A person's lifetime earnings are estimated as the amount he likely will make over his entire career. Students who don't go to college and instead enter the work force right after high school typically make less than college graduates. Also, a study by Virginia Tech has shown that black men who have graduated from a historically black college or university earn more over their lifetimes than those who graduate from other four-year colleges.
The study was conducted in 2007 by Professor Bradford Mills and Assistant Professor Elton Mykerezi. They took into account the results of the National Longitudinal Survey from 1979 to 2004. The data were analyzed to discover any correlation between the earnings of black men and the type of college they attended.
The Virginia Tech study showed that earnings for black men who attended historically black colleges were higher than for those who attended other schools. However, the study showed that black women who attended these historically black schools had no such advantage. The researchers say this is because historically black colleges were created to help close the gap between the salaries that whites and blacks were experiencing. The gap experienced by black women was not as significant as that experienced by black men.
Economists at Yale University also have studied the economic impacts of historically black colleges. This study found that the rate of earnings growth has stayed consistent over the years. Researchers had thought that the economic growth among black students would be larger when the schools began around 1940. However, when the period between 1940 and 1965 is compared with the period between 1965 and 1980, the rate of earnings growth is comparable.