Higher Education Pays Off, at least in rich countries

Source: The Economist

"Tertiary education pays off, both for the individual and the wider economy. In countries where most of the workforce has an upper secondary education (ie, most industrialised countries), a college or university qualification gives recipients extra earning power and generates tax revenues for the country in which they work. On average across those rich countries that are members of the OECD, a think-tank, the total extra return for male graduates is greater than $230,000, more than half of which accrues to the individual. The net public return is almost three times the initial investment, according to OECD figures. The private return is reduced by the earnings forgone while the student was in education."