Definition
A free higher education system offers to undergraduate students the possibility to attend a public higher education institution without being charged tuition fees. Concretely, in a free system of higher education, the state bears the education cost for these students, mostly using taxpayers’ money.
A Vibrant Issue
As higher education develops, becomes massified, and is increasingly central to the labor market, concerns about its financing multiply. In current knowledge economies, a tertiary degree is becoming a necessity for a career. Increasing higher education cost the world over (Johnstone and Marcucci 2010) is therefore of legitimate concern to students and their families. The idea of a free-tuition higher education system is, in this context, globally attractive. The year 2016 alone saw the start of a free for all program in Chile, the development of the Fees Must Fall movement in South Africa, the...
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References
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de Gayardon, A. (2020). Free Higher Education, Myths and Realities. In: Teixeira, P.N., Shin, J.C. (eds) The International Encyclopedia of Higher Education Systems and Institutions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8905-9_218
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8905-9_218
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