Development Impact of Higher Education in Africa: the case of Uganda

Using micro data from a series of household surveys, the paper demonstrates that to some extent there is positive correlation between per capita GDP growth and student enrolment in public universities in Uganda. It also finds that the higher education graduates are employed in those sectors which have recorded higher growth rates. The higher education graduates do contribute to the economy indirectly through tax revenue which are in turn used to support social programs among others that benefit the society at large. The paper also demonstrates that the share of taxes from higher education graduates has been increasing over time. The paper reveals that the returns to higher education are higher than at any other lower education levels. More importantly, university education shows the highest private returns.