US colleges and universities are under increasing pressure to prove their value in terms that tax payers understand. This includes quantifying the economic worth of their contributions to society. Jason Owen-Smith, who oversees the Institute for Research on Innovation and Science – a U-M unit that measures the impact of university research on innovation, competitiveness and science, says “just saying ‘trust us’ is not enough.” He says universities must demonstrate that public investment into higher education has “created the single most effective system for producing and sharing new knowledge that has ever existed in human history.”

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