A college degree is the new high school diploma.

MarketWatch reports.

What’s more expensive than a college education? Not having one

For the first time ever, if you’re working, you’re more likely to have at least a college degree than just a high school diploma.

Some 36% of workers have a bachelor’s degree or higher compared with 34% with a high school diploma or less, according to a study released Thursday by Georgetown University’s Center for Education and the Workforce. The milestone is years in the making, said Anthony Carnevale, the director of the center. Beginning in the early 1980s, the American economy began to shift from one where a high-school diploma was enough to get a decent job to one where at least some college is required.