A Study on the Development of Social Investment Performance Indicators : Focusing on Higher Education Financial Aid Policy

Abstract

This study aims to reframe higher education financial aid policy from a social investment perspective and to develop performance indicators capable of evaluating the policy’s actual effectiveness. To overcome the limitations of traditional input-output based evaluation methods, the study establishes a systematic framework of short-, medium-, and long-term indicators that comprehensively capture policy outcomes and social value. Additionally, monetizable proxy indicators are presented to provide a foundation for empirical analysis. The analysis confirms that financial aid policy for higher education is not merely a mechanism to reduce the cost of education, but rather a form of social investment that generates long-term benefits—such as increased lifetime earnings, improved health outcomes, enhanced social cohesion, and broader national-level advantages. In light of these findings, it is necessary to advance the policy evaluation framework by shifting toward outcome-based assessments and adopting a social investment approach to measuring social returns within welfare-related public expenditures.