The past decade has seen increased attention to cost-effectiveness and benefit-cost analysis in education as administrators are being asked to accomplish more with the same or even fewer resources, philanthropists are keen to calculate their "return on investment" in social programs, and the general public is increasingly scrutinizing how resources are allocated to schools and colleges. Economic Evaluation in Education: Cost-Effectiveness and Benefit-Cost Analysis (titled Cost-Effectiveness Analysis: Methods and Applications in its previous editions) is the only full-length book to provide readers with the step-by-step methods they need to plan and implement a benefit-cost analysis in education. Authors Henry M. Levin, Patrick J. McEwan, Clive Belfield, Alyshia Brooks Bowden, and Robert Shand examine a range of issues, including how to identify, measure, and distribute costs; how to measure effectiveness, utility, and benefits; and how to incorporate cost evaluations into the decision-making process. The updates to the Third Edition reflect the considerable methodological development in the evaluation literature, and the greater empiricism practiced by education researchers, to help readers learn to apply more advanced methods to their own analyses.

'This book is a superb textbook treatment of benefit–cost analysis. It is well designed for students in public policy, public administration, public health, social work, environmental affairs, law and business.' – John D. Graham, Indiana University, US 'Principles and Standards for Benefit–Cost Analysis is well worth reading. The volume reproduces some chapters previously published online in the Journal of Benefit–Cost Analysis alongside new material that has not yet appeared in print, and does so in a logical and appealing way. Even the several chapters with which I disagreed made me think hard about my own views. And thinking hard is a good thing!' – Paul R. Portney, University of Arizona, US Benefit–cost analysis informs which policies or programs most benefit society when implemented by governments and institutions around the world. This volume brings together leading researchers and practitioners to recommend strategies and standards to improve the consistency and credibility of such analyses, assisting analysts of all types in achieving a greater uniformity of practice. Although new analytical approaches are constantly being used and tested, this book supports the emergence of a professional culture adhering to a set of principles and standards that can be used to identify useful analytical processes and to discard less useful ones. Contributors to this volume come from a wide variety of backgrounds and include authors of leading textbooks, editors of journals, former government officials, and practitioners whose analyses have shaped decisions about education, the environment, security, income distribution, and other vital social and economic policies. Students and professors of public sector economics will find much of interest in this groundbreaking book. Practitioners working in government, non-profit organizations, and international institutions, including welfare economists, policy analysts, environmentalists, engineers, and others will also benefit from this volume's sophisticated and practical recommendations.