Strategies for widening access in a quasi-market higher education environment: recent developments in Canada

Under the Canadian constitution, authority over all levels of education, including higher education, rests with each of the individual provinces and territories. Although Canada has one of the highest levels of per capita educational attainment in the world, student access continues to be one of the most dominant policy areas in Canadian higher education. In recent years, a number of significant access policy reforms have been put in place by governments at the national and provincial levels. These initiatives are demonstrative of the continued and growing influence of marketization in Canada’s quasi-market system. This analysis provides some insight into these recent reforms and the influence that market principles have come to have in Canadian policies on both the supply-side and the demand-side of the country’s higher education sector.     

Private for-profit higher education in Australia: widening access,participation and opportunities for public-private collaboration

Private for-profit higher education has grown rapidly in many parts of the world. This growth is attributed to many factors, including a broadening of the student population and the recognition that wider access to higher education will be economically beneficial to individuals, governments and society as a whole. In Australia, the number of students in private for-profit higher education is rising, with dramatic projections for the next 10 years. The Australian government has set a target to increase the participation of students in higher education, with a focus on increasing the access and success of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is unclear, however, what role the burgeoning private for-profit institutions will play in meeting the government's targets, and what incentives will be provided for them to increase the access and participation of students from disadvantaged groups. This paper analyses the key drivers of growth in private for-profit higher education in Australia, and discusses issues around quality and standards. It examines the strengths and limitations of the sector, and the extent to which it contributes to diversity, access and the participation of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. It argues that the sector needs clear government directions to improve levels of access, and new government policies to encourage public-private collaborations to help ensure sustainability. The paper also briefly touches on the need for a review into the current structure of Australia's higher education sector as a whole, and whether higher education would benefit from the formation of public community colleges with the explicit aim of widening access for disadvantaged student groups. Further, the paper suggests that encouraging such public-private collaboration may be beneficial to ensure access and participation of students from all walks of life, including disadvantaged groups.     

Increasing and widening access to higher education: a comparative study of policy and provision in Scotland and Australia

The place of access policies within higher education through a comparative approach which examines recent developments in Scotland and Australia is examined. The development of access policies is presented in the context of wider change, which is restructuring higher education in both societies. The importance of factors associated with national economic development in this process is emphasized, and the possible conflict with policies which are designed to encourage equity is explored. The impact of these policies both on the structure of the higher education systems, and on participation rates is examined. While there are major differences between these two societies, in terms of geography, history and political agendas, this paper emphasizes important areas of similarity, which are helping reshape higher education in these and in other societies.     

Inclusion through access to higher education: Exploring the dynamics between access to higher education,immigration and language

International Review of Education -     

Pathways and Partnerships: Widening access to higher education

In response to a Scottish Office call for a briefing paper on widening access to higher education the authors conducted a 'snapshot' study of the field including not only desk-based research but a questionnaire survey and interviews with approximately 70 practitioners in the field of access across the UK. The survey asked the opinions of practitioners on the areas of their greatest concern in the field of widening access to include marginal socioeconomic groups. This article gives an account of the concerns expressed in this survey and finds that the primary concerns fall under six headings: pre-entry guidance, qualifications frameworks and transfers, structural barriers and flexibility, attitudinal barriers, student finance and institutional finance. Solutions were also sought in relation to policy and practice in Scotland and included suggestions for more emphasis on partnerships, better communication between institutions and the community, and a shared system of financial support for institutions and for students alike.     

Changing lives: improving care leaver access to higher education

ABSTRACT

Australian and international research documents the limited access of young people transitioning from out-of-home care (OOHC) to further and higher education. This paper examines the processes, outcomes, and key findings of the Raising Expectations project, a collaborative university and industry approach to promote higher education among care leavers at two Australian universities. That approach was informed by the co-authors' previous research, including interviews with enrolled care-leaver students. The paper highlights the relevance of that research in the design and implementation of Raising Expectations. Our findings reiterate the importance of policy and practice reforms informed by rigorous research, particularly involving the voices and agency of care leavers. We outline strategies adopted by the participating universities resulting in a fourfold increase in enrolments, growth in school outreach activities, and significantly improved retention rates. The paper also highlights barriers to higher education access and success, through care-leaver student interviews and policy analysis. These interviews revealed the need for better university outreach and information to prospective care-leaver students, improved support for enrolled care-leaver students, and better capturing of data by universities and governments. The paper also highlights policy barriers to the greater expansion of care-leavers at university, especially in the absence of extended state care.     

Higher education in Kenya: an assessment of current responses to the imperative of widening access

Higher education is a key factor in a nation’s effort to develop a highly skilled workforce for competing in the global economy. In this paper, current trends in accessibility, equity, participation and financing of higher education in Kenya are examined. The paper explores the challenges which need to be confronted and discusses the way forward for reforming higher education policies in Kenya to widen access and advance equity by suggesting a number of strategies. It highlights the need for programmes and policies focusing on improving access to quality secondary education experiences; increasing aspirations and application to higher education; and the improvement of policies on financial support to disadvantaged students through the already existing Higher Education Loans Board. It concludes with a number of recommendations including a new revenue allocation particularly to the rising numbers of higher education aspirants from low income, rural, ethnic minorities and women.     

State authorization reciprocity agreement: participation and access to higher education

The State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement initiative was launched in 2014 to provide a uniform standard for the regulation of distance education across states in the United States. The system established by the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (NC-SARA) allows willing post-secondary institutions to participate voluntarily through a member state where their home campus is located. Since implementation, several states and institutions in the approved states have joined the interstate agreement. About 36 states and 613 institutions in the United States are participating in the interstate agreement as of January 2016. This study analyzed the pattern of participation among various institution types (public, private for-profit and private not-for-profit) and finds that participation amongst states and institutions has continued to increase since implementation of the interstate agreement. With the flexibility that distance learning offers, increased participation in SARA may translate into greater opportunities for participation in higher education.     

规模扩大与高等教育入学机会均等化

This paper explores the role of socio-economic status in determining access to higher education over time. Findings show that the overall equality of higher education opportunity has improved because of the inclusion of more marginal students into lower-tier higher education institutions (HEIs); however, students from higher socio-economic status have benefited disproportionably from the expansion in elite universities. A brief discussion of the potential implications is presented. Translated from Beijing Daxue Jiaoyu Pinglun 北京大学教育评论 (Peking University Education Review), 2006, (1): 24–33     

Three dimensions of equity of access to higher education

Concerns over equity of access to higher education are widespread, but there is significant disagreement over what should constitute a fair system. This article assesses diverse conceptualisations of equity and explores the ways in which they embody themselves in the policies of three systems, those of England, Brazil and Kenya. While showing significant disparities of income level and enrolment ratio, all three have made concerted efforts to expand higher education access, accompanied by increasing stratification in terms of the quality and prestige of institutions. Analysis of policy options and outcomes leads to a proposal of three principles for understanding equity of access: availability, accessibility and horizontality. The third of these principles addresses the little-acknowledged safeguard that disadvantaged students should not be confined to lower-quality institutions, while at the same time allowing for diversity of ethos and disciplinary focus.     

Multimodal approaches to reflective teaching and assessment in higher education

Reflection is not a new concept in the teaching of higher education and is often an important component of many disciplinary courses. Despite this, past research shows that while there are examples of rich reflective strategies used in some areas of higher education, most approaches to, and conceptualisations of, reflective learning and assessment have been perfunctory and inconsistent. In many disciplinary areas, reflection is often assessed as a written activity ‘tagged onto’ assessment practices. In creative disciplines, however, reflective practice is an integral and cumulative form of learning and is often expressed in ways other than in the written form. This paper will present three case studies of reflective practice in the area of Creative Industries in higher education – Dance, Fashion and Music. It will discuss the ways in which higher education teachers and students use multimodal approaches to expressing knowledge and reflective practice in such a context. The paper will argue that unless students are encouraged to participate in deep reflective disciplinary discourse via multi-modes then reflection will remain superficial in the higher education context.     

Forecasting approaches in a higher education setting

Education and Information Technologies - Forecasting the enrollments of new students in bachelor’s systems became an urgent desire in the majority of higher education institutions. It...     

Struggling for recognition: access to higher education through the International Baccalaureate

The recognition of the DP (diploma programme) for university admission is crucial for the development of International Baccalaureate (IB) schools and the expansion of the IB network worldwide. In an era of higher education (HE) massification, accompanied by high failure and dropout rates, intense debates on access to HE are taking place in many countries. It is within this context that the IB organization struggles for the recognition of the DP for admission to universities throughout the world. Through a global comparative approach, this study analyzes the ‘DP-HE admission’ assemblages in Argentina, Canada, Chile, Spain and the United States. Based on interviews with senior IB officials and principals at the head of IB schools associations, this study intends to understand the way the IB network fosters the recognition of the DP for HE admission. The recruitment of new allies to the IB network includes a myriad of negotiations and translations whose results are unpredictable. In Argentina, Chile and Spain, the efforts for DP recognition failed but in Canada and the United States, the DP-HE admission assemblage shows that by translating the skills acquired by DP students as a way to improve retention rates at universities increased their support of IB programs.     

Cultural specificity of approaches to studying in higher education: A literature survey

Students in higher education exhibit different approaches to learning, but there is evidence that these vary systematically from one culture to another. The broad distinction between an orientation towards comprehending the meaning of learning materials and an orientation towards merely reproducing those materials seems to be a universal feature of all systems of higher education. The former is both consistent and coherent, apparently reflecting the relatively high degree of agreement that exists across different cultures with regard to the goals and purposes of higher education. The latter reflects students' attempts to cope with academic practices that are inappropriate to those goals and purposes; it is more fragmented and more likely to be constructed in a way that is distinctive to each particular cultural context.