The Effect of College Attainment on Per-Capita Income across U.S States

College attainment is often cited as one of the main explanatory variables that can explain the variation in per-capita income. This study uses cross-sectional data to analyze the relationship between the education and income using additional variables that include high school attainment, manufacturing as a percentage of the labor force, expenditure per pupil by state governments as well as state GDP. Most studies centered on this topic usually have focused on trying to examine how inequality in education affects wage. This study takes a different approach as it tries to use conclusive experimental data to try to conclude the foundational relationship between college attainment and per-capita income across states. Using data largely from Bureau of Economic Analysis in conjunction with data from sources such as the U.S Department of Agricultural Services, National Center for Education Statistics, and more, I was able to conclude that college attainment on average across all states does in fact positively correlate with per-capita income and the relationship tends to get stronger as more explanatory variables that correlate with college attainment are added into consideration