This article provides a reflection about the social value of education (VSE) as a construct to assess. A definition for VSE is presented, which is identified as the utility of education for the personal and social welfare. From this perspective, the VSE has two different approaches: Objective-VSE (what refers to the objective utility measured by statistical indicators related to various factors involving education) and Subjective-VSE (what is defined as the perception that people have about the usefulness of education for both personal and social development). Also it  offers reflections on VSE in relation to social justice. It justifies reasons for the interest on VSE and provides a reference on potential indicators and instruments for evaluation.

{1} Developed in the framework of the project M-AVACO, funded by the MICINN (Spain). Project reference: EDU2009-13485.

Education, social value, evaluation, measurement, social justice.