A substantial body of sociological research highlights the increasing significance of educational attainment in shaping life opportunities in the United States. Since the 1970s, income inequality has been on the rise, with the most pronounced disparities appearing in the returns to education (Autor 2014; Song, Lachanski, and Coleman 2021). Today, the United States stands out globally for offering some of the highest returns to cognitive skills (Hanushek et al. 2015).