From a business point of view the most important issues regarding the education of young people are still: the employability of graduates, and ensuring the high quality of study programmes and higher education institutions.

By many, education is understood to be a means of overcoming handicaps, achieving greater equality and acquiring wealth and status for all (Sargent 1994). Learners may be motivated by aspirations for progress and betterment. Education is perceived as a place where children can develop according to their unique needs and potentialities.‏³⁶ The purpose of education can be to develop every individual to their full potential.

Beginning in the 1990s, the most frequent reason given for attending college had changed to making a lot of money, outranking reasons such as becoming an authority in a field or helping others in difficulty.