Interest in higher education institutions (HEIs) as instruments for development has increased in recent years. The main objective of this paper is to address the contribution of HEIs to development through their missions, models, and challenges. With this purpose, we perform a historical analysis and characterise higher-education systems through…

Following Ben-Porath [1967. "The Production of Human Capital and the Life-Cycle of Earnings." "Journal of Political Economy" 75 (3): 352-365], the influence of life expectancy on education and on human capital has attracted much attention among growth theorists. Whereas existing growth models rely on an education decision made…

In Sen's Capability Approach (CA) well-being can be defined as the freedom of choice to achieve the things in life which one has reason to value most for his or her personal life. Capabilities are in Sen's vocabulary therefore the real freedoms people have or the opportunities available to them. In this paper we examine the impact of capabilities…

This paper gives an overview of the work of the recent independent Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning in the UK. The author first outlines the range of the Inquiry, to give an idea of the overall context; this includes its application in each of the regions within the UK ( England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.). He turns then…

This article discusses the RSA Opening Minds competence framework, an innovative curriculum to meet the needs of young people as future employees, lifelong learners and as citizens of the twenty-first century.

In a period of student loan scandals and U.S. financial market instability impacting on the cost and availability of student loans, this paper looks at alternative models of higher education funding. In this context, it also considers the level of financial support that the government should provide to higher education.

This article examines the way students, making the transition from higher education into the labour market, construct, understand and begin to manage their employability. It draws upon a qualitative study of 53 final-year undergraduates in a pre-1992 university in the UK. It firstly explores students' perceptions of the current labour market for…

Educational cost-benefit analysis, as practiced in both industrialized and developing nations, has been much criticized. Manpower planning, the principal alternative, has received even harsher criticism. The two approaches should be combined in empirically based projects that study recent graduates and chart their subsequent employment progress.…

A study applied a human capital model to statistics on part-time adult college/university students in the United Kingdom and finding that part-time students account for approximately 40% of total student numbers of whom 42% are female and that part-time study is of significant benefit to both individuals and society. (Author/MSE)