‘Happiness Effect’ of Higher Education ‘Fades in Richer Places’
Patrick James
August 28, 2025
The long-touted benefit of getting a degree depends on a country’s economic development, finds new study.
In recent decades, the extra money that graduates earn has been touted as a good reason to attend university. But that has recently come under scrutiny with evidence suggesting the graduate premium has fallen.
And now two separate papers have found that another supposed benefit of higher education—increased lifetime happiness—is also not quite as straightforward as thought.
A new study, which analyzed data from 36 countries, reveals that both higher education graduates and the rest of the population experience a steady increase in well-being as a country’s social and economic prosperity gradually improves.
However, the well-being gains associated with higher education were found to “level off” when a country becomes more economically developed.
