Sector Proposals
International Higher Education has published several articles about the implications of the GATS. For a list of articles on trade and the education market, search our archives of IHE.
UNESCO: Trade in Higher Education and GATS
Trade in higher education is a multi-million dollar business. The demand for higher education, on the one side, is growing, while on the other side, trans-border education (e.g. private or for-profit higher foreign university campuses, IT Academies, Twinning arrangements with other universities, corporate universities, virtual universities, open universities, e-universities etc.) is increasing. The capacity of the public sector has not kept
up with this demand. This coupled with the recent developments of ICTs and the ensuing growth in online learning has resulted in the creation of this very lucrative market. This site contains basic information about GATS and links to articles and other relevant resources.
- Website: http://www.unesco.org/education/studyingabroad/highlights/global_forum/gats_he/basic_gats_he.shtml
Higher Education and GATS: Regulatory consequences and stakeholder's responses
Vlk, A. Enschede. (2006) Center for Higher Education and Policy Studies (CHEPS).
This study investigates how and to what extent the inclusion of educational services in GATS affect the steering capacity of a nation-state in higher education with a special focus on regulatory consequences and stakeholders?responses. It shows that at this moment and under existing circumstances GATS along cannot be assigned any actual power to restrict the steering capacity of a nation-state in higher education. Yet in combination with other important factors on the national level (liberalization, competition in public services, deregulation, etc.) and the global level (internationalization, globalization, etc.) it could contribute to it becoming increasingly difficult for the nation-state to steer its higher education system. Although the nation-state is still the most important player in determining its steering philosophy and capacity in higher education, it is not the only one. An increasing number of actors and factors have made the position of the nation-state in higher education more complex and more complicated during the last decade.
- Website: http://www.utwente.nl/cheps/documenten/thesisvlk.pdf
International Quality Review, the World Trade Organization and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)
Nielson, Julia. (2004) Trade Directorate, OECD.
Special Session speech to the CHEA 2004 Annual Conference in Marina del Rey, CA, January 28, 2004.
- Website: http://www.chea.org/international/CHEA-Nielson_GATS_Higher_Ed.htm
Regional and National Perspectives
GATS and Higher Education in India. (2004)
Rupa Chanda of IIM Bangalore has been studying the implications of GATS for higher education in India. She made a comprehensive presentation on GATS, Higher Education Services and India?(ppt)?at a Higher Education Summit, organized by FICCI in New Delhi on December 2, 2004.
- Website: http://prayatna.typepad.com/education/2005/06/gats_and_higher.html
Africa and GATS (2004)
The Association of African Universities (AAU), in collaboration with the Council on Higher Education (CHE)/South Africa, and UNESCO (African Region Scientific Committee of the Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge; and Global Forum on International Quality Assurance, Accreditation and the Recognition of Qualifications), has developed an initiative for raising awareness among African higher education leaders and policy makers about the important issues raised by the inclusion of education in the negotiations under the World Trade Organisation's General Agreement on Trade in Services (WTO/GATS).
- Website: http://www.aau.org/wto-gats/
Implications of WTO/GATS for Higher Education in Africa, Procedings of Accra Workshop on GATS 2004 (pdf)
Joint Declaration on Higher Education and the General
Agreement on Trade in Services
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC),
American Council on Education (ACE), European University Association
(EUA), Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
(Sept. 2001)
- Website: http://www.aucc.ca/_pdf/english/statements/2001/gats_10_25_e.pdf
Canadian Higher Education and the GATS: AUCC Background Paper. (2001)
This paper examines the main aspects of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) as they relate to trade in educational services. It was developed with a view to helping AUCC Members prepare for discussions with government officials and non-government experts on this topic. Debate with respect to the implications of the GATS for higher education has been polarized. While the liberalization of the education and training industry is of more limited interest to the federal government than the liberalization of other service industries, federal officials nevertheless promote the export of education and training services and downplay the likelihood of any negative outcomes for Canadian higher education.
- Website: http://www.aucc.ca/_pdf/english/reports/2001/gats_07_e.pdf
American Council on Education (ACE).
In 2000, the United States representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) proposed adding higher education services to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The purposes of GATS are to expand free trade in services, open markets, and facilitate economic growth. GATS also covers the following service sectors: communications; construction and engineering; distribution; environment; financial; health; tourism and travel; recreation, cultural, and sporting; and transportation. The higher education services market was estimated in 1999 at approximately $30 billion, with the United States holding the largest market share.
- Website: http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?.../CM/ContentDisplay.cfm
These pages offer information about GATS' impact on higher education markets and ACE's position on GATS:
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