ERIC ED442314: Key Topics in Education, Volume I. Financial Support for Students in Higher Education in Europe: Trends and Debates.

255 Pages·1999·4.7 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
HE 032 726
ED 442 314
Godenir, Anne; Delhaxhe, Arlette; Deutsch, Laurent
AUTHOR
Key Topics in Education, Volume I. Financial Support for
TITLE
Students in Higher Education in Europe: Trends and Debates.
EURYDICE European Unit, Brussels (Belgium).
INSTITUTION
European Commission, Brussels (Belgium).
SPONS AGENCY
ISBN-92-828-5163-X
ISBN
1999-00-00
PUB DATE
294p.; Available in both English and French. For related
NOTE
EURYDICE documents, see HE 032 725-727.
EURYDICE, European Unit, Rue d'Arlon 15, B-1050, Brussels,
AVAILABLE FROM
Belgium. (EUR 25, excluding VAT, Luxembourg). Tel:
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Descriptive
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Numerical/Quantitative Data (110)
PUB TYPE
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MF01/PC12 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
Comparative Education; Educational Assessment; Educational
DESCRIPTORS
Change; Educational Economics; Educational Planning;
*Educational Policy; Foreign Countries; Higher Education;
*International Education; International Organizations;
*National Programs; National Surveys; Outcomes of Education;
Partnerships in Education; Program Effectiveness; Program
Evaluation; *Public Policy; *Resource Allocation; Role of
Education; *Student Financial Aid
*Europe; EURYDICE
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
This volume is the first in a new series of comparative
studies carried out by EURYDICE (Education Information Network in the
European Community) and is intended to provide in-depth analyses of specific
issues of major interest for political decisionmakers and educational
cooperation at the European level. The volume is organized into three
sections. A general introduction with three sections describes the definition
and scope of the study, its contextual elements, and a discussion of public
resources devoted to student support. Part 1 describes present systems of
"Registration and Tuition
student financial support and its chapters are:
(1)
"Cash Benefits Available to Families with
"Grants and Loans";
Fees";
(3)
(2)
"Support for Study
"Other Social Benefits";
Student Children";
(5)
(4)
"Models of Financial
"Support for Foreign Students"; and (7)
Abroad";
(6)
"How
"Contextual Analysis," include:
Support." Three chapters in part 2,
(1)
"The Basis of Systems and Factors
Support Systems Have Developed";
(2)
"Recent Debate and Current. Prospects." A
Underlying Changes to Them"; and (3)
glossary, definitions of statistical tools, and tables that summarize country
by country chronologies of reforms, aims, and context are also included.
Appended are lists of EURYDICE network members and national experts.
(CH)
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INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
document do not necessarily represent
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EDUCATION
TRAINING
".T
YOUTH
T:c
EURYDICE
Key topics
in education
Volume I
Financial support for
students in higher
education in Europe
Trends and debates
EUROPEAN
COMMISSION 3
PREFACE
Higher education systems in Europe are characterised by substantial financial support to students,
thus helping to secure access to this level of education for as many of them as possible. Out of 11
million European students, 30% receive grant support, while 12% obtain loans. In European
Union countries on average, the amount spent annually by the State in this area accounts for
almost a fifth of all public expenditure on higher education.
Since the 1960s, the principle of equal access has been fundamental to the introduction of
these various forms of financial support. The aim has been to ensure that insufficient financial
resources do not prevent students with only modest incomes, who wish to undergo higher education,
from doing so. Public-sector financial support has thus helped to make this level of education generally
more accessible, enabling young people from poorer social backgrounds to embark on and pursue
courses of study. As the third millennium approaches, and the demand for skills and qualifications
increases, this trend is almost certain to grow stronger, and the various kinds of future financial
support, as well as the budgets allocated to them, are likely to make a far from insignificant
contribution to the continued effort to ensure that higher education becomes ever more widely
available.
This issue is currently the subject of extensive discussion in all the Member States, in particular at a
time when financial austerity is a watchword. In the European Union and EFTA/EEA countries, it has
thus become vital that reliable and readily comparable information should be available on the subject.
For this reason, the European Commission entrusted the EURYDICE network, assisted by national
experts in the field, with the task of carrying out a comparative study to help improve understanding of
not only the nature and forms of financial support awarded to students in higher education, but also
the trends and major reforms characterising this area in the last 30 years.
As the European Union moves towards adoption of a new education programme, Socrates II, the
present study provides information of major importance for strengthening European Community
cooperation in this field. It also paves the way for the debate and discussion that will be required, at
both European and national levels, on the future management of higher education systems.
DAVID O'SULLIVAN
Director General
DG XXII
Education, Training and Youth
4
CONTENTS
PREFACE
1
iii
CONTENTS
v
FOREWORD
vil
GLOSSARY
IX
DEFINITIONS OF STATISTICAL TOOLS
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
i
SECTION 1. DEFINITION OF THE SCOPE OF THE STUDY
3
3
A. Higher Education
6
B. The student population
C. Types of student financial support
11
13
SECTION 2. CONTEXTUAL ELEMENTS
13
A. Funding of higher education institutions
16
B. Admission to higher education
19
SECTION 3. PUBLIC RESOURCES DEVOTED TO STUDENT SUPPORT
19
A. Sources of funding after transfer
B. Support to students in higher education compared to other educational levels
21
22
C. Public financial support for students as a proportion of GDP
30
D. Public funding of higher education institutions relative to GDP
E. Public financial support per higher education student
31
33
F. Expenditure per student by public-sector higher education institutions
34
G. Breakdown of expenditure by higher education institutions
DESCRIPTION OF PRESENT SYSTEMS
PART I:
35
OF STUDENT FINANCIAL SUPPORT
37
INTRODUCTION
39
CHAPTER 1. REGISTRATION AND TUITION FEES
40
A. Fees and other payments made by students
42
B. Use of fees and other payments
42
C. Criteria of eligibility for support towards the payment of fees
46
D. Impact of fees on the budgets of higher education institutions
47
E. Level of fees and other payments and proportion of students receiving support
50
F. Special cases
53
CHAPTER 2. GRANTS AND LOANS
54
A. Components of student grants and/or loans systems
56
B. Sources of public funding and management of the main grants and/or loans systems
58
C. Conditions for the award of a grant and/or a loan
63
D. Specific characteristics of loans
67
E. Coverage and the value of grants and loans
70
F. Summary
CHAPTER 3. CASH BENEFITS AVAILABLE TO FAMILIES WITH STUDENT CHILDREN
71
71
A. Tax relief for dependent student children
79
B. Family allowances
82
C. Estimate of the scale of support given to students' families
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 4. OTHER SOCIAL BENEFITS
85
A. Help with accommodation
85
B. Subsidised meals
92
C. Assistance with travelling expenses
94
D. Support with health services
96
CHAPITER 5. SUPPORT FOR STUDY ABROAD
97
A. Population of students studying abroad
97
B. Availability of support for undergraduate study abroad
98
C. Availability of support for postgraduate study abroad
102
D. The role of educational programmes and bilateral and multilateral agreements
103
CHAPTER 6. SUPPORT FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS
105
A. Population of foreign students
106
B. Conditions for support
106
C. Regulations related to payment of fees
110
D. internationalisation and specific kinds of support for students from third countries
111
CHAPTER 7. MODELS OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT
113
A. Constructing models of financial support
115
B. Other criteria for analysis
118
PART II: CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
121
INTRODUCTION
123
CHAPTER 1. HOW SUPPORT SYSTEMS HAVE DEVELOPED
125
A. The origin of student financial support systems
125
B. The development of contemporary student support systems
129
C. Quantitative data: 1987/88 to the present
139
D. Summary and conclusions
145
CHAPTER 2. THE BASIS OF SYSTEMS AND FACTORS UNDERLYING CHANGES TO THEM
151
A. Models and Methods of Analysis
151
B. Relation between contexts and reforms
157
C. Conclusions
180
CHAPTER 3. RECENT DEBATE AND CURRENT PROSPECTS
185
A. Tuition fees
185
B. Grants or loans
grants and loans
190
C. Assistance to families
195
D. Equal access and social mobility
197
E. Portable forms of support
200
ANNEX
COUNTRY TABLES
201
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
241
6
IV
FOREWORD
The present volume dealing with financial support to students in higher education launches a new
series called Key Topics in Education among the comparative studies carried out by EURYDICE.
This series develops and extends, in particular, the scope of the report 'Key Data on Education in the
It will be recalled that this latter volume published regularly since 1994 offers a
European Union'.
highly diversified range of indicators regarding the different levels of education. The purpose of the
Key Topics series is to provide an in-depth analysis of specific issues considered to be of major
interest for political decision-makers and educational cooperation at European level.
On the basis of a European Commission proposal, the Socrates Committee adopted the financing of
education as the first such topic. More specifically, the analysis of financial support to students in
higher education has been selected for the publication of this initial volume. A second volume, in the
course of preparation, is devoted to methods of awarding and managing resources allocated to
schools. Its publication is planned for the end of 1999.
The originality and special interest of this new Key Topics in Education series lie as much in the
different dimensions covered by the analysis as in the methodology employed.
As regards content, the comparative analysis contains both a descriptive part and a contextual part.
detail the various aspects and major parameters that facilitate
The descriptive part reviews in
understanding of the current situation in the area under consideration. Special emphasis is attached to
differences and similarities in the operational methods of the countries concerned. The contextual part
describes the reforms
then covers the way systems have developed over three decades.
It
implemented in the various countries, drawing attention both to the factors that have inspired them and
to the underlying aims of reform. In addition, this part has been informatively supplemented by a
chapter on the main national debates on the issue in order to fuel discussion of it at European level. In
the present study, the focus is on the components of systems of support to students, and on the
development of the basic features Comprising the different models at issue.
From the methodological standpoint, the realisation of such an undertaking has been made
possible thanks not only to the reports on each country drafted by the National Units in the EURYDICE
Network for the descriptive part, but also to the collaboration of national experts specialised in the
field. Appointed by the members of the Socrates Committee, the latter have contributed to the
preparation of that part of the study dealing with the contextual analysis of how systems have evolved.
The national contributions were drafted by the National Units and experts on the basis of detailed
questionnaires devised at the European Unit. Regular meetings with them provided an opportunity to
take stock of progress, and to test the approaches adopted for the comparative analysis. The same
persons also undertook re-reading of the draft analyses, correcting them where necessary and putting
forward proposals for their improvement with a view to ensuring that the study would be as valuable
and reliable as possible. The interaction and close collaboration between the different partners both at
national level and with the EURYDICE European Unit greatly facilitated the realisation of this complex
analysis dealing with a sensitive subject. The names of all those involved in the preparation of the
study are listed at the end of the volume.
All macro-economic indicators given in the volume, mainly in the general introduction, were selected
and prepared in close cooperation with Eurostat which was responsible for gathering and checking the
data derived from the UOE (Unesco/OECD/Eurostat) questionnaires completed by the Member States
of the European Union and the EFTA/EEA countries.
The EURYDICE European Unit is fully responsible for drafting the entire comparative analysis, the
preparation of the diagrams and the layout of the4 publication.
7
v
FOREWORD
The present volume consists of three major parts.
First, its general introduction gives an account of all the definitions required to understand the scope
of the analysis. Accordingly, the kinds of higher education in each country and the population group
concerned are clearly specified in an initial section in which the different forms of public financial
support awarded to students are also defined and classified. In a second section, contextual elements
related to the funding of higher education institutions and admission to higher education are indicated.
Finally, the third section of the General Introduction comprises macro-economic indicators regarded as
sufficiently reliable and helpful for the purpose of clarifying the analysis. They are based on the most
recent data currently available, which relate to 1995/96.
The descriptive part contains seven chapters devoted to the comparative analysis of all forms of
support selected for consideration. All this descriptive information is concerned with the 1997/98
academic year. Furthermore, reforms subsequent to this reference date are referred to and explained
in the commentary.
The contextual part contains three chapters devoted, respectively, to changes in systems of financial
support to students, to the factors that have inspired these changes and to the various debates
focused on all related issues in the last ten years. At the end of this section is a set of tables giving a
chronological summary of the reforms implemented, together with information on the context in which
they occurred and the aims which were pursued in each individual country. These national summaries
provide readers with an overview of the entire course of reform in a particular country, which may be
considered aside from any comparative appraisal.
To make it easier to locate precise topics or items of information, and enable the study to be read
selectively, each chapter focuses on a very specific subject, and may thus be read independently of
the others. Wherever appropriate, a given parameter is cross-referenced to a particular chapter
dealing with a related aspect. Furthermore, in order to heighten understanding of the systems of
support as a whole, the descriptive part begins and concludes (Chapter 7) with a summary covering all
aspects examined.
In the interests of clarity, numerical data in the statistical indicators, as well as the explanatory notes
on methods of calculation, are placed directly under the diagrams. As only country codes are used in
the tables and diagrams, a glossary of abbreviations, codes and conventions, along with the definition
of the statistical tools adopted, have been incorporated at the beginning of the study.
8
VI
GLOSSARY
ABBREVIATIONS
COUNTRY CODES
European Union
EU
Belgium
B
B fr
French Community
Belgium
Flemish Community
Belgium
B n1
German-speaking Community
B de
Belgium
Denmark
DK
Germany
D
EL
Greece
Spain
E
France
F
IRL
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
L
Netherlands
NL
Austria
A
Portugal
P
Finland
FIN
Sweden
S
United Kingdom
UK
England and Wales
E/W
Northern Ireland
NI
Scotland
SC
European Free Trade Association/European Economic Area
EFTA/EEA
Iceland
IS
Liechtenstein
LI
Norway
NO
Central and east(ern) European countries
CEECs
ABBREVIATIONS RELATIVE TO STATISTICAL INDICATORS
Estimate
(*)
Average
O
Not available
N/A
(:)
()
Not applicable
'European value' calculated on x Member States (for example: EU-14).
EU-x
Gross domestic product
GDP
International Standard Classification for Education
ISCED
Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics
NUTS
Purchasing Power Parity (based on value of ECU)
PPP/ECU
European system of accounts
ESA
Unesco/OECD/Eurostat
UOE
VII
GLOSSARY
ISO CODES FOR NATIONAL CURRENCIES
ISO code
Official name
ECU (1)
European currency unit
ATS
Austrian schilling
BEF
Belgian franc
CHF
Swiss franc (also legal tender in Liechtenstein)
DEM
German mark
DKK
Danish cronn (krone)
ESP
Spanish peseta
FIM
Finnish markka
FRF
French franc
GBP
Pound sterling
GRD
Greek drachma
IEP
Irish pound (punt)
ISK
Icelandic crown
ITL
Italian lira
LUF
Luxembourg franc
NLG
Dutch guilder
NOK
Norwegian crown (krone)
PTE
Portuguese escudo
SEK
Swedish crown (krona)
Despite the ISO standard, which recommends XEU.
(1)
Source: European Communities, Interinstitutional style guide
Vade-mecum for editors.1997 edition
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Brussels
Luxembourg, 1998, 163 p.
OTHER ABBREVIATIONS
AEI
Anotato Ekpaideftiko Idryma (Greece)
AGCD
Administration generale de la cooperation au developpement (French Community of Belgium)
AIE
Aide Individuelle Exceptionnelle (France)
ALF
Allocation de logement familial (France)
ALS
Allocation de logement social (France)
AMK
Ammattikorkeakoulu (Finland)
APL
Aide personnalisee aux logements (France)
BAttiG
BundesausbildungsfOrderungsgesetz (Germany)
CEEPUS
Central European Exchange Programme for University Studies
CESE
Cursos de Estudos Superiores Especializados (Portugal)
CGRI
Commissariat general aux relations internationales (French Community of Belgium)
CROUS
Centre regional des ceuvres universitaires et scolaires (France)
DAAD
Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (Germany)
DEA
DiplOme d'etudes approfondies (France)
DEUG
DiplOme cretudes universitaires generates (France)
ECStA
European Council for Student Affairs
ELB
Education and Library Boards (Northern Ireland)
HBO
Hoger Beroepsonderwijs (Netherlands)
IAP
Internationale Akademie fbr Philosophie (Liechtenstein)
KVU
Korte vidergaende uddannelser (Denmark)
LA
Local Authority (Ireland)
LEA
Local Education Authority (United Kingdom)
MVU
Mellemlange vidergaende uddannelser (Denmark)
NARIC
Network of National Academic Recognition Information Centres
NORDPLUS
Nordic Programme for the Mobility of University Students and Teachers
NUFFIC
Netherlands Organisation for International Cooperation in Higher Education
RME
Revenu Minimum d'Etudiant (France)
SAAS
Students Awards Agency for Scotland (United Kingdom)
SNCB
SocietO nationale des chemins de fer belges (Belgium)
TEI
Technologiko Ekpaideftiko Idryma (Greece)
VEC
Vocational Education Committee (Ireland)
WO
Wetenschappelijk ondenvijs (Netherlands)
,
VIII
fr