>The history majors knew they'd make less with a >history degree, on average, but placed a higher value on doing something they >enjoyed then on having a higher income.
Yes, but did they know how much of a difference it would make? I once did a survey of students in one of my undergraduate economics classes about their knowledge of gains from additional years of education. What I found was that: 1. They thought the average HS graduate made about 30% more than that person actually makes, 2. They thought the average family income was 50% above what it actually was at the time, 3. They thought that going to college would double their income (and would do the same for anyone - - this was early 80s before the big gains so it wasn't anywhere near close) 4. The standard deviation of their estimates of the _average_ return to attending college was over 15 percentage points. Of course I'm sure that they actually knew the answers perfectly well, but couldn't be bothered to answer my questions accurately being the profoundly rational optomizers that they are... ;-} - - Bill Dickens William T. Dickens The Brookings Institution 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036 Phone: (202) 797-6113 FAX: (202) 797-6181 E-MAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AOL IM: wtdickens
