This paper presents a case study in which the authors attempted to understand the impact, on student choice, of reforms in tertiary education in Australia, namely, a shift towards a demand-driven system and the blurring of the distinction between vocational education and training (VET) and higher education. The authors compared the advanced…

From 2000-2001 to 2010-2011, the total amount of federal financial aid awarded to students under Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA) jumped from $64.0 billion to an estimated $169.1 billion, a 10-year increase of 164%. For 2010-2011, the Title IV programs accounted for 72% of the $235 billion in total financial aid received by college…

School choice is a common sense idea that gives all parents the power and freedom to choose their child's education, while encouraging healthy competition among schools and other institutions to better serve students' needs and priorities. It is a public policy that allows a parent/guardian or student to choose a district, charter, or private…

Sallie Mae has conducted "How America Pays for College" annually since 2008, providing information about the resources American families invest in an undergraduate college education. This study focuses particularly on the planning and payment behaviors in a given academic year. Now in its fifth year, the study allows tracking over time of changes…

Cross-sectional data reveal alarming financial situations among 2009 MSW graduates from 25 states and their loan decisions (N=260). More than a quarter of the participants owe at least $40,000 in educational loans from their MSW degree, and 30% borrowed at least $30,000 of their total college education debt. Expensive credit cards are used more…

In late September 2007, the issue of wealthy university endowments became front page news. Members of the Senate Finance Committee, most notably Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), questioned why some endowments were amassing vast amounts of tax-subsidized wealth while simultaneously raising tuition on average families to greater and greater levels. The…

The Islamic Azad University was founded by Hashemi Rafsanjani, a cleric who was in the past the first speaker of the Majlis, or Parliament, of Iran's postrevolutionary government. He served as president of Iran from 1989 to 1997 and ran for re-election in 2005, when he was defeated by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In the two decades after Azad was founded,…

Prior to 2003, the Texas Legislature had the regulatory authority to set tuition rates, generally mandating that the same statutory and designated tuition rate be charged across the state. Tuition deregulation became effective September 1, 2003, and universities began increasing designated tuition in spring 2004. This article answers the following…

In order to speed the national economic recovery, create and save jobs, and provide services to people affected by the recession, the 111th United States Congress enacted and President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)--an economic stimulus package worth $787 billion--on February 17, 2009. Virginia…

This paper highlights emerging trends, programmes and policies in privatization of education in Western countries. These trends are educational vouchers, choice of private schools, private school liberalization, private contracting of specific services, tuition tax credits and deductions for parents ,subsidies and assistance grants to private…

The 2009-10 operating budget for the North Dakota University System is over $1 billion. Approximately 29 percent of operations are supported by the state general fund. The remainder of the operations of the University System are self-supporting through tuition and fees, room and board charges paid by students, and private and federal research…

The focus of this essay is on the persistently rising costs in higher education and the role that incentives play in pushing those costs up. Data from the Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics reveal that the rise in higher education cost exceeds the rise in service-sector prices and even the rise in health-care costs…

From the autumn of 2008 Sweden is billed to introduce fees for non-EEA (European Economic Area) students. Two commissions set up by the Social Democratic government studied the question and the enabling legislation was issued in March 2006. Now, however, the Conservative coalition government shows no interest in giving the universities the…

With two children already in college and three more in the wings, the Nwanguma family knows about sacrifice. The annual tuition bill for Prince George's Community College typically comes to between $3,500 and $4,000 for the oldest son, Chuka. To afford it, Chuma Nwanguma, a Nigerian immigrant, often works overtime in addition to his regular night…

The American student-aid system has long been based on a tacit promise to provide students with the means to complete their college education and ensure that money is not a barrier to getting a degree. Unfortunately, says the writer, student aid has become little more than a marketing mechanism that permits colleges to maximize tuition dollars…