NC Policy Watch: “Some folks measure the value of higher education solely by how much its graduates make.
Most of us know there’s a lot more to it.
In a column last week, John Hood of the John Locke Foundation contends that North Carolinians don’t receive an adequate return on what he calls a “relatively large” investment in the University of North Carolina System.
In a classic example of viewing education as a private rather than public good, Hood cites a Texas-based outfit that measures return on investment only by comparing the earnings of graduates. By its measure, the University of South Dakota ranks best in the country in lifetime returns….
Regarding such programs, even Hood acknowledges “most of the students who enter them know very well their chosen careers are unlikely to be lucrative. They have chosen those careers because they value other forms of compensation more — personal fulfillment, a calling to help others, or a desire to live and work in a particular kind of community.”
He goes on to suggest they can be reduced to two- or three-year degrees, without explaining how.
Hood conveniently omits the state constitution’s mandate to provide North Carolinians with a college education for “as far as practicable … free of expense.”
And to contend that the state doesn’t see substantial return on investment from its investment in the UNC System is simply absurd.”