Perspectives on Tuition fees, Student Loans and Financing of Higher Education in Thailand

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.
Perspectives on Tuition fees, Student Loans and Financing of Higher Education in Thailand, by Pornchai Mongkhonvanit, President Siam University, Thailand, and Yhing Sawheny, Assistant to the President, Siam University (Pornchai@siam. edu)  
We generally believe that higher education is a public good which yields public benefit of economic development by advancing the frontier of knowledge, helping to disseminate technology into practical applications, and producing skilled manpower needed in the country. It also yields private benefits to individuals in terms of improved job prospects and salaries, general knowledge, openness to the world and global citizenship amongst other aspects. Government also need to make economic decisions to decide how funding is used to strengthen primary and secondary education, to teach more people to read, as well as decisions regarding the finding of other activities such as irrigation, transportation, and communication. And tuition fees become an instrument which enables the financing of higher education to the benefits of individuals as well as society as a whole. The important question becomes – how much tuition should be charged and what kind of financial mechanisms should be developed to ensure access to all.
Read more in the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3).