Local, state, and national economies are facing unprecedented levels of international competition. The current fiscal crisis has hampered the ability of many governments in the developed world to directly facilitate economic growth. At the same time, many governments in the developing world are investing significant new resources into local infrastructure and industry development initiatives. At the heart of the current economic transformation lie our colleges and universities. Through their roles in education, innovation, knowledge transfer, and community engagement, these institutions are working toward spurring economic growth and prosperity. This book brings together leading scholars from a variety of disciplines to assess how universities and colleges exert impact on economic growth. The contributors consider various methodologies, metrics, and data sources that may be used to gauge the performance of diverse higher education institutions in improving economic outcomes in the United States and around the world. Also presented are new typologies of economic development activities and related state policies that are designed to improve understanding of such initiatives and generate new energy and focus for an international community of scholars and practitioners working to formulate new models for how public universities and colleges may lead economic development in their states and communities while still performing their traditional educational functions. Universities and Colleges as Economic Drivers is meant to cultivate greater understanding among elected officials, business representatives, policymakers, and other concerned parties about the central roles universities and colleges play in national, state, and local economies.

Comprehensive examination of the relationship between higher education, state government, and economic development.

This book describes patterns of behavior that collectively allow universities to exchange knowledge more effectively with industry, accelerate innovation and eventually contribute to economic development. These are based on the effective practices of leading and ambitious universities around the world that the authors have benchmarked, and the personal experiences of the authors in a number of international institution building projects, including those of MIT. The authors provide guidance that is globally applicable, but must be locally adapted. The approach is first to describe the context in which universities act as engines of economic development, and then present a set of effective practices in four domains: education, research, innovation, and supporting practices. Each of these domains has three to six practices, and each practice is presented in a similar template, with an abstract, a rationale and description, key actions and one or two mini-case studies. The practices are summarized by integrative case studies. The book: Focuses on a globally adaptable set of effective practices, complemented by case studies, that can enhance universities’ contribution to economic development, based on an integrated view of education, research and innovation; Presents effective practices and broader insights that come from real global experience, spelled out in templates and explained by cases; Includes tangible resources for university leaders, policy makers and funders on how to proceed.

Postsecondary educational institutions in the United States are facing increasing financial stress and waning public support. Unless these trends can be changed, higher education can be expected to stagnate. What, if anything, can be done? As a starting point, advocates of higher education need to more fully recognize the issues associated with the economic mission of higher education and how this mission gets translated into individual student gains, regional growth, and social equity. This requires an understanding of the relationship between the outcomes of higher education and measures of economic productivity and well-being. This volume addresses topics related to the role of postsecondary education in microeconomic development within the United States. At tention is given to the importance of colleges and universities 'in the enhancement of individual students and in the advancement of the com munities and states within which they work. Although several of the chapters in this volume are aimed at research/teaching universities, much of what is presented throughout can be generalized to all of postsecondary education. Little attention, however, is given to the role of higher education in the macroeconomic development of the United States; this topic is covered in our related book, American Higher Education and National Growth.

This open access book is unique in its contents. No other title in the book market has tackled this important subject. It introduces innovation as a way of practice for world-class universities. It, then, discusses the criteria for being innovative in the academic world. The book selects some of the top innovative world-class universities to study the factors that qualified them to be innovative, so that any other university can follow their steps to become innovative. The final chapter of the book presents some recommendations in this regard.

This book provides readers with an in-depth understanding of the many ways in which universities contribute to economic development and growth. It demonstrates the causal interactions between universities� activities and economic outcomes, and presents

Composite work in economic research on higher education in the USA - covers labour demand and supply of professional workers and university graduates, financing educational investment, etc. References and statistical tables.