Higher Learning, Greater Good
The Private and Social Benefits of Higher Education
A college education has long been acknowledged as essential for both personal success and economic growth. But the measurable value of its nonmonetary benefits has until now been poorly understood. Walter W. McMahon, a leading education economist, carefully describes these benefits and suggests that higher education accrues significant social and private benefits.
McMahon's research uncovers a major skill deficit in the United States and other OECD countries owing to technical change and globalization. Yet a college degree brings better job opportunities, higher earnings, and even improved health. Higher education also promotes democracy and sustainable growth and contributes to reduced crime and lower state welfare and prison costs. These social benefits are substantial in relation to the costs of a college education.
Offering a human capital perspective on these and other higher education policy issues, McMahon suggests that poor understanding of the value of nonmarket benefits leads to private underinvestment. He offers policy options that can enable state and federal governments to increase investment in higher education.
"Walt McMahon's Higher Learning, Greater Good is an important book made even more so by the current economic crisis. This insightful volume derives from a lifetime of scholarly exploration and arrives at a time when a clear understanding of the economic benefits of higher education has never been more crucial. Through his analysis of the market and non—market returns on higher education, McMahon makes clear the chronic underinvestment in higher education and the serious ramifications for both individuals and society. Higher Learning, Greater Good is a detailed and thoughtful contribution to education and policy debates that deserves a careful reading by all who care about the future." -- Stanley O. Ikenberry, Professor and Former President, University of Illinois, and Former President of the American Council of Education
"Higher Learning, Greater Good is the first book to systematically identify and develop the evidence necessary to measure comprehensively the benefits of higher education and to estimate their economic value." -- Rorotoko
"The overwhelming success of this work is that McMahon has articulated clearly and succinctly what students, their families, and governments are getting for their investment in higher education." -- Mary McKeown—Moak, Journal of Education Finance
"This is a significant contribution to both theory and research findings in the study of investment in higher education... Highly recommended." -- Choice
"A timely and insightful text... Academic advisors who want to show their students that a college degree offers benefits beyond starting salaries and career opportunities will find this book to be a valuable resource." -- Jon Kleinman, NACADA Journal
"An important contribution that not only provides a diagnosis of the main problems facing US higher education but also offers some solutions." -- Roger Brown, Times Higher Education Supplement
Walter W. McMahon is Professor of Economics Emeritus and Professor of Education Emeritus at the University of Illinois at Urbana—Champaign. He is well known internationally as a leading economist of education and is the author of Education and Development: Measuring the Social Benefits.Related Links:
Walter McMahon's faculty page
Related Books:
Investment in Learning, second edition
Howard R. Bowen
Public Funding of Higher Education: Changing Contexts and New Rationales
edited by Edward P. St. John and Michael D. Parsons
What's Happening to Public Higher Education? The Shifting Financial Burden
edited by Ronald G. Ehrenberg
