Higher Education Funding: Policies

As international economic competition has increased in recent decades, an emphasis on educated technical labor has transformed patterns of public financing of higher education across nations. Wealth inequality has increased in nations that engage in the global economy, a fact now well established by comparative [Page 700]studies of national economies. Not only do nations use an array of mechanisms for financing higher education but changes in nations’ strategies have had social and economic consequences. This entry first explains various public funding mechanisms, then looks at the diverse patterns of funding higher education in different nations and the consequences of a greater reliance on private funding.