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 Research Programs / Projects
Influence of the Admission Mechanisms' Transformation and Financing of Education on the Accessibility of Higher Education
Head: Dr.Sc. S. Shishkin
Duration: March 2003 ã. – December 2003 ã
Support: Ford Foundation grant # 1025-0343/1
The purpose of the project was to analyze the influence of current and prospective changes in the rules of enrolment to the universities and in the mechanisms of public and private financing of education on accessibility of higher education for the population.
The objectives of the project were as follows:
- To analyze the existing rules of enrolment to higher educational institutions and of the existing mechanisms of financing higher education in terms of their influence on accessibility of higher education.
- To identify university strategies aimed at improving their accessibility for different social groups.
- To analyze the role of informal payments for enrolment to universities and for education.
- To analyze influence of new mechanisms of enrolment to universities and financing of universities on differences of chances to enter universities for representatives of different social groups.To work out recommendations as to changes in admission mechanisms and financing of higher education, needed to reduce the inequality in its accessibility.
Besides, a comparative analysis was performed of the degree in which institutional, social, economic, and residential factors influence the accessibility of higher education.
The research is based on institutional analysis methods; secondary quantitative sociological analysis; interviews with university faculty in three pilot regions.
The research revealed that low- prestige and middle-competition professions are quite accessible for children from low-income families and from rural areas, if they graduate from secondary school with good grades and/or are able to pay for training at university access courses , or classify to the so called "target admission" group. If they do not get private tuition, or attend quality schools, or bribe, heir chances to enter high-competition faculties are poor.
The analysis of informal payments practices and informal social exchanges at admission reveals the tendency that the lower the income of the population in the region is, the higher is the probability of informal practices.
If the existing mechanisms of enrolment to higher education institutions are changed for the stricter selection according to the National Exam ("EGE") results, the gifted children from low-income families, rural areas and smaller towns would have more opportunities to get high quality higher education at prestigious universities (departments). But for the enrollees from these social groups who lack of exceptional abilities, the situation would become no better. Also, this inequality in opportunities of entering universities caused by of the different educational potential of schools in different types of settlements and by the inequality of households' incomes would not be reduced with introduction of the National Exam and educational vouchers (the public nominative financial obligations - "GIFO"). Therefore, the National Exam and GIFO should be complemented by other tools assisting to increase of accessibility of higher education.
Major research results were presented at the Second IISP research conference "Social Policy: Challenges of the XXIst Century" held on February 25-26, 2004, and at the International conference "Accessibility of Higher Education: Challenges for Transition Countries" held on June 29-30, 2004, in Moscow. Project summary
Results of the study are generalized in the collection of papers:
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