New Estimates of the Private Rate of Return to University Education in Australia
The objective of this study is to provide new estimates of the average private rate of return to a university degree in Australia. It considers the case of a hypothetical individual who has completed high school in 2000, and is making a decision on whether to begin a three-year bachelor degree or to enter the workforce in 2001. For the 'base case' scenario of a 'representative' individual making a decision on whether to attend university, the estimate of the average private rate of return to a three-year bachelor degree is 14.5 per cent. Underlying this estimate is a lifetime net monetary gain of $380,958 from undertaking the degree (assuming a zero rate of discount). Estimates of the rate of return to a bachelor degree are fairly robust to alternative scenarios. Rates of return do however show a wide variation across the field of qualification categories. The estimated returns are relatively high for business and administration, and engineering graduates, and relatively low for graduates in the fields of society and culture, and science.
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| Length: | 32 pages |
| Date of creation: | Jul 2002 |
| Date of revision: | |
| Handle: | RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2002n14 |
| Contact details of provider: | Postal: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 Australia Phone: +61 3 8344 2100 Fax: +61 3 8344 2111 Web page: http://www.melbourneinstitute.com/ Email: More information through EDIRC
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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Chapman, B & Salvage, T, 1997. "The Consequences of Recent Changes in Financing for Australian Higher Education," CEPR Discussion Papers 367, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
- Borland, J., 1995.
"Education and the Structure of Earnings in Australia,"
Department of Economics - Working Papers Series
494, The University of Melbourne.
- Borland, Jeff, 1996. "Education and the Structure of Earnings in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 72(219), pages 370-80, December.
- David Johnson & Roger Wilkins, 2002.
"The Net Benefit to Government of Higher Education: A "Balance Sheet" Approach,"
Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series
wp2002n05, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
- David Johnson & Roger Wilkins, 2003. "The Net Benefit To Government Of Higher Education: A “Balance Sheet” Approach," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 22(2), pages 1-20, 06.
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