Production Possibilities Curves: The cost of education

In economics, production possibilities curves are used to model the outputs of an economy assuming there is full employment, the use of the best technology, and production efficiency.  Through these models it is also possible to visualize the law of increasing costs and the effect of technological change and capital accumulation on future growth.
The law of increasing costs, in the context of a whole economy, states that as the production on one item increases, the cost of producing each additional item of the same type increases.  The reason for this is that resources are scarce and some resources are better suited to the production of certain items.  If you are already using the best suited resources to produce an item, it will be more difficult or costlier (in wages, time, or quality) to recruit less well suited resources to produce more of that item.  You would then have to choose whether it is worth producing that one more item at the increased cost.  For example, by choosing to take distance education course to increase my education in accounting, I have chosen to give up some of my free time (i.e. time to spend with my family).  The more courses I take concurrently, the less free time I will have, but the greater my education in accounting will be (Fig. 1).

Technological changes and capital accumulation affect production possibilities curves by causing a shift in the curve to the right resulting in increased future growth.  The downside is that the investment in the future growth comes at the cost of current production, so the more you invest in technology or the production of capital goos, the lower current production of consumer goods will be, but the greater future growth will be (Figs. 2 & 3).  For example, if I were to stop my education after completing only the accelerated accounting certificate I could get a better paying job than I currently have now.  However, if I invested more in my education by completing the CGA program, I would qualify for a significantly better paying job further in the future.