Walter W. McMahon. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009; 432 pp; ISBN: 978-0-80189-053-6, cloth $45 USD.

A post-secondary education has long been acknowledged as essential for both personal success and economic growth. But the measurable value of its non-monetary benefits has until now been poorly understood. Walter McMahon, a leading education economist, carefully describes these benefits and suggests that higher education accrues significant social and private benefits. A post-secondary degree brings better job opportunities, higher earnings and even improved health. Higher education also promotes democracy and sustainable growth and contributes to reduced crime and lower state welfare and prison costs. These social benefits are substantial in relation to the costs of funding education. Offering a human capital perspective on these and other higher education policy issues, McMahon suggests that poor understanding of the value of nonmarket benefits leads to under-investment and offers policy options that can enable state and federal governments to increase investment in higher education.

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