The Australian public, not individuals, profits most from higher education but students shoulder most of the cost, according to international figures that undermine the governments claim that students should pay more because they benefit most. The public rate of return from tertiary education in Australia is twice the rate of return to the individual, a Fairfax Media analysis of figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development shows. The data measures the return on investment based on taxes and other financial benefits. Australia bucks the international trend as one of only five OECD countries where the public profits at a higher rate than the individual. It ranks second out of 29 countries – behind only Britain – for the biggest benefit to the public, while in 24 countries the private rate of return outweighs or equals the public rate. Economist David Richardson from The Australia Institute says the OECD study demolishes the claim that higher education benefits individuals more than the public. The rest of society does get a hell of a lot of benefit out of educated people, Richardson said. He said the OECDs analysis only includes what governments can tax, which is a fairly narrow definition. For example, the report doesnt quantify the economic benefits of critical thinking skills, deeper civic engagement and better health. He cited a 2001 OECD study that found an additional year of education raised output per capita by an average of 4 to 7 per cent across OECD countries. To the extent that the governments proposal deters people from talking up higher education then thats a loss all round, Richardson said. Read more: theage.au/national/education/oecd-figures-show-public-benefits-more-than-individuals-from-tertiary-education-20140928-10n6cc.html
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 02:01:27 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015