即便是在当下异常严峻的就业市场上，截至目前为止，大学文凭仍然是最好的长期投资。本周，布鲁金斯学会（Brookings Institution）发布的一项研究称，比起股票、债券、房产，甚至是黄金来说，大学文凭的回报率都要更高。

    这家位于华盛顿的智库对下面这些有趣的数字进行了一番计算：

    平均而言，四年的大学学位相当于一笔年回报率在15.2%的投资。这一数字是自20世纪50年代以来的股票投资平均回报率6.8%的2倍还多；是公司债券平均回报率2.9%的5倍还多；而黄金的平均回报率是2.3%，长期政府债券是2.2%，房产是0.4%。

    无可否认，大学教育需要提前支付大笔成本。

    研究员迈克尔•格林斯通和亚当•鲁尼估算，四年的大学本科学位要花费102,000美元，两年的专科学位要花约28,000美元。这一结果计算了学费和规费这些标准支出（同时，两位研究员指出，要减去食宿费，因为不管上不上大学，这两项支出都必不可少），还纳入了学生所放弃的薪酬，也就是如果他们高中一毕业就选择工作而非上大学所应得的报酬。

    确实是一大笔钱。但这项研究发现，从长期来看，这笔投入十分划算。22岁时，普通的大学生挣的要比只有高中文凭的人多约70%。研究指出，换言之，即便在赚钱能力处于顶峰时，只有高中文凭的普通工人挣的钱也只有刚毕业一年的大学生那么多。

    而这只是一个开始。2010年，年满50岁的大学毕业生（正处于事业顶峰）的薪酬要比只有高中毕业文凭的同龄人多约46,000美元。

    因此，大学文凭几乎总是最好的长期投资。的确，美国的失业率居高不下，始终徘徊在令人担忧的9%左右。而就业市场对年轻的求职者来说更是困难重重。

    不过，正如《财富》（Fortune）杂志撰稿人安妮•费希尔本周早些时候所指出的，情况可能正在好转。据大学生就业网站CollegeGrad.com发布的数据，今年，拥有学士学位的大学毕业生找到工作的人数飙升了22%，达到35,372人，比2009年要多8%。

    所以，对那些感到前途有点希望渺茫的大学毕业生来说，现在正是开始找工作的大好时机。

    译者：大海

    Even in today's very tough job market, a college degree is the best long-term investment – by far, promising higher returns than stocks, bonds, housing, and even gold, according to a study released this week by the Brookings Institution.

    The Washington, DC-based think tank crunches some interesting numbers:

    On average, a four-year degree is the equivalent of an investment that returns 15.2% a year. That's more than double the average return to stock market investments since the 1950s, which average 6.8%; more than five times the return to investments in corporate bonds, which return 2.9%; gold at 2.3%, long-term government bonds at 2.2% and housing at 0.4%.

    Admittedly, a college education demands pretty hefty costs upfront.

    Researchers Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney estimate costs of a four-year college degree at $102,000 and about $28,000 for a two-year associate's degree. This factors in the typical costs of tuition and fees (minus room and board, since as researcher noted, you eat and sleep whether or not you go to college), as well as pay that students give up if they had spent their years right after high school working instead of going to college.

    Pretty steep. But long-term, the costs are well worth it, the study found. At 22, the average college graduate earns about 70% more than the average person with a high school degree only. In other words, the study notes, at the peak of their earning power, the average worker with only a high school diploma earns only about as much as a college graduate one year out of school.

    And it only gets better from there. In 2010, a college graduate at age 50 (career peak) earns about $46,000 more than someone with only a high school diploma.

    So a college degree is almost always the best long-term investment. Indeed, U.S. unemployment continues to hover at an annoyingly high 9% or so. And the job market has been especially tough for younger workers.

    Then again, as Fortune's Anne Fisher pointed earlier this week, things might be looking up. The number of freshly minted grads with bachelor's degrees finding jobs this year surged 22% to 35,372, or 8% more than in 2009, according to CollegeGrad.com.

    So for those feeling a little hopeless about the prospects out there, now is as good a time as any to start job hunting.