership with the Postsecondary Value Commission, we conducted a thought experiment on the costs of inequality in the US education system. Our simulation found that the US economy misses out on $956 billion dollars per year, along with numerous nonmonetary benefits, as a result of postsecondary attainment gaps by economic status and race/ethnicity. The Cost of Economic and Racial Injustice in Postsecondary Education finds that closing these gaps would require an initial public investment of at least $3.97 trillion , but the benefits would outweigh the costs over time. Equalizing educational attainment without increasing student debt for low-income adults could also boost GDP by a total of $764 billion annually…”