§ Baroness Davidasked her Majesty's Government:
What are the estimated lifetime rates of return to students themselves and to the community of (a) full-time higher education, and (b) part-time higher education.
§ The Earl of SwintonEstimates of rates of return require an assessment both of the benefits gained from higher education in terms of enhanced productivity and of the relevant cost of the investment in higher education, taking into account output lost or earnings forgone because of a student's absence from the labour force. Such assessments have to rely on numerous assumptions, including the use of gross earnings as an indicator of productivity. Some of the required data are of questionable quality. The estimates are therefore subject to wide margins of error.
Subject to these qualifications, recent studies by economists in the Department of Education and Science suggest that the average real rate of return for full-time first degrees is of the order of 5 per cent. to the community and 20 per cent. to the student, the main reason for the difference being the subsidy on tuition and maintenance. There are no comparable figures for part-time study.