More countries move to financial aid, tuition to expand their higher-education systems

Most countries have been loathe to charge tuition for higher education. But that may be changing as more countries need to bolster their educational standards to compete in today's rapidly changing global markets. And one model they are looking to is the U.S. practice of charging students tuition and supplying financial aid, according to education leaders at the World Conference on Higher Education.

More people, especially women and minority groups and people in developing countries, will need postsecondary education to be professionally and technologically skilled, representatives of more than 180 countries agreed at the conference, held in October by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). More than 4,000 educators, leaders and students attended it.

'There's a real sense around the world that countries that don't invest in higher education will have a harder time being economically and socially competitive,' says David Longanecker, EdD, assistant secretary for postsecondary education at the U.S. Department of Education and head of the U.S. delegation to the conference.

One way to stay competitive, says Longanecker, is to abandon the practice of giving a few academically qualified students a free, government-subsidized education, as some countries have done, and instead charge tuition.

Countries that charge tuition can afford to expand their higher-education services, thereby increasing students access to higher learning. But in order for students from lower-income backgrounds to afford the tuition, most of those countries provide students with financial aid. Increasingly, countries that haven't charged students tuition in the past-such as Britain, for example-have begun doing so.

In discussions of how to determine students' eligibility for higher education, conference attendees resolved that academic merit measured through testing and school performance should still be the main determinant of students' eligibility for college, not ability to pay.

They included that resolution in the 12-page 'World Declaration on Higher Education for the 21st Century: Vision and Action,' a guide to academic reform and expansion that received unanimous approval at the conference's end.

The document also encourages higher-education institutions to:

 Play a key role in promoting 'human rights, democracy and peace.'

 Meet students' increasing needs for lifelong learning and adult education.

 Diversify their formats and funding sources.

 Allow students to organize and represent themselves on campus.

-B. Murray



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