---
title: Here's More Proof That a College Degree Pays Off
description: More than 75% of college seniors who have landed jobs for after graduation say a degree was required by their employers, new survey finds.
authors:
  - name: Greg Daugherty
    url: https://money.com/author/greg-daugherty/
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published: '2016-04-29T12:00:14.000Z'
modified: '2020-07-07T11:02:04.000Z'
section: Education
tags:
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  - Jobs
  - National Association of College Stores
  - upcredentialing
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> **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/).

![College Diploma](https://img.money.com/2016/04/160429_coll_diplomanecessary.jpg)

As the grueling ritual known as finals week approaches, many college students may be wondering whether toughing it out for four or more years and getting a degree is actually worth all the effort.

A new survey conducted by the [National Association of College Stores](https://www.nacs.org) on behalf of Money indicates pretty clearly that it is.

In March, we surveyed close to 4,000 college students on a range of questions related to the cost and value of their education. For the subset of students who were on track to graduate this year and had already lined up a job, we asked whether having a degree made any difference in getting hired. More than three-quarters said it did.

The results:

72% said a college degree was required for their new job and that the position was related to their field of study.

5% said a degree was required for their new job but that the position wasn’t related to their field of study.

12% said a degree wasn’t required but that having one helped them get the job.

And only 11% said a degree made no difference.

These findings are in line with other recent studies showing that a bachelor’s degree is [increasingly becoming an essential](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/02/11/bachelors-degrees-lead-employment-and-more-training) in many industries, even for jobs that previously didn’t require one—a trend some are calling “[upcredentialing](http://burning-glass.com/research/credentials-gap/).”

[![Best college education image](https://content.money.com/wp-content/themes/money2018/img/college-site-banner-02.png)](https://best-colleges.time.com/money/search-colleges/?xid=cm-mcpFindTheCollegeWidget)

So hang in there, future grads! Someday soon it should be worth it.

We’ll have more results from this survey in an upcoming report.

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