The contribution of human capital is well recognized in organization’s and society’s prosperity. Thus, the competitiveness of global economies is dependable not only on financial issues and assets but also on organisation’s and more particularly on employees’ level of knowledge and experience. It is also widely recognized that the economic success of local, regional and national economies depends increasingly on education and skills. In recent years, various countries across the world have introduced a series of deep reaching reforms to their education and training systems. The prime motivation has been the belief that the development of an economy’s human capital is one of the most, if not the most, effective routes to improve national economic performance. The institutions of higher education contribute in social, cultural and economic growth of the region in which they are located. This paper focuses on the examination of the effects of the existence of the institutions of higher education on the GDP of the region. The research was focused on the west part of Greece.