Universities and Regional Development: Measuring the Impact of Higher Education

It has become fashionable to measure the impact of a university on a region. The problem, of course, is that for complex institutions like universities, no simple measurement tool fits the task. Presently, a university?s value to a region is measured by many of the same standards as a shopping mall or factory. In this book, three university impact studies (the University of Cambridge, Harvard University and the Atlantic Provinces of Canada?s Universities) reveal narrow indicators, over reliance upon quantitative data, ignorance of social, cultural and environmental values and a problematic application of counterfactual analysis. This book highlights four indicators, to be included in university impact assessments: regionalization, decreasing inequality, environmental sustainability and institutional autonomy. Higher Education?s value to development, to a region and to the very nature of human existence surpasses the scope of present methods for assessment. Rather than defaulting to mediocre indicators of development, this book challenges policy makers to ask critical and insightful questions maintaining higher education's maximum relevance to society.