Life expectancy declines for Americans without a four-year college degree March 9, 2021USC Before COVID-19 took a toll on overall life expectancy, adult life expectancy had already declined among the two-thirds of Americans who lack a bachelor’s degree. Researchers say those with a college degree increasingly live longer and more prosperous lives while those without face rising mortality and declining prospects. American adults without a college degree have experienced greater reductions in life expectancy when compared to their counterparts with more education, USC and Princeton University researchers have found. The study reveals that after nearly a century of declining mortality up to the late 1990s, the progress continued into the 21st century for more-educated Americans but stalled for the population as a whole and reversed for the two-thirds of Americans who do not have a college degree.