Since the 1960s there has been a major expansion in the number of people in Australia holding post school educational credentials and the proportion of the full time work force with those credentials. The penalties of not holding credentials, in terms of the incidence and duration of unemployment, are increasingly severe. At the same time, there has been a long term decline in the income associated with degree and trade qualifications, relative to all incomes. One source of claims about declining educational standards is that the need for education is coinciding with declining returns from education. Within the long term trend there has been some fluctuation, with the 1980s showing increases in the incomes associated with academic degrees. However, this trend is thought to be only temporary because increases in numbers of graduates have been more rapid than the growth of total employment. The notion of credentialism and positional good explains that if educational demand and supply don't rise in tandem, and if the value of that education is not held high in the labor market, quality increases in education do little to influence the economic benefits of having higher education. Contains 18 references. (Author/GLR)