The author sees higher education as a battleground between prevailing meritocracy and forces of egalitarianism in "what is at best a competition and at worst a conflict. Focuses on the "growing contradiction of the guiding principles behind educational endeavor, weights the charges of the adversaries, and suggests the possible outcome. (Author)

To improve educational research, this article suggests using an industrial model to analyze the educational system. Questions arising from such a model--involving inputs, outputs, prices, technology, consumer characteristics, and intra-industry structure--are related to existing educational research and to needed future research. (Author/RW)

This article uses data from a series of reports by the Longer Term Strategy Group of Universities UK to outline key features of the developing market for higher education in the UK. The resulting empirical lessons about the behaviour of students and institutions are tested against the political drive for a freer domestic "market" for…

The feasibility and potential relevance of comprehensive planning models for postsecondary education are examined, focusing on the two most widely discussed models of this type: (1) the Postsecondary Education Financing Model (PEFM) of the National Commission on the Financing of Postsecondary Education, and (2) the Federal Planning Model (FPM) of…

Conceives of educational planning as a circular process: the demand for education evolves as a function of a changing supply in educational institutions and programs. Argues that by taking into consideration the complexity of the educational environment, policy-making in education can be improved. (DSK)

Explains the growing importance of higher-level qualifications for adults in the UK, highlighting statistical trends in commitment to learning and qualifying-the result of taking part-time courses in higher education. Most part-time undergraduates fund their own tuition. Mature students' backgrounds and perspectives partly account for their rising…

Across OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries, governments are having to work with shrinking public budgets while designing policies to make education more effective and responsive to growing demand. The 2011 edition of "Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators" enables countries to see themselves in the light of…

Education reformers are urging that all students meet new and more challenging expectations for learning. A crucial question is whether the education system, including the people who comprise it, have the ability to meet these new demands. This report argues that discussions of capacity should be broadened to include such factors as the…

Considers how higher education supply is adapting to an evolving new world and suggests areas where research would shed light on the strategic choices institutions are making and help guide policy decisions. These include effects of tuition levels on state appropriations and out-of-state enrollment, and effects of admissions policies on different…

Proposes a framework for analyzing education policy from an economic perspective. The framework takes into account educational supply and demand, structure of the education system, economic effects, and their interrelations. Discusses key economic issues in the analysis of education policy. (EV)

One of the salient concerns in contemporary higher education internationally is access, which is rapidly expanding. Another salient trend is the rapid expansion of private higher education. These two salient tendencies have not been treated in scholarship as heavily intertwined. Much of the reason is that many people associate "private"…

This paper discusses educational planning activities in which the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has had some involvement. Only a part of these activities are dealt with--national educational planning within the context of economic and social development. An attempt is made to show how OECD's work in educational…

Four participants report briefly on their impressions and experiences concerning the Third International Conference on the teaching of English, held in Sydney, Australia, August 1980. The topics discussed include English instruction in a multicultural setting and response to literature. (RL)

Offers a quality-policy planning model for academic institutions, noting that rapidly growing higher education systems are often characterized by market failure in terms of program quality, because controlling bodies have incomplete information about program quality and low sensitivity to quality variations. Applies this framework to Israel,…

Educational expansion is the result of an intricate interplay between individual expectations and characteristics of the educational subsystem. Using systems theory, this article presents figures on educational participation in Belgium. Educational policy cannot steer or control educational expansion. The system can only react autonomously.…