Is Higher Education Economically Unsustainable?: An Exploration of Factors that Undermine Sustainability Assessments of Higher Education

Maragakis, A.; van den Dobbelsteen, A.A.J.F.; Maragakis, A.

doi:10.1515/dcse-2016-0012

Is Higher Education Economically Unsustainable?

Title

Is Higher Education Economically Unsustainable?: An Exploration of Factors that Undermine Sustainability Assessments of Higher Education

Author

Maragakis, A. (TU Delft Climate Design and Sustainability)
van den Dobbelsteen, A.A.J.F. (TU Delft Architectural Engineering +Technology)
Maragakis, A. (Eastern Michigan University)

Department

Architectural Engineering +Technology

Date

2016

Abstract

As students continue to review the sustainability of higher education institutions, there is a growing need to understand the economic returns of degrees as a function of a sustainable institution. This paper reviews a range of international research to summarize the economic drivers of higher education attainment. Although the cost inputs to higher education are fairly well understood, the economic return of a degree is not. Students misperception of economic returns coupled with a dynamic definition of employability create the framework for unsustainable debt loads for graduates. This paper proposes three metrics that can be used to assess the economic sustainability of students graduating higher education that can be used to supplement the broader definition of sustainability within higher education

Subject

sustainable development
higher education
economic return
sustainable education
sustainable assessment

To reference this document use:

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ac8f93d8-371a-402c-93c3-c2bc5f4f2e89

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1515/dcse-2016-0012

ISSN

2255-7547

Source

Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education, 7 (2), 5-16

Part of collection

Institutional Repository