An unusual new study of the effects of faculty unionization on public universities—rather than on just faculty members themselves—reaches the controversial conclusion that such institutions generally become more efficient and effective when their professors form collective-bargaining units.

“Unionization contributes to lower budgets, higher graduation rates, and a greater number of degrees and completions,” says a draft report on the study’s findings scheduled to be presented on Sunday in New York, at the annual conference of the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions.

You can read the entire article in the Chronicle of Higher Education here, although it’s behind a paywall for now.