Higher Education Funding Research Articles

Show Me the Money: An Exploration of International Student Net Tuition and Fees at Regional Universities in Minnesota and Wisconsin

International student enrollment has become increasingly important in higher education financing as public appropriations for higher education and enrollments have declined. A critical consideration for U.S. public institutions -- in particular regional institutions that lack brand prestige -- is pricing. This research brief examines the methods regional public universities in Wisconsin and Minnesota used to lower tuition for international, degree-seeking undergraduates. The findings suggest that the institutions used multiple approaches to reduce international non-resident tuition and limit remissions length and renewal. Additionally, remission complexity and price uncertainty may influence perceptions of higher education affordability in the United States.

Student-as-customer discourse as a challenge to equality in Finnish higher education – the case of non-fee-paying and fee-paying master’s degree students

ABSTRACT In market-oriented higher education (HE) systems, fee-paying students are positioned as customers, and studying is juxtaposed with service use. In this study, we investigate how students position themselves in relation to the student-as-customer discourse in Finnish HE, in which only students coming from outside the EU and EEA areas are charged tuition fees. We investigate the construction of the student-as-customer discourse in the narrative environment of Finnish HE through interviews with both international fee-liable and Finnish non-fee-paying master’s degree students (n = 34). In addition, we analyse social differences that are constructed between fee-liable and non-fee-paying students in relation to the student-as-customer discourse. We argue that fee liability creates unequal positions for some international students and thus challenges the equality principles embedded in Finnish HE. Paradoxically, it was also found that the fee-liable student-customers have less freedom and fewer options than the non-fee-paying students.

“We play green” – Maximising subsidies for universities on the example of public economic universities

Purpose: The rules for allocating funds to universities should consider the effectiveness of their operations. This is one of the key proposals raised in the context of financing universities, as well as one of the assumptions of New Public Management (NPM). These demands were to be met by the higher education reform carried out in Poland in 2018, which also assumed a change in the rules of financing universities. The aim of this study is to analyse the structure of subsidies for economic universities in the context of maximising their amounts. Methodology/approach: A case study was used covering public economic universities in Poland. The amount of the subsidy and its structure between 2019 and 2021 were assessed. Findings: Each university chose a different policy to “shape” the amount of the subsidy. It is also important that universities are able to link the assessment of their activities with the implemented strategy. Originality/value: The research contributes to the assessment of changes in the financing of higher education caused by the introduction of new principles of financing universities.

Democratic Backsliding and the Balance Wheel Hypothesis: Partisanship and State Funding for Higher Education in the United States.

The balance wheel hypothesis—a classic tenet of USA state-level policy analysis that suggests state funding for higher education varies in response to macroeconomic cycles—has held up to scrutiny over time. However, new social conditions within the Republican Party, namely growing hostility toward independent institutions, call for a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between state budgets and higher education. Drawing on recent research in political science and political economy, we conceptualize declining state appropriations to higher education in Republican-dominated U.S. states as an instance of democratic backsliding. Using a panel of state-level data we found that political partisanship conditioned state appropriations to higher education during and after the Great Recession. Our finding that the balance wheel operated differently in states with and without unified Republican control not only suggests partisan hostility toward higher education is a potentially worrisome indicator of democratic backsliding, but also the importance of updating models to consider the extent to which they still hold as contexts change over time.

State Higher Education Funding during COVID-19: Exploring State-Level Characteristics Influencing Financing Decisions

Building on research examining state financing for higher education, our qualitative comparative case study investigates state policymakers’ decisions for funding public higher education during the COVID-19 crisis in California and Texas. These states were purposively selected based on the size of their postsecondary sector, state partisanship, and higher education funding responses during the pandemic. Moreover, these states represent two of the largest public postsecondary enrollments nationally and serve a racially and ethnically diverse student population. Guiding our study is the Hearn and Ness (2018) framework investigating the ecology of state higher education policymaking, which offers four contextual categories that influence state policy decisions: socioeconomic context, organizational and policy context, politico-institutional context, and external context. This framework suggests underlying factors influencing the state funding process, while also providing an opportunity to expand on this theory through the unique COVID-19 context. We used deductive and inductive techniques to analyze 28 interviews with a range of actors, including state elected officials, state government staff, and higher education officials. We also examined 69 documents (state budgets, news articles, and state executive orders) to triangulate and verify our interview data. Two areas served as key events that ultimately influenced higher education funding decisions in California and Texas: (1) the preference of certain higher education institutions and (2) the availability and application of federal dollars. Furthermore, the organizational and policy context and the politico-institutional context, as defined by the Hearn and Ness framework, provided additional state-level factors that resulted in distinct responses. This study offers practical and theoretical contributions to higher education policy and practice, including highlighting the decision-making and prioritization processes of state policymakers when facing an unprecedented pandemic and crisis, and discussing common and unique factors influencing higher education policymaking in two different state contexts.

Saving Australian Social Work: The Save Social Work Australia Campaign and the Effective Use of Social Media

ABSTRACT In 2020, the Australian Government proposed a new model of higher education funding that purported to incentivise study in national priority areas. However, despite shortages of social workers, the initial proposal doubled the student fee contribution for a social work degree. The Save Social Work Australia campaign was established by the Australian Council of Heads of Schools of Social Work to redress errant assumptions underpinning the funding of social work education and to lobby for social work to be funded at the same level as other allied health programs. A successful social media campaign resulted in the reclassification of social work prior to promulgation of the legislation as one of only two academic disciplines to achieve this outcome. This article demonstrates that social media can be an effective tool for social workers engaged in political lobbying. IMPLICATIONS Social work academics successfully lobbied the Federal Government to improve the funding of social work education in Australia. Social media can be an effective tool for social workers engaged in political lobbying.

Do social and environmental factors affect level of stress during COVID-19 among nursing students? Results from single center cross-sectional study in Malaysia

Introduction: Stress in nursing students has been documented in many studies and this will lead to various health problems. However, there is scanty research assessing the level of stress among nursing students during Covid-19 in Malaysia. Hence, this study aimed to assess the level of stress and its association with social and environmental factors amongst nursing students in Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by random sampling among nursing students in Universiti Malaysia Sabah between March and May 2021. The primary outcome was stress symptoms, derived from the validated Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS) questionnaire. Socio-demographic, social, and environmental factors were also assessed. T-test was used to assess the associations between level of stress and social and environmental factors. Results: A total of 115 responses were received with the mean (SD) age of the students being 20.5 (1.3) years old. Of all the students, 84.9% were female, 54.6% received financial support from National Higher Education Fund Corporation and 46.2% were in nursing Year 2 followed by the nursing year 1 (28.6%) and nursing year 3 (25.2%). The students in this study reported a higher level of stress. The students who reported most or all the time being trapped in a hostel (p<0.01), challenges of online classes (p=0.03), and catching up with class projects (p=0.03) had a higher level of stress compared to those who reported none or little or some of the factors. Conclusion: This study showed that social and environmental factors may play a role in determining the stress level among nursing students. Hence, authorities should foster supporting strategies to lower student stress and tackles the unwanted consequences.

Equitable access, Retention and Successful Completion of Undergraduate Students in Higher Education in Uganda: The Uganda Students’ Higher Education Financing Policy Perspective

Given the extensive social and private benefits that result from higher education (HE), access, inclusion, and completion are essential for achieving social justice, and ensuring the realisation of the full potential of those who wish to acquire HE. Yet still, many students or indeed their families, especially in low-income countries like Uganda, find it extremely difficult to access HE, whilst many of the students who join higher education institutions (HEIs) fail to complete their study programmes due to failure to meet the costs involved. On top of the various affirmative action measures aimed at increasing equitable access to HE, the Government of Uganda in 2012 introduced a financing scheme for HE that is, the Uganda Students’ Higher Education Financing Policy (USHEFP) that culminated into the Students’ Loan Scheme (SLS) with the primary aim of increasing equitable access to HE by providing loans to the qualified students who would otherwise not afford the cost of HE. The purpose of this study therefore, is to explore how the USHEFP is facilitating access, retention, and successful completion of students (policy beneficiaries) in HE. Using snow-balling and purposive sampling, the results from one-on-one interviews with participants revealed that the Higher Education Students Financing Board (HESFB) provides loans only for the academic component (Tuition and Functional fees) of the students, leaving out the welfare component (feeding, accommodation, scholastic materials) as well as internship and research. Without downplaying the importance of this financing policy in facilitating access to HE, nevertheless, the study revealed that the policy does not have an explicit effort to ensure that those who access the loans, complete their studies. Thus, since its inception with the first cohort of beneficiaries in 2014, the scheme has awarded loans to about 11,187 students out of whom 776 students have dropped out, translating into 6.94% of the students’ loan scheme dropouts due to inability to meet the cost of their welfare while at campus

Responsibility Accounting and its Role in Evaluating the Cost of the Student between Traditional Education and e-Learning

In light of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and its developments, and what it has imposed on educational institutions by shifting from in-person education to e-learning (distance study). E-learning has been relied on recently, especially after 2019, so much that it has become an urgent necessity, including the need to adopt responsibility accounting in calculating the cost elements in each department, so that expenditures are controlled without wastage, so a comparison had to be made. Between in-person education and e-learning to know the cost centers, specifically the cost of the student, a contribution to adjusting the cost of the student even between the main subjects and the supporting materials as an attempt to find solutions to a group of problems that arose during e-learning, including the unification of cost between the materials and between the two educations, despite the differences in the quality of communication between the student, the professor and the content. The research has reached a set of conclusions, the most important of which is the poor infrastructure, which made it imperative for universities to go to the acquisition of new assets in order to communicate electronically, such as internet networks, which is unprecedented for Iraq. The budget section and the higher education fund section, taking into account the scientific section with practical needs and the need for more documents than the theoretical section only.

GARRITZMANN (Julian L.), The Political Economy of Higher Education Finance. The Politics of Tuition Fees and Subsidies in OECD Countries, 1945-2015

GARRITZMANN (Julian L.), The Political Economy of Higher Education Finance. The Politics of Tuition Fees and Subsidies in OECD Countries, 1945-2015

The tyranny of meritocracy and elite higher education

In The Tyranny of Merit, Michael Sandel argues that the American society is not meritocratic, that belief that it is causes various social harms, and that some of those harms –in particular, the costs to social solidarity – would be caused even if society actually were meritocratic. He also explores the way that the structure of higher education is implicated in the ‘ethos’ of meritocracy. This article explores just how the ethos of meritocracy might undermine solidarity, argues that the structural changes needed to achieve actual meritocracy would be benign, even though meritocracy itself is not very valuable, and identifies ways in which changes to the structure of public funding for higher education may inadvertently have undermined solidarity.

고등교육재정에 대한 새 정부의 과제

The purpose of this study is to propose a new government task on higher education finance. For the study, related literature, financial data, and media reports were analyzed.
 The results are as follows: First, the cost per student in the higher education stage is lower than in OECD countries, and even lower than the elementary level. Despite the increase in the higher education budget over the past decade, the government's financial investment has been mainly on the National Scholarship and universities' tuition income has been effectively decreasing. Second, as a result of evaluating the 10-year basic plan for higher education financial investment, it was analyzed that the government's overall fiscal investment in higher education was quite close to the original target. However, most indicators failed to achieve their goals as the method of financing was achieved through restructuring of existing budgets. Finally, as a plan to expand higher education finances, it was proposed to improve the legal suitability of tuition policies and to prepare a legal basis for stable securing higher education finances.
 Despite the inadequate level of financial investment in higher education, discussions on higher education finances have mainly focused on the allocation issues, and practical efforts have been insufficient to expand the size of finance itself. According to the 2021-2025 National Financial Management Plan, the government's investment in higher education is unlikely to be improved. Based on the results of the 10-year basic plan for higher education, the government needs to set specific level of financial investment goals in the basic plan for higher education and implement stable higher education finances with a legal foundation beyond securing restructuring levels.

Higher Education Funding Strategies: Towards Equity, Efficiency, and Quality

As economists have become increasingly interested in higher education, economic reasoning has been applied, resulting in extremely useful research in higher education. With the growth of market forces in higher education, the changing role of government, and advances in research on the economics of higher education, higher education funding is increasingly seen as a tool to stimulate the market. The development of an effective funding strategy may be one of the keys to developing higher education - its quality and efficiency, increasing equity and equality. The article adds to the existing literature on higher education funding and the impact of market forces on higher education. It aims to provide an analysis of economic reasoning applied to higher education, which can be used as a tool to develop a funding strategy. It also includes an overview of different funding models concerning economic reasoning and synthesizes different funding strategies regarding their impact on the higher education market.

The higher education funding formula review process: Best practices

AbstractThis chapter describes a comprehensive set of best practices for the evaluation of state formula funding models and state higher education funding in general, based on existing practices within the United States. It represents a review of practices that lead to stakeholder engagement as an objective, collaborative process.

Financing Higher Education: New Challenges, Incentives and Opportunities

The most essential goal for the country’s growth is education. During the allocation of public funds, it should be given great consideration. Education determines a country’s progress and possibilities of economic development. Education of high quality is a guarantee of societal stability. It encourages affluence as well as personal, professional and social development. All of the aforementioned may be accomplished by effectively utilizing governmental financial resources. The research’s goal is to study the disadvantages of the higher education funding system and develop some recommendations for solving problems. In order to assess the effectiveness of the expenditure by state, there have been studied some educational programs on which state funding is extended. The study includes an assessment of the level of academic achievement of state-funded educational program students and their employment prospects. As a result of the research, we have a clear idea of how effective the state funding programs for higher education in Georgia are and in what direction the changes are to be implemented.

Brothers in Arms? How Neoliberalism Connects North and South Higher Education: Finland and Portugal in Perspective

This paper puts in perspective the reforms of the Portuguese and Finnish higher education (HE) sectors in the light of the role intergovernmental organisations have—especially the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)—in influencing neoliberal public policies in these countries. On the year that the OECD celebrates its 62nd anniversary, (the OECD was founded with this name on 14 December 1960 by 20 countries, following the establishment of the former European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) in April 1948) and by comparing two different countries, this article analyses the extent to which the OECD has been and is an “imperial agent” in Portuguese and Finnish HE policies. By cross-comparing the OECD reports of both HE systems, the empirical data shows how the OECD proposes neoliberal reforms based on three main components of neoliberalism: market, management and performativity in different countries. Taking these proposals into account, Portugal and Finland undertook similar HE legislative reforms despite their geographical, historical, cultural and economic differences. The data reveal a convergence in HE policies in these countries, anticipating the reinforcement of neoliberal policies at the national level.

FACTORS OF BUDGETARY FUNDING FOR HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: EXPERIENCE FOR UKRAINE

The experience of the EU countries in the formation of the general government expenditures on tertiary education in order to adapt it to the social and economic conditions of Ukraine has been investigated. The purpose of the article is to find out the peculiarities and basic regularities of governmental funding for tertiary education in the EU countries in view of sustainable and human development and to define prospects for improving budgetary support for this sector in the economy of Ukraine. Such scientific methods as induction, deduction, comparison and econometric modelling have been applied. The author has worked out the scientific and methodological approach to identifying factors influencing the governmental financing of tertiary education in the EU countries for sustainable and human development: to carry out a comparative analysis of the dynamics of key indicators of the general government expenditures on tertiary education and evaluate their variation; to determine the main factors which influence the general government expenditures on tertiary education by means of multiple econometric modelling. The following public financing features of higher education in the EU countries are specified: the tendency to increase the volume of the general government expenditures on tertiary education per capita; changing in their structure; their sustainability by GDP. The analysis of the variation indicators has showed the existence of a significant level of differentiation inthe general government expenditures on tertiary education per capita in these countries and relative homogeneity for other indicators (general government expenditures on tertiary education (% of GDP and% of the general government expenditures), their growth rates (% of the previous year). Based on the multiple econometric models, it is determined that GDP at market prices, the total annual net earnings of a single person without children, the situation in the labour market for people with tertiary education, the number of students enrolled in tertiary education (on bachelor’s or equivalent level and at public education institutions) influenced the budgetary funding of higher education in the EU countries. Taking into account the experience of the EU countries, the author has substantiated that in Ukraine, upgrading the government funding of tertiary education for the sustainable and human development is associated with macroeconomic stability, improving the material well-being of individuals and a decrease in unemployment.

New Evidence on the Evolution and Landscape of Performance Funding for Higher Education

ABSTRACT This study draws upon the first detailed longitudinal dataset on performance-based funding (PBF) to document the evolution and current landscape of PBF in American higher education. We show that while PBF has become increasingly common, states have experimented with adopting, abandoning, and re-adopting PBF over time. We also find a new wave of PBF adoption occurring in the 2010s following the Great Recession. However, PBF remains a relatively weak policy lever with a small share of funds at stake in most states and some states not funding PBF even when it exists in legislation. Equity considerations vary in the student groups they include and less than half of two-year and three-quarters of four-year PBF systems include race when allocating performance funds. Our findings complicate some common characterizations of PBF and offer new insight for researchers examining how PBF policy design shapes student and institutional outcomes.

Reimagining career education with the future senses

PurposeCareer education and employability have become Australian university curriculum and pedagogy priorities to meet the changing world of work and federal government parameters linking higher education funding to graduate employment outcomes. This conceptual paper aims to present the hypothesis that emphasis on integrating career education in the curriculum can provide an opportunity to embed future-thinking concepts by reframing future-focussed career education practice to futures focussed. It proposes that using a Futures Senses lens to expand current career pedagogy liberates career education from individualised cognitive decision-making and self-analysis; to include the affective, collective imagining, ancestral voices and innate gifts.Design/methodology/approachA suite of five career education pedagogical tools that have been embedded by the author in the curriculum of an enabling education course in a regional Australian university; are described, analysed and reconceptualised using the Futures Senses. A Causal Layered Analysis provides a layered comparison of future-focussed and futures focussed career education.DiscussionThe discussion reflects on current pedagogical practice by the author and indicates pragmatic implications for applying a future-focussed approach to career education practice. Implementation of these reimagined activities provides an opportunity for future qualitative research.Originality/valueOpportunity exists to leverage rising institutional demands and political agendas of integrating career education in the tertiary curriculum, as a means of embedding futures concepts, thinking and pedagogy. The reimagined activities are a pragmatic offering that can be used by educators to initiate and nurture futures thinking.

Funding higher education through waqf: a lesson from Malaysia

PurposeThis paper aims to highlight the importance of waqf in financing higher educational institutions (HEIs) and its potential as an alternative source of generating additional funds for the HEIs, and discourses on waqf practice, fundraising, waqf management and utilisation of waqf income for the development of higher education in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on the information gathered through interviews with 12 participants who are actively engaged in waqf in different capacities. The participants can easily be classified into three expert groups; personnel of waqf-based universities, personnel of the respective State Islamic Religious Councils (SIRCs) and waqf practitioners. In addition, archival records, relevant documents and library sources have been used in the research.FindingsThe study learnt that waqf in Malaysia is centralised and exclusively controlled by the SIRCs, which are, as a rule, sole trustees of all categories of awqaf in the respective states; hence, any form of private trusteeship is considered illegal. It is a prerequisite for the establishment of a waqf fund to obtain permission from the respective SIRCs, and bring it under the purview of the council prior to setting up a waqf. The ministry of higher education has taken some initiatives to encourage HEIs to use waqf as an alternative source of generating funds. Subsequently, numerous public universities have set up waqf funds and developed a comprehensive mechanism for raising the fund through traditional and modern methods and technologies. A major chunk of the waqf funds is collected in the form of cash, but the amount falls short of reaching critical mass to enable the waqf to become self-sustaining. The study found that the universities also involved themselves in various social welfare programmes, especially in health care, and some income-generating projects besides seeking support from the waqf fund for their academic and educational activities.Practical implicationsThe paper brings out the fact that waqf offers the best features as an alternative fiscal instrument to finance projects of public good, including higher education at three selected waqf-based universities in Malaysia.Social implicationsThe study’s findings will be helpful to the ummah in general and Malaysia in particular. It can help policymakers, legislators and academicians in formulating new strategies for the common good and sensitize the countries facing a huge fiscal deficit and lack of development to the viability and potential of waqf as a catalyst for progress and economic activity.Originality/valueThe paper shares the experience of Malaysia’s waqf-based universities, waqf fundraising, management and income utilisation. It accentuates the fact that waqf can help finance academic activities at universities and sheds light on some useful examples of waqf-based universities founded in earlier periods of Islamic civilisation.