Project | Economic value of higher education

About the project

TASO commissioned State of Life and Mime to conduct a rapid evidence review and data analysis exploring the evidence on the value of higher education, specifically whether higher education addresses existing equality gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students

The research involved a rapid evidence review to expose the gaps in the existing literature, which identified that there is little evidence on how outcomes for disadvantaged graduates vary according to the specific education pathway pursued. To address these gaps, an analysis of publicly available UK Households Survey data was undertaken.

Following the findings of this report, TASO has commissioned a further investigation of the Longitudinal Education Outcomes dataset for a more detailed analysis of long-term economic outcomes. Specifically, the analysis will consider the impacts of the specific education pathway pursued and the additional factors that could influence these outcomes.

If you would like to find out more or have any questions around this project, please get in touch with us at research@taso.org.uk. 

Related outputs

Background

A belief in the value of higher education for disadvantaged students underpins the mission of TASO to close equality gaps in higher education. While attending higher education has clear economic benefits, higher education providers must do more to address the gap in labour market outcomes between disadvantaged graduates and their peers.

A variety of research projects have shown the benefits of higher education both to the individual and society, but this project explored in more depth the value of higher education for disadvantaged young people specifically.