Returns to tertiary education in Ghana: some unanswered questions

Abstract

The rapid expansion of University education in Ghana since the 1970s has not heen accompanied by commensurate improvement in economy performance as predicted by economic theory and supported by cross-country studies studies that show high social returns. In contrast, expansion of university education in South Korea has been instrumental in propelling that country from third-world status in the 1950s ro its current status of a new(v industrialised country The difference between Ghana and South Korea is rhat u·hife South Korean llniversities continual to adapted their curriculum so that the skills acquired by graduates met the needs of the country's economy; Ghana' s Universities continued with a curriculum that has become increasingly irrelevant to the needs of the economy. The main conclusion of the article is that social rate of return (or university education in Ghana is overstated because university education in Ghana for many is simply a means of acquiring credentials for getting employment in a declining but higher paid public sector and results in little or no social benefits. Based on this conclusion, the article suggests that the Ghanaian Government use its university funding arrangements, and the scholarship and loan guarantees it provides to students as a leverage to align universities' courses and the skills tirec/ hy university graduates with those needed for economic growth