Economist Rich Vedder and his associate Andrew Gillen have examined higher education in North Carolina (especially public) and found it wanting.
Although the government of North Carolina pours far more money, per capita, into state universities than its neighbors, North Carolina has fewer individuals with bachelor?s degree, per capita, than most of its neighbors?and even fewer than the U. S. average.
The state spends $7,153 in state appropriations per full-time equivalent student; the national average is $4,871. Yet only 22.6 per cent of the population has bachelor?s degrees, compared with the national average of 27.2 per cent, 28.1 per cent in Georgia, and 32.1 per cent in Virginia. (South Carolina and Tennessee have fewer than North Carolina.)
The imbalance is all the more surprising because fast-growing business centers like Charlotte and the Triangle import bachelor-degreed adults from around the country.
Those facts are just the start of a colorful, fact-filled romp through North Carolina higher education statistics (most of them provided by the U.S. Department of Education). ?Higher Education in North Carolina: Success or Failure?? is witty and conversational?it?s vintage Vedder, in fact. The paper is more evenhanded than the title implies, and the authors don?t actually come to many conclusions, but offer lots of suggestions for improving the state?s colleges and universities. (In fairness, some of these are being implemented.)
The paper will be a tremendous resource for anyone studying higher education in North Carolina.
