The University of Leeds said Mr Connell was a former student who completed a physics programme in 2004, graduating with a diploma in higher education.

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When most new jobs in America require more than a high school diploma, higher education -- whether at a four-year college, at a two-year program -- it can't be a luxury.

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With the average earnings of college graduates at a level that is twice as high as that of workers with only a high school diploma, higher education is now the clearest pathway into the middle class.

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The economic reward for getting a diploma higher wages is substantial and grew during the years when dropout rates were rising, confounding economists who would have expected that to encourage people to finish high school.

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The chances of becoming pregnant were higher among women younger than 20, foreign-born Hispanic women and women with less than a high school diploma.

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Employment is 3m higher for college graduates than in January of 2009, but 2m lower for those with only a high-school diploma.

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According to the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, by 2020 there will be very few opportunities for workers who only have a high school diploma or have dropped out of school, and the demand for college-educated workers will keep rising until then.

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