Costs and benefits of education and training for the economy, business and individuals
The aim of this paper is to summarise and provide analyses of the considerable body of research that investigates the costs and benefits of vocational education and training (VET). It does so from three different perspectives:
the government (at the economy level),
business (or industry at a broader level),
the individual (or groups of individuals).
This paper considers a broad array of costs and benefits accruing to each of these perspectives, broadly dividing them into two categories: financial (market) or non-financial (non-market). It also describes some of the challenges encountered in investigating the costs and benefits and estimating the return on the investment in VET.