Tuition fees and the challenge of making higher education a popular commodity in South Africa

dc.contributor.authorWangenge-Ouma, Gerald
dc.date.accessioned2012-05-16T12:33:48Z
dc.date.available2012-05-16T12:33:48Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.description.abstractThe funding of higher education in South Africa has in the recent past been a subject of animated debate. This debate has ranged from the adequacy of government funding of higher education, the suitability of the funding framework, to protestations against frequent tuition fee increases. At present, the debate is mainly about “free” higher education. Unlike most African countries, South Africa has an established history of cost sharing. But, for a while now, students, especially Black students, have been demanding tuition free higher education even though the country has a student financial aid scheme to support talented but poor students. The demands for tuition free higher education suggest, among others, the possible existence of financial barriers to higher educational opportunities. This paper is a sequel to the debate on free higher education in South Africa. It seeks, in the main, to understand and examine the rationale and drivers for the students’ demand for “free” higher education. What are the financial barriers to higher educational opportunities that the current funding architecture has failed to address? Secondly, why are students demanding free higher education when there is a scheme to support talented but poor students? Is cost sharing inconsistent with the country’s post-apartheid transformation policy in higher education? Finally, is “free” higher education the panacea to the access and participation challenges facing Black students?en_US
dc.identifier.citationWangenge-Ouma, G. (2012) Tuition fees and the challenge of making higher education a popular commodity in South Africa. Higher Education, Online First, April 28.en_US
dc.identifier.issn0018-1560
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10566/310
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.privacy.showsubmitterfalse
dc.publisherSpringer Verlagen_US
dc.rightsThis is the author's final draft following peer review. It may be displayed and circulated, subject to full acknowledgement of author and source. The published item is copyright Springer Verlag.
dc.source.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10734-012-9531-6
dc.status.ispeerreviewedtrue
dc.subjectFree higher educationen_US
dc.subjectTuition feesen_US
dc.subjectCost-sharingen_US
dc.subjectAccessen_US
dc.subjectEquityen_US
dc.subjectSouth Africaen_US
dc.titleTuition fees and the challenge of making higher education a popular commodity in South Africaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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