1199 



$4 billion, an annual average of over $45 million a year. Its value in 

 terms of American education, the report said, "would be still higher." 

 While the value of professionals absorbed into all other industrialized 

 countries was "even less known," the report stated that taken together, 

 '4t may approach" the American figure. The report continued : 



In developed economies, the cost of educating a professional is a very small 

 percentage of the value of this output over twenty-five man years of his working 

 life. Hence the projected value of such immigrant professionals to the countries 

 to which they go would be several times greater than the value of their educa- 

 tion. To this, the value of sub-professional skills must be added. Thus it is 

 possible that the above evaluation, with all the reservations which must be made 

 about it, is an underestimation.*'^ 



In citing the particular case of India, the Secretary General's report 

 declared that the aggregate costs of education lost to India due to 

 emigration of professionals to Canada, France, and the United States 

 (before 1966) "would have been over many years in excess of $1.7 

 million per annum." Assuming that India lost the equivalent in cost of 

 a degree for each of the professionals lost to the United States in 

 1967, as well as nurses lost to the United States and other countries, 

 the total loss for that year in educational costs alone would be about 

 $5.5 million. "Compared with Africa and Latin America," the report 

 stated, "Indian costs would appear to be exceptionally low." *^^ 



In his UNITAR study on emigration of professionals from the 

 LDCs, Gregory Henderson cites other specific cases of investment loss 

 in education through brain drain. Putting a value of $20,000 on a 

 Turkish university graduate in 1965, Turkey's annual loss of 575 pro- 

 fessionals is estimated to cost $11,555,000 or 2-3 percent of total capital 

 formation annually in the educational system.^^* 



Colombia's average annual loss in educational expenses for emigrat- 

 ing professionals from 1955-68 was estimated (on a basis of $10,000 

 per person) to be on the order of $25 million, plus $4,958,000 for inter- 

 mediate personnel. For these professionals who emigrated, "educa- 

 tional expenses for 14 years to 1968," he said, "were equivalent to con- 

 siderably more than the sum allocated for educational expenses in the 

 national budget for 1969." In addition, the amounts consumed in for- 

 eign exchange by those students abroad who failed to return w^ere 

 $57,100,000 in foreign exchange for the 14-year period.*^^ 



Henderson also cites the case of Cameroon, which sponsors about 250 

 persons for higher education in France each year. About one-third fail 

 to return, causing an estimated loss in supporting costs alone of $7 

 million a year.*'"^ 



The June 1970 report of the Secretary General on the outflow of 

 trained personnel from the LDCs to the developed countries further 

 documents the loss in educational investment. In the case of Lebanon, 

 the overall costs of those emigrating in 1967 after receiving elementary 

 education or secondary and university training was estimated at $40 

 million annually. The loss to Jordan was placed at about 66 percent of 

 this figure. For Cameroon, the loss incurred by the emigration of 



<92 Report of U.N. Secretary General, Outffoic of Trained Personnel from LDCs, Nov. 5, 

 19fi8. pD. 48.9.^ and 49.94. 

 «MIhid.. n. 4.3.82. 

 *»♦ Henderson, op. cit., p. 116. 

 «»5 Ibid., p. 117. 



^s" Ibid., p. 117. Henderson makes other projections on pp. 118-119. 



