In data recently released by the Census Bureau, it is clear that Black and Asian women with a college degree earn more money than white women (but white men with a 4-year degree make more than anyone else).

According to the statistics, a white woman with a bachelor's degree typically earned approximately $37,800 in 2003, while college-educated Asian American women earned nearly $43,700 and African American women earned $41,100. Hispanic American women came in fourth, earning on the average slightly less than $37,600 annually.

While the Bureau did not offer any explanation for the differences in salaries, economists and sociologists have suggested the following:

• Minority women, especially African American women, often hold more than one job or work more than 40 hours per week
• African American professional women who take maternity leave often return to work sooner than women in the other ethnic groups
• Employers in some fields give extra financial incentives to African American women, suggests Roderick Harrison, a researcher at the Joint Center for Political and Economics Studies (a think tank that studies minority issues).

White male college graduates, however, earn far more than any similarly educated man or women: $66,000 per year. This compares to Asian American men at $52,000, Hispanic American men at $49,000, and African American men at $45,000.

Regardless of race or gender, however, college graduates, on the average, earn more than $51,000, compared with $28,000 for a high school graduate.

More encouraging news: the percentage of people above the age of 25 who have completed at least 4 years of college is up again: 27.7% in 2004 compared to 27.2% in 2003. This increase holds true in all racial and ethnic categories.

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