The relationship between education and growth is examined in a sample of Italian regions. The neoclassical and Schumpeterian approaches which emphasize education growth and stock respectively as determinants of output growth are tested against each other using disaggregate data on education and capital stock. The main results are that productivity growth is influenced by the stock of education rather than its rate of growth. Tertiary education which does not promote growth in the aggregate becomes a significant growth enhancing factor if its allocation among sectors with different TFP dynamics is taken into account. In general controlling for this allocation effect reinforces the effects of education on output growth.