You’re standing on the graduation stage, moments away from receiving your degree. All you can think about is your college education and how much it took to get to this point. Without a doubt, it took some money. You have paid an arm and leg for tuition and most likely you took out loans.

But even though you obtained a bachelor’s degree, you really cannot bank on making more money than your predecessors did 10 years ago.

While it is still important to get a bachelor’s degree, it does not guarantee the same benefits as it did before.

The median salary for men with a bachelor’s degree increased by less than $2,000 between 2000 and 2008, and for women, the average salary increased a despicable $600, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Let us not forget that it costs more to live now than it did 10 years ago, but unfortunately we will not be making any more money, despite that hard-earned degree. Even the cost to get that degree has gone up.

Between 2000 and 2008 the average price of attendance for full-time students at a public four-year college increased by almost $4,000.

While paying more to make almost the same does not make much sense, students have learned that a bachelor’s degree has become not a luxury, but now almost a necessity.

Many graduates are entering a Bay Area workforce in which more than 40 percent have at least a bachelor’s degree. So, just to fit in, these graduates need a piece of paper with their names on it that says they pulled too many all-nighters, consumed unhealthy amounts of caffeine and can commit to finishing something.

But how do new graduates stand out when almost half the population around them has the same piece of paper, if not a better one?

Twenty-five percent of jobs created by 2018 will require a bachelor’s degree, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

As a result, many students will have to continue to strive for education to obtain not only their bachelor’s degree but also their master’s.

But as you are walking across that stage, contemplate whether you think the job you obtain will compensate for all the money you spent on tuition.