This study analyses the contribution of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to the socio-economic development of the EU and each of its 28 members over the period 2000-2014. For this purpose, we examine the contributions of HEIs both through their educational and research activities. In the first case, we take into account the direct impact of higher education on the human capital of individuals, as well as the indirect impact on employment rates given the greater participation and employability, ceteris paribus, of people with higher education. In the second case, we study the contribution of the R&D of HEIs to technological capital. To carry out the analysis, counterfactual scenarios which assume that HEIs do not exist are estimated for each country. These counterfactual scenarios serve as a referen ce to estimate the impact of HEIs, applying techniques of growth accounting. The results obtained indicate that HEIs are a significant source of growth in EU countries, also contributing to mitigating the adverse effects of the periods of crisis. For the whole of the EU, the estimates show that GDP per capita would currently be more than one fifth higher than that corresponding to a scenario without HEIs. The results obtained also show the differences in GDP per capita between EU countries of up to 15% a ssociated with the activity of HEIs