The Public Benefits of Higher Education: Examining the Relationship Between State Spending on Higher Education and the Formation of Human Capital

Abstract

This study contributes to the literature on the economic value of higher education by examining the extent to which a set of independent variables, including two measures of state spending on higher education predict the formation of human capital. The findings suggest that, in most states, increases in state spending per full-time equivalent enrollment in public higher education predict decreases in the formation of human capital, while increases in state spending per capita on public and private higher education predict increases in the formation of human capital. This suggests that the relationship between state spending on higher education and the formation of human capital is dependent on the measure of state spending used. Attempts to increase the formation of human capital should focus on increasing state spending per capita on public and private higher education.

This study also analyzes time-series data from states, grouped by income inequality and changes in productivity, to examine the extent to which changes in a single measure of state spending on higher education predict changes in the formation of human capital. The results indicate that increases in state higher education spending do not benefit all states. Increases in state higher education spending predict increases in the formation of human capital in states with low productivity growth and in states with low levels of income inequality. In states with high productivity growth, increases in state higher education spending predict decreases in the formation of human capital.