College quality, earnings, and job satisfaction: Evidence from recent college graduates

This study investigates the relationship among college quality, earnings, and job satisfaction among a recent cohort of college graduates. Our results suggest that, controlling for earnings, college quality is negatively related to job satisfaction, especially to those aspects of the job that are associated with monetary rewards. Further analysis indicates that there is no significant difference between the male and female groups; however, the negative relationship between satisfaction with monetary rewards and college quality is mainly driven by the non-white group. These findings do not support the view that graduating from elite schools will necessarily lead to greater job satisfaction.