11 th Annual Conference and Convention  1999 Australasian Association Adelaide, Australia, 26-29 September, 1999 for Engineering Education Cost benefit analysis of engineering education Timothy L.J. Ferris School of Physics and Electronic Systems Engineering, University of South Australia ABSTRACT: Engineering education is expensive because of the need for engineers to instruct, and the cost of facilities to provide students with both theoretical and practical knowledge and understanding of their speciality. This paper considers the costs and benefits of expenditure on engineering education from the viewpoints of students, the government and industry. In a modern society the intellectual property generated by engineers is the drive of the economy. The intellectual property leads to production of the products required for a high standard of living. The trade of these products enables other occupations to flourish. Engineers may be obtained by training a nation’s youth or by importing those trained els ewhere. This paper finds that all parties benefit significantly from expenditure on engineering education, and that engineering education provides benefits to the government and the nation exceeding those derived from expenditure on education in other disciplines. The parties considered in the analysis are students, government, and industry, with society in general being linked to the gains to the government. 1 INTRODUCTION There are two Ways: a way of Life and a Way of Death, and the difference between them is great [1]. The author of the above wrote about moral and religious life, but the life of a nation may be described similarly. A nation may have many, or a few, engineers. A nation having many engineers may obtain them by training its own youth, or by importing people trained elsewhere. This paper argues that education of engineers domestic training provides significant benefits over not educating engineers or having no engineers, and is the way of life for the nation. Having engineers provides substantial returns to the nation over not having engineers. Further, the costs of domestic training are much less than the benefits. 2 TERTIARY COURSE CHOICE A generation ago high school career counselling, guiding most youth in their basic career choice, focused on aptitude and directed youth to careers matching aptitude and interest. This method assumed the best career choice is something in which the individual has ability and felt interest, and that such a career will provide life long career satisfaction. This type of career counselling could also be a subtle way of directing students to give a reasonable match of applicants and places. A survey of electronic and computer system engineering students conducted by the author [2] showed that the salaries of engineers, as perceived by high school students, were a significant factor in the motivation of many of the students to study in their chose engineering discipline. More generally, the most fashionable disciplines today, are those perceived as providing high salaries, particularly if the type of work, as perceived by high school students, is also reasonably pleasant. In engineering there are few examples of exceptional remuneration for technical occupations, but most technical engineers receive well above national average salaries, and some advance into management based on their engineering skills and become the exceptional performers, rarely publicly recognised as engineers. Despite the reality confronting graduates seeking employment, course choice depends on high school student perception of career nature and rewards. In some cultural communities the significant perception group also includes the family. Some student respondents in [2] showed high parental participation in course choice. The perception of career paths is important today in course choice because of a cultural shift emphasising tangible returns over the intangible of satisfaction emphasised 25 years ago. 3 ROLE OF GOVERNMENT Australia implements a philosophy of economy and government that permits and expects government intervention in the economy by infrastructure creation and regulation to enable the economic activity of others. Australian governments also become involved in action stimulating particular projects and industries for various political reasons. Time discussed this kind of government support of business in USA, arguing that most such support is an expensive