The relationship between higher education and the economy in India, the labor market for college graduates, and the role of the public sector in reducing unemployment of college graduates were assessed in three studies. A case study in the State of West Bengal related the development of higher education with the employment needs of the country using a global framework. Employment conditions for graduates in the metropolis and the provinces were compared at Bombay and Karnataka State. College entrance of low caste Indians of the Marathwade region (Maharashtra State) was also examined. For each of the geographic locations, attention was directed to: educational expenditures as a percentage of state domestic product, expenditures on education at current and constant prices; graduate employment and unemployment rates, 1981; distribution of employed and unemployed graduates by family income; graduates' number of months/years for first regular job, by subject studies, 1980-1981; and earnings of university graduates by subject of study (for Bombay and Karnataka universities). In addition to the study findings, the theoretical background to the research is described, with attention to theories of higher education and society and theories of education and labor markets. A 33-item bibliography is provided. (SW)