Introduction
The OECD’s 1998 publication, Redefining Tertiary Education, spoke of “a sweeping shift in orientation toward even higher levels of participation, driven strongly by demands reflecting the diverse interests of clients rather than the supply-led, institution-directed expansion witnessed previously.” In opting for the term “tertiary education” rather than “higher education” or “postsecondary education,” the OECD report refers not only to increased participation from learners with a wider range of backgrounds, ages, and interests in a diverse array of learning options. The new orientation points to a provision that is more inclusive, focuses more on learners, and shifts from a hierarchy of programs and institutions toward a breadth of flexible, transparent, interconnected, and recognized learning pathways. These directions are already reflected in new policy thinking in four areas: access and equity, standards and qualifications, partnerships and networks, and life-cycle financing.

Access and Equity
Once participation reaches 70 percent or more of a generation—as is now the case in Australia, Finland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States—the transition between secondary education and tertiary-level studies becomes less meaningful as an indicator of access and equity. Further, the tendency for students to undertake studies in more than one program or to acquire more than one qualification means that participation and performance in a single program are insufficient as measures of access and success. Pathways are not equal. For some students, combining vocational and academic qualifications (as in France, Germany, Japan, or the Netherlands) or acquiring double degrees (as in Australia) improves immediate chances on the labor market and likely enhances long-term career prospects. Other students ranking lower in access qualifications or lacking resources may find themselves in second- or third-choice options that lead to “involuntary pathways,” when failure requires a switch to another program.

New policy ideas focus on the progress of learners in study programs and through pathways. Policies that reflect these directions include the “10-point programme” in Belgium (Flemish Community) and a new modular approach in France that allows first-year university students to develop study skills, sample different subject areas, and receive credit toward a diploma in the chosen study field. In the United States, a more radical change in this direction would be to incorporate “remedial education,” which presently stands apart, into bachelor’s degree programs The general education component of the bachelor’s degree would become the stage of learning where all students are brought up to an advanced level.

Standards and Formal Qualifications
Increased participation and diversity in tertiary-level studies make it more difficult to define and align programs and learning against a single, common standard. Growth in private and cross-border programs and the provision of ICT-based tertiary education add to the range of learning objectives and qualifications. New policy approaches not only seek to recognize and foster such diversity but also to balance flexibility against the need for simplicity, clarity in intended learning outcomes, and quality assurance. Qualifications frameworks provide one means to recognize and foster learning across different types of tertiary education programs and from outside formal tertiary education. It has proved difficult to encompass the linkages in learning for a qualification on such frameworks, where recognition is given for mastery of specific skills acquired independently of each other, in any sequence and at any time. The new Irish Qualifications Authority may offer a more promising approach. It sits flexibly over several sector-based curriculum and qualification bodies and has a clear focus on the learner and learning.

Partnerships and Networks
Partnerships are not new: franchising and articulation arrangements and cooperation between universities are common and growing. New policy thinking advances purposeful strategies to shape partnerships or networks. Network Norway, for example, encompasses all tertiary education institutions in the country, so as to allow each institution to draw on the resources, expertise, and information available across the network. The Mjoes Commission, in its May 2000 report Freedom with Responsibility, anticipates the extension of this network outside of Norway’s borders. The French government offers incentive funding to tertiary education institutions that work together through the infrastructure of a regional pôle universitaire. Interinstitution cooperation often involves links with regional authorities and local industry.

Life-cycle Financing
Programs to enable students (or parents) to spread the learner’s costs over time via savings instruments and loan or deferred payment arrangements are common in nearly all OECD countries. In the new policy thinking, some countries are considering ways to align financing with new patterns of participation over a lifetime. A 1997 green paper issued by the New Zealand Ministry of Education proposed the option of eligibility for further public subsidy for students enrolling after a break in tertiary study, in anticipation of retraining and upskilling needs (the proposal was not adopted). In the Netherlands, the Hermans Committee proposed providing each student with an account of NLG 20,400 to be applied to up to 4 years of study. Students would be eligible to draw on the account over 10 years, provided that they commenced studies (entered the scheme) before age 25. In the United Kingdom, Individual Learning Accounts (ILAs), opened up in a bank by individual learners, are eligible for partial matching contributions from the government. Learners can draw on these accounts at any age to meet expenses for courses. Tertiary education institutions may develop modules eligible for ILA support, as can a wide range of other providers. These policy initiatives—often innovative departures from long-standing approaches—reflect movement toward a tertiary education system that fully welcomes demand, encompasses systemwide and lifelong participation, and relies on flexible boundary-spanning partnerships and networks. There will be benefit to monitoring further policy development along these lines to judge how well the new policy thinking leads to and supports effective responses to changing expectations and circumstances.