Higher salary for high education: One college ensures it

Is a certain college linked to higher salary? Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, is among the first willing to cover that bet for prospective transfer students.

As reported Monday by Inside Higher Ed, Augustana College is the first client of a company called Degree Insurance, which markets “American Dream Insurance” and helps schools guarantee a student can meet an expected salary post-graduation.

Specifically, the “income insurance” will make up the difference – for five years – between a graduate’s salary and the expected salary for someone with their major.

Under the program, which is being piloted to the first 20 transfer students who apply this summer, each student must share federal tax returns with the company each year after graduation and after five years, the company will pay any difference between the student’s expected income, by major, and actual income, according to the article.

If a student’s major was anticipated to deliver a $60,000 job but the graduate earned $55,000 a year, the income insurance makes up the difference in a cumulative lump sum of $25,000 at the end of five years, according to the article.