Is Education a Public Good or a Private Good? - Innovations - The Chronicle of Higher E... - 0 views
-
anonymous on 29 Nov 12Education is both a public good and a private good. A public good is defined by two characteristics: non-excludability and non-rivalry. Public goods are for everyone and there is no competition for the good. Most people believe that a higher education is a pure public good but it is not. Society benefits when people get a higher. education. Statistically people with a college education tend to be more active citizens and their volunteering.with their volunteering and other activities benefiting those around them. Also statistics have shown that more new products and services are available to society because of the contributions of college graduates. These are the positive externalities of education. The negative aspect of education is that even though the benefits of higher education are shared the costs for higher education are not shared. A higher education benefits society but the cost of a higher education proves a problem for those that want a higher education. Students themselves do reap some benefits: they are likely to be better off- both financially and otherwise-than their compatriots who do not go to college. However, students do not benefit as much as society. Therefore education is both a private and a public good.