Posted on: 31 December 2015
Irish higher education institutions contributed €10.6 billion to the Irish economy in 2010-2011 and supported 150,000 jobs, according to new research involving economists from Trinity College Dublin.
The research, which represents one of the first attempts to analyse the economic impact of the higher education space in Ireland, finds that the higher education sector in Ireland forms an important part of the economic infrastructure and generates substantial economic activity.
The study, recently published in the journal ‘Studies in Higher Education’, focused on the seven universities and 14 institutes of technology, where the bulk of private spending and students are located in Ireland. The economic impact of these 21 institutions were measured looking at how their spending and purchasing, and those of staff and students, interacts with local and national economies.
Key findings:
“While there has been a lot of talk about the financial sustainability of higher education and the search for new funding models in universities and other higher education institutions in Ireland, little empirical evidence exists to guide policy making. These findings will contribute to the current national debate about the funding challenges facing the sector in a post-bailout environment,” commented Brian Lucey, Professor in Finance, Trinity Business School, one of the authors of the paper.
“Our study had a very narrow economic focus, and asked the question – does the economy receive more than one euro’s worth of economic activity for every euro it spends on higher education in Ireland? The answer was a resounding yes. Higher education supports 150,000 jobs and generates €10 billion in national income”
Media Coverage:
