Education, ingenuity, and perseverance have always been important components of the American dream. Today, a college degree is an increasingly critical milestone on the road to personal independence and career success. The individual gains from education are more obvious, but society also benefits substantially from the skills and knowledge of college graduates. In short, individuals benefit both from attaining a college degree and from living in a well-educated community. Yet, in response to shifting attitudes about the relative importance of individual and societal benefits that result from increased education, the share of public resources going to higher education in the United States has decreased over time. The purpose of this report is to present information to help policymakers and the general public understand and appreciate the relative contribution of education to individuals and to society. This report finds that the public economic costs of an insufficient level of educational attainment have at least two components. The first component is the decreased tax revenue due to stunted economic growth, and the second component is the increased public expenditure due to increased reliance on public social programs. (Contains 8 figures and 4 tables.) [USA Funds provided funding for this report.]