How Essential Is Public Higher Education?

At a time when many people are criticizing higher education, Michael Kofoed is emphasizing the value of public higher education. Kofoed is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a research fellow at the Institute of Labor Economics. 

In his article titled “Perspective: The enduring value of public higher education,” Kofoed described how public higher education began with the passing of the Morrill Land Grant College Act, which was signed by President Abraham Lincoln in the midst of the Civil War and the GI Bill given to veterans returning from World War II.

The Morrill Land Grant College Act gave states parcels of federal land that the states could then sell to endow new universities that would focus on agriculture and engineering. This expansion of higher education ensured that the citizens of each state would have a university to gain an education, increase their employment opportunities and access applied research to generate economic growth. Communities such as Ames, Stillwater, Logan and Knoxville would soon have libraries that would rival those of ancient Alexandria and Rome.

Public higher education would expand again when veterans from World War II returned home armed with the newly passed GI Bill. This boost in financial aid for much of the middle class increased enrollments and made a university education accessible to more than the gentry class. The GI Bill was incredibly timely given the dramatic shift in the economy from a manufacturing base to a skills and ideas powered economy.

Higher education is one of the crown jewels of American institutions. It’s also one of our greatest exports as students from across the globe come here to study, more than a million in school year 2023-24.

However, like all institutions, higher education is not perfect. Recent polling shows that trust in higher education has fallen dramatically, but it’s important to remember three important facts about a college education.

First, college graduates do dramatically better in the labor market. Economists estimate that bachelor’s degree holders earned 88% more (nearly a doubling) in 2021 than those with a two-year degree or only a high school diploma, and this gap is set to widen. Some worry that too many students attend college, and student debt is a real problem, but researchers show that even a modest increase in the share of college graduates would dramatically decrease the share of low-income families….

Public institutions are especially effective at boosting income mobility….

However, public regional universities … enroll students mainly from the working and lower classes and place them in even higher paying jobs than their parents….

Second, public higher education not only serves those who attend their campuses. College education results in stronger families, better health and more pro-social behavior. College graduates also are more likely to vote and be engaged civically.

Finally, research from public higher education creates jobs and economic activity of the future. Medical schools are searching for a cure for cancer. Humanities document and preserve the arts and literature. STEM and agriculture departments create technologies to improve our lifestyles and feed our country. Even being located near a land-grant college creates spillovers that improve worker productivity and raise tax revenues. The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute found that, in Utah, for example, one dollar of higher education investment boosts tax revenues by three dollars.

I have long been a proponent of higher education. I worked to put my husband through his last two years of college. I began when my children were young to tell them that education was their work and that they needed to prepare themselves to attend college. Now I have a husband with a bachelor’s degree and six children and five children by marriage with bachelor’s and master’s degrees and two doctorate degrees.

By the end of this semester, I will have a bachelor’s degree. As you can see, my family is highly educated and has enjoyed high job security, mobility, and financial benefits. We follow the admonition of God to be life-long learners.

Nevertheless, I recognize the great need for people who are trained in carpentry, car repair, plumbing, and other trades. I know that a university education is not for all people, but I also know that such education brings the benefits listed above.