Dear anhopcat,
Education is an important industry in at least four different ways.
First, there are the labor statistics: education employs a great
number of professionals who deliver services to a vast number of
clients. Second, it is financially significant: the annual spending by
educational institutions is a sizeable input into the American
economy; their annual revenues and total net worth establish them as
members of a highly capitalized industry. Third, the delivery of a
high-quality educational product plays a valuable role in supporting
the growth of other industries, especially in the high-tech sector.
Fourth and not least importantly, education plays an indispensable
sociocultural role in shaping the spirits and intellects of our youth.
Consider, to begin with, that the National Center for Education
Statistics, a branch of the U.S. Department of Education, reports a
total employment of 4.451 million teachers and senior instructional
staff at all levels of education in 2002. If we were to include the
support staff employed by schools and colleges, such as clerical
workers and custodial laborers, the number would be higher yet. Yet
even 4.451 million is a significant figure in both absolute terms and
as a proportion of the labor force. According to the CIA World
Factbook, the total labor force of the United States in 2003 was 146.5
million. Thus, teachers and senior instructional staff make up 3.0% of
the United States labor force. Another way to put it is that nearly
one out of every 33 American workers is a teacher or senior
instructional staff member. Compare this to farming, fishing, and
forestry, which together employ 2.4% of the United States labor force,
again according to the CIA World Factbook. Since the proportion of the
labor force employed in managerial, professional, and technical trades
is 31% overall, we can observe furthermore that almost one tenth of
managerial, professional, and technical workers are employed in
education. These workers are servicing a clientele numbering 68.479
million students, as recorded in the fall of 2000 by the National
Center for Education Statistics. Thus, the education industry is
clearly a significant employer and a substantial service provider to
the American public.
National Center for Education Statistics: employment of teachers and
senior instructional staff from 1970 to the present, in thousands
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d02/tables/dt004.asp
Central Intelligence Agency: The World Factbook: United States
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/us.html
National Center for Education Statistics: enrollment in educational institutions
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d02/tables/dt002.asp
Now consider the effect that educational spending has on the U.S.
Economy. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that in
2001, when the Gross National Product was $10,082.2 billion, the total
expenditures of elementary and high schools came to $454.1 billion,
while colleges and universities laid out $291.1 billion. In total,
then, educational institutions spent $745.2 billion, or 7.4% of the
Gross Domestic Product. This figure is not merely the cost of the
educational system, but an expression of its economic value, since the
dollars go to workers and laborers who, in turn, pour money into their
local economies and into purchases of products such as automobiles
that benefit several national industries. Another way to appreciate
the industrial power of education is to look at the revenue of
colleges and universities. In the school year 1995-96, private
degree-granting institutions had a revenue of $74.472 billion, while
public ones took in $157.314 billion. In total, this comes to $232.1
billion, or close to a quarter of a trillion dollars. Not many
industries can claim a revenue of such magnitude. As for the net worth
of all degree-granting institutions in the school year 1985-86, the
last period for which full figures are available, the value of
property and endowments, less the value of all liabilities, was
$160.96 billion. If the trend of rapid growth observed at the time has
persisted to any degree, this figure has surely increased markedly in
the intervening two decades.
National Center for Education Statistics: total expenditures of
educational institutions from school year 1929-30 to 2001-02, in
thousands of dollars
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d02/tables/dt029.asp
National Center for Education Statistics: current-fund revenue of
public degree-granting institutions, in thousands of dollars
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d02/tables/dt331.asp
National Center for Education Statistics: current-fund revenue of
private degree-granting institutions, in thousands of dollars
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d02/tables/dt330.asp
National Center for Education Statistics: value of property and
liabilities of degree-granting institutions, from 1899-1900 to
1995-96, in thousands
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d02/tables/dt357.asp
A less tangible but no less significant way in which the education
plays an industrial role is in its vital support of other industries.
Without elementary schools and high schools providing mandatory
universal education, the workforce at large, including blue-collar
workers and unskilled laborers, would not possess the high degree of
general literacy and numeracy that a developed nation such as the
United States requires if it wishes to maintain its status as an
economic powerhouse. Factory workers must read instructions, clerical
staff must write memoranda, and cashiers must make change. Where else
would they learn the necessary skills but in school? Institutions of
higher education are especially important as suppliers of highly
trained laborers and engineers for American technological enterprises,
and of intellectual workers for the emerging knowledge industry.
Finally, we must not forget that schools are a place for molding the
character of children and young adults. It is a necessity in today's
cultural and socioeconomic climate for most families to send their
children to school, so what they do not learn at home about morality
and intellectual discipline must be instilled by the educational
system, while what their parents do impart to them must be reinforced
and amplified. This is a role that no other industry can adequately
play, not the automotive industry, nor the service industry, and
certainly not the entertainment industry that vies so forcefully and
successfully for the attention of American youth. Indeed, this unique
formative function makes it almost an act of cynicism to speak of
education as an industry, were it not for the importance of planning,
financing, and regulating the national educational system in a
rational and sustainable way, just like other industries, so that it
will deliver a quality product today and in the years to come.
If you feel that my answer is incomplete or inaccurate in any way, please
post a clarification request so that I have a chance to meet your needs
before you assign a rating.
Regards,
leapinglizard |
