Students who go directly from high school to jobs earn an average of $1,000 more per year if they take academic courses rather than vocational training. A six-year study that tracked the earnings and employment of 3,000 high school graduates who did not go to college also found:

• Annual earnings increased by as much as $1,000 for students whose schools provided information on the job market.

• Students who worked for pay while in school earned $1,300 more per year than those who did not.

The study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and the National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce noted that the work-bound students who took academic courses were likely to have graduated from high school on time, to have received higher grades and to have had teachers who had firmer standards. These factors may also affect graduates' earnings, the study found. Per pupil expenditures, class size, teacher salaries and teacher experience did not affect future student earnings, but schools with more successful students may also pay principals better.

Source: "Making Education Pay," Investor's Business Daily, December 15, 1994.