To charge or not to charge?

The In Focus section of the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3) includes 10 papers focusing on the theme: Student Tuition Fees – perspectives from around the world.
Message from the Secretary General - To charge or not to charge?
‘To charge or not to charge?’, that is a question that is increasingly answered in the affirmative, even in higher education systems with a long history of free higher education. The pressure to find ways to replace lower investments from public sources or to fill the coffers needed to expand the system of higher education has been growing steadily. Most frequently, it is the learner (or his/ her family) that is expected to pay. The debate that surrounds tuition fees is nowadays rather about who should pay, how much they should pay and how they can borrow (and repay) the money.
The economic arguments on which the idea of tuition fees rest have to do with private returns on investment and the traditional expectation that higher education graduates will have greater earning power. Yet, as higher education credentials become common currency of ever-larger segments of society and as the unemployment rates of higher education graduates are climbing in many nations, is this argument still tenable? And, even if it is not, what alternatives are open to higher education institutions which see the per student contribution from public sources diminish each year?
On the other side of the tuition fee argument are those who point out that free higher education is no guarantee of equity in access, the central social equity argument against tuition fees. Looking at the socio-economic make up of higher education enrolments often provides testimony for this argument, though charging tuition fees, even along with all manner of loans and student aids can certainly work against equity goals. As usual, the In Focus section of this edition of IAU Horizons could have been longer, presenting many more viewpoints with regard to tuition fees from different geographic or stakeholder perspectives. It is not our intent to be exhaustive and so only a sample of situations and arguments is offered here. To add to this overview of the issues, a random sample of references from the international press is also been prepared. Eva Egron-Polak.
Download the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3).