Soaring student debt and high unemployment make today's young adults question the value of college education.

On virtually every measure of economic well-being and career attainment, young college graduates are outperforming their peers with less education. The disparity in economic outcomes between college graduates and those with a high school diploma or less has never been greater in recent times. So, yes, it's still worth it.

According to data from the Pew Research Center, from 1991-2012, household income increased 9% for households whose highest education was a bachelor's degree and 20% for households with a professional degree. Furthermore, college-educated households are more likely to be married and thus have a second earner.

Pew's economic analysis found that Millennial (those born after 1980) college graduates ages 25 to 32 who are working full time earn about $17,500 more annually than employed young adults holding only a high school diploma.

Keep in mind that:

1. A college education is worth more today. The earnings gap between college-educated and less-educated Millennials is much larger than in previous generations.

(Pew Research Center)

2. College benefits go beyond earnings: College-educated young adults not only have  lower unemployment and poverty rates, but they are also more likely to be married and less likely to be living with parents.

(Pew Research Center)

3. College graduates are more satisfied with their jobs. They are more likely to see themselves on a career path than just working to get by.

(Pew Research Center)

Although the study found that Millennials are more likely than Boomers to have regrets about college, a college degree today makes a bigger difference than it did in the last few decades.

Reach Executive Producer Syuzanna Petrosyan here. Follow her on Twitter.