Dive Brief:
- The Wall Street Journal profiles new research from the Brookings Institute, outlining how areas with college towns are prospering against lagging national economic trends in industry and job creation.
- Counties with land-grant institutions are growing the incomes of all areas of economic potential, through partnerships with corporations, cooperative extension development, and manufacturing training.
- According to the research, the creation of colleges between 1950 and 2010 helped to boost the national gross domestic product per person by more than 4%.
Dive Insight:
There is no secret that colleges are economic engines for communities, but the big secret is why states and the federal government continue to divest in higher education as a stabilizing plan for economies. College leaders are frequently engaged to make clearer the case for higher education by showing how campuses create economic impact in jobs, student spending, and research and development.
But now that it is obviously clear just how much higher education saves the economy, is there any more proof colleges can give which hasn't already been provided?