The Chronicle explores the mortality gap between adults with college degrees and those without. According to new research, Americans without a bachelor’s degree are likely to die almost eight years earlier than their peers with a college degree. Adult life expectancy, or the number of years an individual lives past age 25, increased by nearly five years for those with a four-year degree, rising from 54 years (age 79) in 1992 to 59 years (age 84) just before the pandemic. During the pandemic, there was a one-year decline in 2021. Adult life expectancy peaked in 2010 for people without a four-year degree at over 54 years. Since then, it has been falling, with a notably rapid decline of three years during the pandemic. Education is considered a key factor in the mortality gap.
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