In class on Wednesday, the class was asked to list who/what benefits from higher education. The class listed several individuals, entities and groups that benefit from higher education. The student, alumni, faculty and staff all benefit from institutions of higher education. The local neighborhood residents and businesses, as well as the city, state, and federal government receive benefits of higher education. Furthermore, society and the environment receive benefits of higher education. With all that receive the benefits of higher education, is higher education a public or private good?
As a business major, I learned a lot about public and private goods. A public goods are "goods or services that can be used by any one person without affecting the supply to all other people, and for which it is impractical to charge individually ("Public goods", n.d.)". There are very few truly pure public goods. Although I believe that knowledge is a public good, I do not believe that a formal higher education is a public good. No matter how much knowledge I obtain, the supply of knowledge is unchanged. In regards to a formal higher education, if someone is admitted to a university, the supply or available seats to others has decreased. In addition, I can gain knowledge freely. A formal higher education is not free and most institutions charge individually. Although some may argue that you can attend school for free, students have to find ways to pay their tuition and/or fees. On the other hand, I believe that there are aspects of institutions of higher education that are manifested as public goods, including resources and school pride. Because we live in a capitalist society, many "public" institutions still charge a premium or fee to access.
Public goods. (n.d.) In MSN Encarta. Retrieved from
http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_561547914/public_goods.html
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