Affordability Of Higher Education Research Articles

Affordability of Higher Education in South Africa

This article investigates why South African universities increased their tuition fees above inflation during the period 2010 to 2019 (intentionally excluding the potential distortion caused by COVID-19). The affordability of higher education is the subject of increased debate among stakeholders in South Africa. From a financial point of view, universities, as typical service organisations, should have benefited from an increase in enrolments. The main reason is that their expenses are typically period costs and are hence less affected by an increase in enrolments. However, the key findings of the study on which this article is based were that revenue increased above inflation, with tuition fees the main culprit. In turn, the reason for increased tuition fees is a significant increase in expenses. This suggests that universities did not benefit from economies-of-scale or efficiency in managing their expenses. The research makes a unique contribution to the body of knowledge by assessing why university tuition fees increased using a financial model to project budgeted revenue, expenses and tuition fees (taking inflation and growth in student enrolments into account) for 2019 using actual financial data from 2010.

Fostering Financial Inclusion and Education Access in the Global South: Collaborative Stratagem

This investigation delves into the intricate challenges surrounding financial inclusion and convenient access to high-quality education within the Global South, encompassing regions such as Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. The study underscores the pressing imperative for concerted action to ameliorate the dire state of the education system. A considerable segment of the populace grapples with limited access to superior education due to financial constraints, inadequately trained educators, substandard learning environments, and the exclusion of children with varying abilities. These barriers impede not only individual advancement but also stymie collective socio-economic progress, perpetuating disparities in society. The study accentuates the pivotal role played by partnerships, advocacy initiatives, and innovative financial paradigms in surmounting these challenges, drawing upon an extensive corpus of research and empirical data. Emphasizing the necessity of forging collaborations among commercial enterprises, non-profit entities, and educational institutions, it aims to bridge the resource and infrastructure gaps in education. Propelled by advocacy campaigns, policymakers, communities, and diverse stakeholders can be effectively convinced of the profound value of financial education and literacy. A significant obstruction scrutinized in this study is the financial aspect, constituting a formidable barrier to accessing high-caliber education across the Global South. Financial constraints manifest in elevated dropout rates and diminished educational attainments, exacerbating extant societal disparities. Innovative financial strategies, such as grants, scholarships, microloans, and digital payment alternatives, serve as potent instruments for bolstering accessibility and affordability of higher education. Concluding this study is an exhaustive compendium of recommendations to redress these pressing challenges. These recommendations encompass fortifying partnerships, advocating for enhanced financial literacy, implementing cost-effective measures, augmenting the availability of scholarships and grants, and underscore the vital importance of international cooperation. The research underscores the criticality of funding teacher training programs and bolstering educational infrastructure as indispensable components within a holistic strategy aimed at enhancing education within the Global South.

International students in Ukraine: a gateway to developed countries

ABSTRACT This study aims to contribute to the knowledge about international student mobility to semi-peripheral states. The theoretical framework combines the world- systems analysis and the push–pull model grounded on international migration theories. Data emanate from the semi-structured interviews with 50 international students from five leading Ukrainian universities with distinct disciplinary profiles: technical, classical, medical, aviation and life sciences. Findings reveal that the main push factors that trigger international students to study in Ukraine include a lack of job prospects and the failure to enter higher education in the home country. Attractive elements of Ukrainian universities include a lax admission process, good affordability of higher education, low cost of living and the recognition of Ukrainian degrees for further studies in developed countries. The expected quality of education appears not to be a major issue. Ukrainian degree is an indirect route for international students to enter the labour market in the home country or a gateway to further studies in developed countries.

From peril to promise: The academic library post–COVID-19

As in so many other parts of our society, COVID-19 has forced many changes to the ways in which academic libraries operate. The response of higher education to the pandemic has revealed both how vital academic libraries are to the academic enterprise and to scientific advancement at-large through open access initiatives. It has also highlighted that libraries are not alone in confronting the long-term challenges of sustainability with respect to the current scholarly communication marketplace, and the affordability of higher education more broadly. For academic libraries to assume a leadership role in higher education’s search for solutions, we must first reconcile our own identity in the new landscape. We need to ground ourselves in a new way of operating: embracing iterative development techniques while deliberately combining collections strategy, digital initiatives, and outreach efforts to support open scholarship.

Investigating the E-Learning Challenges Faced by Students during Covid-19 in Namibia

Over the past two decades, e-learning has become an increasingly important field of study that has attracted scholarly and policy makers’ attention. Many developing nations have embraced e-learning as a tool to enhance accessilibility and affordability of higher education. During the COVID-19 lockdown period, many universities across the world were forced to embrace online teachning and learning to circumvent lockdowns, social distancing and other public health interventions put in place to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Consequently, this study sought to establish students’ experiences with the e-learning mode during the COVID-19 lockdown in Namibia. The paper discusses the results of an online survey of 137 undergraduate students about their experiences using e-learning technologies during the COVID-19-induced university closures. An online survey instrument was created on Google forms and a link distributed to students through WhatsApp class groups. Quantitative data were presented through frequency tables and figures, whilst we adopted thematic content analysis to analyse qualitative data. The results of the survey indicate that mobile devices remained the primary computing device used to access academic information. An analysis of the study results led to the emergence of five themes, viz, e-learning system accessibility, e-learning platform layout, resources to access Internet and network, isolation and home environment that captured student challenges with online classes. This paper argues that e-learning is still faced by a myriad of challenges that need to be addressed if it has to be a success. Furthermore, we advance the argument for mobile learning as a viable option for Africa due to the ubuiquity of mobile devices.

Theoretical Orientations to Intergenerational Home Sharing: Implications for Direct Social Work Practice on Addressing Student Debt and Aging-in-Community

Population aging presents many challenges that will require innovative solutions. Emerging challenges include low levels of affordable housing that jeopardize the sustainability of aging-in-community and health among older adults. Concurrently, the affordability of higher education is a pressing concern for graduate students. Intergenerational home sharing appears to be a promising solution to help improve the affordability of education and housing, bolster opportunities to age-in-place and age-within-communities, and consequently improve various aspects of health for individuals, families, and society. Although the idea of sharing a home between skipped generations emerged in the mid-twentieth century, programs are often short-lived, small boutique experiences. Moreover, the scholarship is underdeveloped, which may contribute to issues of scalability and low levels of participation. This conceptual paper integrates intergenerational solidarity and productive aging theories to inform the development of policies and programs that bolster engagement in home sharing between graduate students and community-dwelling older adults. We review key factors at the individual and institutional levels, as well as barriers and facilitators at the policy and cultural levels. We conclude with implications for social worker practitioners, researchers, and advocates.

Leveraging Library Expertise in Support of Institutional Goals: A Case Study of an Open Educational Resources Initiative

Incentivizing faculty adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER) as a method for reducing textbook costs to increase access and affordability of higher education has been an area of development in academic libraries. This study describes the experience at Lehman College, CUNY, the only four-year public college in the Bronx, NY and the alignment of OER with institutional goals. The OER initiative involves the creation of a new program, which includes librarians assisting faculty with adopting and adapting OER, as well as training and discussion around issues pertinent to OER, such as finding and evaluating OER. The case study explains local conditions and provides an overview of the financial implications of textbook costs as well as pedagogical benefits. The repositioning of the Library through this initiative is also discussed.

Financial Aid Packaging at Community Colleges: Which types of awards packages increase student persistence?

Increasing college costs, coupled with decreasing financial aid has raised public concerns over the affordability of higher education. For the past four decades, the nation has seen the cost of tuition rise at levels that exceed inflation, and financial assistance rates that have not kept pace with that growth. Studies suggest that these financial resources play a role in influencing college attendance decisions and persistence for low-income students. This study examines the characteristics of zero-EFC students as compared to non-zero EFC students and determines the extent to which a gift-aid only, and gift-aid plus loans awards package affects the likelihood of persistence. Also, it explores the relationship between the ratio of loans-to-gift-aid, and the likelihood of persistence across income levels. By employing logistic regression, this study aims to determine if there are differential effects among financial aid award packages, and if the ratio of a loans-to-gift-aid package affects persistence by income status. Results demonstrated that a gift-aid only package, and a gift-aid plus loans package negatively influenced the enrollment outcomes of zero-EFC students and positively influenced the enrollment outcomes of high-income students. Additionally, when examining the ratio of loans-to-gift-aid for students with a gift-aid and loans package, results showed that the higher the ratio of loans to gift-aid, the higher the likelihood of persistence for all income levels. In an era where the rising costs of a college education are becoming more difficult to cover with present levels of financial aid, earning a higher education credential is possible if students are willing to take on educational debt. A comprehensive higher education plan that acknowledges financial barriers as fundamental obstacles to the college success of its lowest income students is necessary to preserving equal opportunity to upward social mobility.

From conceptualisation to measurement of higher education as a common good: challenges and possibilities

The article aims to outline a theoretical framework for conceptualising higher education as a common good, as well as to reveal the empirical manifestations of this phenomenon. It argues that the extent to which higher education as a common good is accomplished in a given society/country reflects the accessibility, availability, and affordability of higher education, in addition to the commitment to this goal made by society and all its influential actors. Building on this conceptualisation and using data from various sources for 13 European countries, the authors develop a composite index which measures the extent to which higher education as a common good is implemented in a given country. The results indicate substantial cross-country differences, with Northern Europe scoring most highly. They also demonstrate that higher education as a common good is a complex phenomenon with differences within the country ranks, as well, depending on the varying dimensions considered. Finally, by applying cluster analysis, the article identifies four distinctive clusters of countries with regard to the accomplishment of higher education as a common good, designated as reality, feasible, ambiguous, and problematic. The index developed here can be used to assess the effectiveness of national policies in the sphere of higher education across Europe.

Meyer, H.-D., St. John, E.P., Chankseliani, M. & Uribe, L. (Eds.). (2013). Fairness in Access to Higher Education in a Global Perspective: Reconciling Excellence, Efficiency, and Justice. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

Fairness in Access to Higher Education in a Global Perspective: Reconciling Excellence, Efficiency, and Justice is an edited volume that aims to address the central question of how and why we can promote policies for fair access to higher education (HE). It takes a fairly common view of equity, exploring fair access in terms of racial, socio-economic and rural/urban background. The chapters on China and Georgia also consider fairness in the context of political favouritism and nepotism. The book’s primary focus is on access to HE, in other words, academic preparation, selection of students and affordability of HE. To a lesser extent, the book also explores the question of how to sustain participation in and completion of HE among disadvantaged groups.

The creation of performance funding in Michigan: Partnership, promotion and points

While accountability in higher education has been a topic of debate for decades, in recent years the discussions have shifted to emphasize efficiency and economic measures of success. A prominent example of this accountability movement is the increase in popularity of performance funding policies. One of the most recent states to implement performance funding is Michigan, which began their performance funding policy in 2012. This study explored the creation and implementation of the state of Michigan’s performance funding policy. In particular, the decision making processes institutional administrators and state leaders engaged in while designing, promoting, and implementing the policy. Using a case study design and interviewing both higher education administrators and state leaders who were involved in the creation of the performance funding policy in Michigan yielded five large trends: 1) The importance of advocacy coalitions; 2) Securing support through a focus on higher education affordability; 3) Concerns with how to measure data and compare institutions; 4) Insufficient financial incentives; and 5) Limited impact on institutional decision making.

The Renewal of Competency-Based Education: A Review of the Literature

Although competency-based education (CBE) has existed since the early 1970s adult-focused degree programs, interest in CBE has spiked in recent years due to the increased attention on higher education affordability and accountability. This article reviews the extant literature on CBE to address the following questions: (a) What are the definitions of CBE? (b) What are the characteristics of contemporary CBE programs? (c) What are the various CBE programmatic models? (d) What challenges are confronted by institutions seeking to implement CBE programs? (e) What are the key factors in planning CBE frameworks? The review of literature brings to light some of the issues facing adoption of CBE.

Lessons of Experience: Reform Initiatives in African Universities

white paper is indeed aiming at a moving target in trying to keep the upper end of U.K. higher education institutions competitive in income terms with even the best of the U.S. publics, let alone the top private institutions, where annual fees are already nearing $30K. And, indeed, there is also a trend toward the semiprivatization of state flagship campus institutions (now being called “the public Ivies”), which may push fees yet higher than the ca.$7K per annum referred to above. If U.K. and U.S. higher education systems continue to diverge on funding, they will then share certain features. The politics of affordability of higher education for “Middle America” during the 1990s trumped the politics of access to higher education for “Poor America,” which is not surprising given the relative voting power of the two constituencies. This scenario potentially will be echoed in the United Kingdom, where in response to New Labour’s white paper and its proposed £3K per annum tuition fee for “Middle England” the Conservative Party has focused on affordability, asserting that it would avoid the need to increase fees (or even levying them at all) by reducing the size of the higher education system and hence its accessibility to “Poor England” as a means of saving money.

Shaping Policy and Practice in Intercollegiate Athletics: A Study of Student Perceptions of Resource Allocation for Athletics and its Effect on Affordability of Higher Education

Shaping Policy and Practice in Intercollegiate Athletics: A Study of Student Perceptions of Resource Allocation for Athletics and its Effect on Affordability of Higher Education

Financial Decisions among Undergraduate Students from Low-Income and Working-Class Social Class Backgrounds

Low-income and working-class students face many challenges related to the costs and affordability of higher education; yet, little is known about the financial decisions made by these groups of students while they are enrolled in higher education and how their decisions might differ from middle/upper-class students. Using data from students enrolled at six large, public research universities in 2012, researchers examined 16 different financial decisions of undergraduate students. Results suggest that low-income and working-class students are more likely to make decisions that could negatively impact their immediate academic experience, serve as disruptive barriers to success, delay or prolong graduation, or lead to increased debt upon graduation.

Where in Europe would people like to study? The affordability of higher education in nine Western European countries

In discussions on the accessibility of higher education, student financial support, or rather, the financial position of students, is a key focus. In many countries the affordability of higher education is an issue, particularly within those countries which have proposed to implement or increase tuition fees, or to increase the availability of loans and decrease grants. In this article, nine Western European countries are examined, and their relative position in terms of the affordability of higher education will be explored. As such, it provides insight into the relative impact of different support systems on the financial position of students.