Providing More Access and Success in Higher Education: Possible Goals, Principles, and Issues

1
Providing More Access and Success in Higher
Education Possible Goals, Principles, and Issues

• Arthur M. Hauptman
• 25 May 2009
• Islamabad, Pakistan

2
Three Steps in the Process of Improving
Performance in Any Public Policy Issue

• Identify Key Goals
• Develop Policies that Link Directly to Goals
• Implement Policies that Recognize the Political,
  Economic, Cultural and Societal Environment of
  the Country

3
Goals to Improve Access and Success of Higher
Education

• Increase Overall Participation Rates
• Expand Lifelong Learning Opportunities
• Increase Chances of Student Success
• Reduce Chronic Disparities in Student Access and
  Success

4
Policies to Increase Overall Participation Rates

• Increase public funding of public universities
  while keeping tuition and other fees low
• Requires a high and sustained level of public
  support
• Raise tuition and other fees in public
  universities and provide a lot of financial aid
• Requires linkage between fees and financial aid
• Create and expand access-oriented public
  institutions that focus on sub-bachelors degrees
• Requires a good system of quality assurance
• Expand private sector of higher education
• Requires adequate financial aid and good system
  of quality assurance

5
Expand Lifelong Learning Opportunities

• Create and expand access-oriented insts that
  cater to needs of those already in the work force
  or looking for second chance
• Develop a financial aid system that seeks to meet
  the particular needs of students older than
  traditional college going age, including
• Grants that provide support to students who are
  financially independent of their parents
• Student loans with liberal eligibility rules that
  serve students from a broad range of incomes
• Tax benefits designed to help meet fees and
  expenses of students already in work force

6
Increase Chances of Student Success as Measured
by Higher Attainment or Completion Rates

• Difficult to establish financial aid programs
  that lead to greater success
• Develop funding formulas that pay institutions
  for students who complete a year of study or
  graduate
• Expand early intervention approaches
  (non-financial aid) that better prepare students
  to do college level work

7
Reduce Chronic Disparities in Student Access and
Success

• Providing grants and scholarships based on need
  is traditional way of improving equity
• Important that aid is well targeted on needy
  students
• Not likely to help much on improving success
• Student loans are also frequently used to improve
  equity
• But tackling and resolving difficult student loan
  design issues are key to being successful in this
  regard
• Loans also unlikely to help on improving success
• Supply side approaches such as early intervention
  and paying institutions more for poor students
  they enroll and graduate are likely to be more
  effective in addressing equity issues

8
Summary of Possible Goals and Policies
9
Some Design Principles for Improving Access and
Success

• Funding, fees, and financial aid policies should
  work in concert with each other
• Strategies should employ a mix of demand-based
  and supply-oriented policies
• A successful approach should draw on both public
  and private resources and fit the strengths of
  each
• Financial aid programs should be designed to fit
  the economic and political structure of the
  country
• Fee levels, tax system compliance, tradition of
  consumer loans

10
Financial Aid Design Issues

• How should financial aid be financed?
• Government, fees, private donations
• How should the program be administered?
• Centrally by government, by institutions, or
  NGOs?
• How should student financial need be measured?
• Simple is often better but is it fair enough?
• Should merit be built into student aid?
• Possibly combined with need?
• Are student loans a realistic possibility?
• Is there a viable private banking sector?
• Is there a tradition of consumer loans?
• Can the tax system be used for higher education?
• Level of tax compliance is key in this regard
• Is income contingent repayment a possibility?
• Are tax benefits a realistic possibility?