Trostel Commentary on Higher Ed Benefits Published in Chronicle of Higher Education

MCS Policy Center and School of Economics Professor Phil Trostel’s commentary on the public benefits of higher education appears in this week’s Chronicle of Higher Education. Trostel has focused recent research on measuring benefits of a higher education. In this article he states that in addition to increasing graduates’ wages, health status and length of life, having completed a higher degree leads to the following public benefits: increased productivity, increased financing of government-provided goods,  increased charitable giving, and increased civic engagement. Trostel notes that higher education is not only a private good, with benefits accruing to the student, but is, as importantly, a public good with important public benefits to society.

Read the article Beyond the College Earnings Premium. Way Beyond.

Philip Trostel is the author of the recent Lumina Foundation report “It’s Not Just the Money: The Benefits of College Education to Individuals and to Society.”