Although a college diploma is no passport to privilege, the 2,700,000 living U.S. alumni and alumnae (about 2% of the population) are influential out of proportion to their numbers. As a group they hold the best jobs, make the most money, live most comfortably. Last week their way of life was surveyed statistically for the first time on a national scale in a report (The U.S. College Graduate) by the Reader Research Department of TIME Inc. The survey sampled 12,728 graduates of 1,048 colleges and universities. Some findings: >By the time they are 40, three-quarters of male graduates are professionals or executives, less than 8% ordinary workers. >More than half of all college women have salaried jobs. Nearly half are unmarried. This is twice the national spinster rate.
^ Alumni of the East's Big Three (Yale, Harvard, Princeton) have by far the highest median incomes: Big Three—$4,700; other Ivy League alumni—$3,240; Big Ten (Middle West)— $2,850; median for all U.S. colleges—$2,620.