Net Benefits for Governments, Students and the Public from Spending on Universities in New Brunswick

Dickson, Vaughan; Milne, Bill; Murrell, David

Net Benefits for Governments, Students and the Public from Spending on Universities in New Brunswick

Authors

Dickson, Vaughan

Milne, Bill

Murrell, David

Abstract

This paper measures the benefits and costs from spending on New Brunswick universities for four constituencies: the provincial government, the federal and provincial governments together, students and society taken as a whole. These results are used to provide insights into how university costs should be shared between levels of government and between government and students. Among the results is that, even before allowance is made for net outmigration of university graduates, the rate of return is higher for both levels of government taken together than for the provincial government alone. Another result is that the private student rate of return exceeds the social rate. However this difference largely disappears when spending is restricted to the teaching function of the university.