

Advanced Education and Mortality Compression in the United States 157
potential cohort influences on educational differences on mortality,
such as mortality compression, given that American society has
experienced substantial increases in educational attainment over the
study period (Masters et al., 2012; Rogers, Everett, Zajacova, &
Hummer, 2010; Yang, 2008). Overall, younger population cohorts
receive more education than older population cohorts, and the
elderly with the least education could be increasingly negatively
selected for mortality (Martin, Schoeni, Freedman, & Andreski,
2007). Also, it would be very interesting to investigate if the
association between mortality compression and advanced education
extends beyond bachelor’s degree, such as master’s or doctoral
degrees. However, since cohort effects are very likely to play a key
role in the highly advanced education, it will be necessary to take
cohort into account. Finally, the possibility that the “shifting
mortality” hypothesis might have been involved is discussed. The
modal age at death increases with educational level. However, after
a high school degree, the shrinkage in the dispersion of age at time
of death after the mode becomes much less acute than that observed
in those who did not obtain a high school degree. This phenomenon
maybe the “shifting mortality” scenario seen in low-income
countries after 1950 (Bongaarts, 2005; Cheung & Robine, 2007).
However, the study cannot confirm this scenario, nor can it rule out
the possibility. More refined education groups beyond bachelor’s
degree and larger sample sizes are necessary to investigate this
phenomenon. The major strengths of this study are that it is the first
to investigate the association between advanced education
(bachelor’s degree or higher) and mortality compression; given that
this is a growing phenomenon
—
there are more and more older
American people who have bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, or
professional degrees
—
and any educational experience can be
beneficial to longevity (Lawrence et al., 2016). Since the prevalence
of advanced education is increasing with its growing influence over
time, more research needs to be done in order to better understand
the impact of this trend and provide more up-to-date evidence to
public health policy makers.