College’s Rising Social Premium

As the earnings premium from a bachelor’s degree shrinks for some cohorts, the non‑monetary returns—friend networks, higher marriage and marital stability rates, and lower addiction risk—are becoming a primary reason to attend college. This shift is reinforced by broader trends (AI reducing hours or displacing jobs, and a national loneliness crisis) that make durable social ties and marriage more valuable as economic and welfare buffers. — Reframing college as social insurance shifts public debate and policy (financial aid, vocational alternatives, campus housing/formats) from purely labor‑market outcomes to social and demographic resilience.