Investing in higher education helps economic recovery, says OECD

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Tuesday in a report that investing in higher education will contribute to economic recovery, suggesting governments to consider this in planning education policies.

"As we emerge from the global economic crisis, demand for university education will be higher than ever," the OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria said. "To the extent that institutions are able to respond, investments in human capital will contribute to recovery."

In the annual Education at a Glance report, the Paris-based organisation said growing advantages for the better educated and in the context of the continuing high unemployment will bring more and more young people to stay on in education.

According to the report, in the United States, a male graduate can expect to earn more than 367,000 U.S. dollars extra in his lifetime, nearly doubled the other OECD countries.

A female U.S. student with a university degree can earn more than 229,000 U.S. dollars, despite of the disparity in most countries between male and female. "Going to university pays dividends in late life through higher salaries, better health and less vulnerability to unemployment." Besides, government budgets and the overall economy also gain an advantage from high number of graduates.

"Overall the figures provide a powerful incentive to expand higher education in most countries through both public and private financing," the OECD noticed. Xinhua