A survey of returned missionaries studied 17 years after their service found that 37% of men and 45% of women had completed an undergraduate degree — compared to 18% of their same-age peers nationally. Ninety-five percent of returned missionary men and 63% of women were gainfully employed, with family incomes above the national average.
A separate study from the Utah Women in Leadership Project found that female missionaries who returned to BYU were 33% more likely to switch into a higher-earning major. The two-year service period appears to accelerate, not delay, long-term educational and career outcomes.
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