Managing the Cost of Higher Education

Grants for Students: What they do, why they work.
Usher, Alex. (August 2006). Educational Policy Institute. Toronto, Canada.
This review has found that grants appear to be efffective at increasing retention among low-income students, and by inference they are likely to be effective at increasing access for low-income students.
- Website: http://www.educationalpolicy.org/pdf/GrantsForStudents.pdf

A New System of Top-Up Fees: Market Response of English Universities.
Douglass, John A. (October 2005) Center for Studies in Hiigher Education, UC Berkeley. Fees will become an increasingly important funding source for public universities in the UK and throughout the OECD, caused in part by declining government subsidization and rising costs, as well as by an increasingly entrepreneurial drive by institutions themselves to increase revenues. Beginning in September 2006, universities and Further Education colleges in England and Wales will charge variable fees within limits set by a defined cap and by ministry demands for increases in institutional aid for lower income students. This essay chronicles the response of England's universities. Not surprisingly, most will charge the maximum amount allowed; at the same time, levels of bursaries (financial aid) will vary between institutions. The response and plans of English universities, and the subsequent response of both the market and students, will likely have a significant influence on other OECD nations, particularly those in the European Union, as they gradually consider a similar variable fee scheme.
- Website: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2005/06/barr.htm

Financing Higher Education
Barr, Nicholas. (IMF, June 2005). Finance and Development. 42 (2).
Nicholas Barr discusses recent reforms in Britain and possible implications for other countries. If it is not possible to rely wholly on public funding, it is necessary to bring in private finance—but in ways that do not deter students from poor backgrounds. Much of this article addresses that issue.
- Website: http://cshe.berkeley.edu/publications/publications.php?id=14

The Financing and Management of Higher Education: A Status Report on Worldwide Reforms
Johnstone, D. Bruce, Arora, Alka, & Experton, William. (1998) A World Bank Report.
This finance and management reform agenda can be usefully be viewed in the contact of five themes: expansion and diversification, fiscal pressure; markets, demand for greater accountability; demand for greater quality and efficiency.
- PDF: Financing and Management

Williams Project on the Economics of Higher Education
The Williams Project began in the summer of 1989 with a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The aim of the Project has been to do studies of the economics of colleges and universities that meet high analytical standards while staying close to the institutional realities and policy concerns that motivate interest in this sector. The research in intended to be relevant to managers and policy makers, as well as scholars. Abstracts of recent papers are available online.
- Website: http://www.williams.edu/wpehe/

Commonwealth Grant Scheme-Australia
The Australian Government currently provides public higher education providers with block grants determined largely on a historical basis. To encourage greater flexibility and diversity in the sector, a new Commonwealth Grant Scheme (CGS) for teaching and scholarship will replace the current block grants system. The Australian Government will provide a contribution, set by discipline, towards the cost of an agreed number of places actually delivered in a year. Each higher education provider receiving funds under the CGS will enter into a Funding Agreement with the Australian Government, specifying the number of places and the discipline mix that the Australian Government will support. The Agreement will be negotiated annually in the context of each provider's mission and strategic direction for course provision, strengthened Commonwealth/State consultation and consideration of labour market needs.
- Website: http://www.backingaustraliasfuture.gov.au/fact_sheets/1.htm

Cost Sharing Schemes

Australia's Higher Education Loan Program:
From 1 January 2005, all eligible Australian citizens, New Zealand citizens and holders of permanent visas will receive a Student Learning Entitlement (SLE), giving them access to seven years equivalent full-time study (to be extended on a pro-rata basis if studying part-time) in a Commonwealth supported place. Australian citizens and holders of permanent humanitarian visas will also be eligible for an Australian Government subsidised loan under HECS-HELP.
- Website: http://www.backingaustraliasfuture.gov.au/fact_sheets/5.htm

University Revenue Diversification through Philantrhopy: International Perspectives. D. Bruce Johnstone. 2004.
This paper was presented at International Conference on Higher Education in Luxembourg in August 2004. Philanthropy must play an increasing role in higher educational finance in virtually all countries. However, the role of philanthropy in securing the overall financial health of higher educaiton will remain—for most institutions in most countries—only importantly complementary.
- PDF: Revenue Diversification through Philanthropy

Higher Education Accessibility and Financial Viability: The Role of Student Loans. D. Bruce Johnstone. 2005.
This paper was for the World Report on Higher Education: The Financing of Universities, International Barcelona Conference on Higher Education, Global University Network for Innovation Barcelona, Spain, 2005.This paper is an attempt to describe the reasons behind the widespread interest in student loans, some of the variation in student loan programs, and some of the criteria for success (or failure).
- PDF: The Role of Student Loans

Measuring the Load, Easing the Burden: Canada's Student Loan Programs and the Revitalization of Canadian Postsecondary Education. Ross Finnie. 2001
Canad's system of laons to college and university students works better than many critics believe, but an expanded program is needed as part of a package to revitalize postsecondary education in Canada.
- Website: http://72.14.207.104/.../Student_Loans.pdf+Measuring+the+Load+Ross+Finnie&hl=en&client=safari

Increasing the Burden. Canadian Federation of Students. 2002.
This paper is a response to Ross Finnie's paper, Measuring the Load, Easing the Burden: Canada's Student Loan Programs and the Revitalization of Canadian Postsecondary Education.
- PDF: Increasing the Burden

The Case for Student Loans: Why, When How. Ross Finnie. 2004
The goal of this paper is to identify in a precise fashion what student loans do and how they compare and contrast to student grants and other kinds of student aid in terms of improving access to postsecondary education in an equitable and efficient manner.
- PDF: The Case for Student Loans