Education and employment experts continue to debate about whether or not college pays. They also cannot agree on just exactly how much education does pay. Those who argue that college degree programs don’t pay well point to incomes earned by a few skilled workers without college degrees as evidence that it isn’t necessary to earn a college degree online or attend a traditional degree program in order to get a decent paycheck.

Those who stress the importance of university degree programs, in contrast, argue that skilled work is becoming less and less available to high school graduates. As the income gap between skilled and unskilled workers continues to widen, the number of jobs that fall in between continues to shrink rapidly. Fewer people are employed in clerical or mechanical job positions, and the recession hasn’t helped.

Even with the end of the recession, the number of jobs available in most professions has stayed the same or declined slightly. Furthermore, even those who have jobs requiring college degrees aren’t enjoying salary increases; wages have stayed the same or risen only slightly. This isn’t contributing to the widening income gap between skilled and unskilled workers, but many other factors are doing exactly this.

For example, the pay rate for unskilled workers, in many jobs, continues to decrease. The number of union jobs is declining, and more and more companies are moving out of the US – and taking jobs with them. Finally, computer technologies have made companies able to accomplish the same level of productivity with fewer workers. For the most part, unless people earn a college degree, they have less opportunity than ever before to bring home a good paycheck.