ABSTRACT
Graduate education can be seen as both an economic and a non-economic outcome of a college education. In this chapter, another non-economic outcome of college education, job satisfaction, is considered. The effect of college quality on individuals’ job satisfaction has been controversial. Perhaps most obviously, it may have a positive effect on job satisfaction by raising not only one’s earnings but also one’s professional status. There are, however, other possibilities. For example, college quality (and the high tuition and fees paid) may increase one’s occupational expectations more than one’s skill to achieve those expectations, resulting in a negative effect on job satisfaction. In either case, it is useful to investigate the relationship among college quality, earnings, and job satisfaction.
