This study estimates the returns to education in Spain by educational level using quantile regression and cross-sectional datasets with microdata at the individual level, obtained from the Survey of Household Finances (EFF) for the years 2005, 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2017. Quantile regression is utilized to account for heterogeneity, as it provides a discrimination of returns to each level of education, along the income distribution. It is important to monitor the returns to education as it provides relevant information for education investment policy makers. 

Education in Spain is compulsory and free from elementary school to low secondary schooling, so that young people must be in school until the age of 16, all education obtained after that is voluntary. Having a higher education was beneficial to a significant part of the population, during the Great Recession of 2008, in which Spain was one of the worst hit countries.

As in previous literature for returns to education in Spain, this study concludes that, there was in fact an increase in the returns to education between 2005 and 2017 in Spain, although mostly for the tertiary education levels: bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and doctorate. It also provides evidence that returns to education are not constant for all the deciles of the wage distribution, with a tendency to be lower for the lower deciles and for lower educational attainment, also as motivated by previous literature.

For further studies it is recommended to build on the findings of this investigation, by accounting for endogeneity issues or using a pseudo panel dataset.