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The Value of Higher Education

Report cover The Value of Higher Education: Individual and Societal Benefits (WP Carey School of Business: Oct 2005) was undertaken under the broad research agenda of the Productivity and Prosperity Project: An Analysis of Economic Competitiveness (P3) at Arizona State University. P3 is a new initiative led by existing faculty and research staff of the L. William Seidman Research Institute in the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. In this report, the increases in individual earnings realized from enhanced educational attainment are measured and the benefits to the economy and society in general that are provided by a highly educated workforce are examined. Higher education enrollment and financing and educational attainment in Arizona are compared to the national average and to other states. Factors influencing the location decisions of highly educated individuals are reviewed. Finally, policy options that might result in enhanced educational attainment in Arizona are presented.

Tuition, Appropriations, and Constitutional Mandates in Arizona

Report cover The Arizona Constitution specifies that university instruction shall be as nearly free as possible. In Tuition, Appropriations, and Constitutional Mandates in Arizona (WP Carey School of Business: Feb 2006), detailed analyses of the levels of tuition and public sector appropriation in Arizona and benchmarking against peer and aspirant peer schools yield several conclusions:

  • Tuition increases from today’s modest levels could occur without violating the terms of the “neither unreasonable nor excessive” mandate.
  • Public appropriations, especially for Arizona’s traditional four year universities, have not advanced at a rate that allows the state to serve a growing student population while competing for resources in the increasingly costly higher education marketplace.
  • Any increases in tuition likely would be accompanied by enhancements to programs that assure financial access by all academically qualified residents, thereby remaining consistent with the “nearly free” intent of the Arizona Constitution.

There is a dual constitutional obligation for the state to provide higher public education with affordable tuition rates and with quality maintained by legislative appropriations. The analysis in this report reveals that, in keeping with this mandate, a strong argument remains to support increases in both tuition rates and state appropriations in continuing efforts to provide for the development and improvement of the university system.