The aim of the project „BRendit“ is an assessment of the average returns to tertiary education and the resulting income risks based on samples taken from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). This analysis should improve the understanding of the relationship between the educational system and labour markets. Furthermore, it is supposed to strengthen the empirical fundaments for decision-making in educational policy. Research is organized in five moduls:-    in modul 1 we plan to study the theoretical background of educational investments,-    in modul 2 samples from the SOEP are conducted and analysed descriptively, -    modul 3 is devoted to an assessment of the returns to tertiary education, -    modul 4 examines the income risks associated with tertiary education, -    and in modul 5 we intend to discuss the priorities in educational policy.The research project is supported by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The research grant is labelled as “01PW11001”. The project is part of the line of funding "The Economics of Science" in the BMBF area programme "University Research".