Some Economics of Academics

Abstract

Dramatic increases in the number of students in high schools, colleges, and universities during the past decade are matched by increases in knowledge and in the problems of digesting and disseminating it. Technology is an integral part of this knowledge and has been a major element in creating the affluent society of the United States. Domestic and world affluence is dependent on minerals, not the least of which is petroleum. Oil, as Wallace Pratt so cogently said, is found in the minds of men, and the industry's future rests with minds well trained in the diverse fields of technology that range from exploration to hydrocarbons' many uses. The industry at present is getting professional personnel at bargain rates, which figure out to 1½ cents per share of a large oil company's common stock. Industry's contribution to educational costs, however, is disproportionately small to its gain, whether measured in money or other equally significant services. As Joseph C. Wilson of the Xerox Corp. has pointed out, business leadership must involve itself directly in the processes of higher education, both as a social responsibility and as a matter of self-interest. Industry's monetary contribution of 31/100th of 1 percent of profits (in 1966) is not enough in either financial support or involvement.