Dive Brief:
- Singapore has the strongest correlation between investment in higher education and the collective earnings and productivity of its citizenry, according to a recent analysis by the Times Higher Education.
- While every country is not accounted for in its rankings, European and Western countries show similar outcomes in the amount of higher education spending and their place on the GDP index.
- The study found that GDP was not necessarily an indicator of how much a country spent on higher education, and European universities showed the most linear relationship between the quality of institutions and the amount spent on them.
Dive Insight:
If one thing was made clear by the study, particular in comparisons between the U.S. and Canada, it's that more money does not automatically equal better institutions. In the United States, there is a growing movement for increased investment in community colleges, which can help graduates to earn wages that over time can exceed the earning potential of four-year institution graduates in certain sectors and industries. But college leaders at all institution types must recognize the trends in these areas, and work to shape degree programs and curriculum around the industrial present and future of their surrounding region.
It is not enough for colleges to promote that students earn degrees and find jobs, but that they are finding jobs in specific sectors which help to bolster state and national economic growth.