Journal Article
High returns: public investment in higher education
Trostel, Philip A. (2008-04)
Conservatively speaking, a college graduate generates $142,000 in state fiscal benefits over time while costing a state only $60,500. But trends in higher education allocations (4.1 percent of total state spending nationwide in 1984; 1.8 percent in 2004) suggest states have become shortsighted.
Communities and Banking , Issue Spr , Pages 31-34

Working Paper
The fiscal impacts of college attainment
Trostel, Philip A. (2007)
This study quantifies one important part of the economic return to public investment in college education, namely, the fiscal benefits associated with greater college attainment. College graduates generally pay much more in taxes than those not going to college. Government expenditures are also generally much less for college graduates than for those without a college education. Indeed, over an average lifetime, total government spending per college degree is negative. That is, direct savings in post-college government expenditures are greater than government expenditures on higher education. ...
New England Public Policy Center Working Paper , Paper 07-2