The changing face of public funding of higher education, with special reference to South Africa

Pierre de Villiers () and Gert Steyn ()
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Gert Steyn: Institutional Planning Division, University of Stellenbosch

No 05/2007, Working Papers from Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics

Abstract: Higher education displays characteristics of both private and public goods and there is a trend worldwide to expect individuals to pay more of the costs of their higher education. In South Africa public funding of higher education decreased from 0.86% of GDP in 1986 to only 0.66% in 2006. Due to the decrease in state appropriations, student tuition fees had to be increased to compensate for this loss of income. In the process staff numbers were kept relatively constant, while student numbers increased at a much faster rate. Two future scenarios, based on public higher education expenditure as a percentage of GDP and on real state allocation per WFTES, are included. Although the qualifications awarded per FTE academic staff member increased over time, the graduation rates of the higher education institutions in South Africa are worsening. High-level research, measured in publication units per FTE academic staff member, shows a disturbing decreasing trend since 1997.

Keywords: Higher education; education financing; qualifications (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H52 I22 I23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-dev, nep-edu, nep-pbe and nep-sog
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