A new batch of government data suggests it’s worth the investment, even in a tight economy.

People with a college degree earned nearly twice as much as people with a high school degree in the last three months of 2011, a Census Bureau report released Tuesday found.

The Census report showed that the median – or midpoint – of personal earnings for people with a high school degree was $5,984 in the last three months of 2011. That compares to median earnings of $11,749 for those with a college degree.

People with a post-graduate degree – such as doctors, lawyers and MBAs – fared even better. They had median personal earnings of $15,733 for the three-month period, the Census report found.