Difference in Tuition Fees of the Educational Courses in the Universities - Case Study Example

Comparative governance Contents Executive summary 3 Introduction 3 Method 4 Results 4 Discussion 8 Conclusion 9 References 11 Executive summary This piece of work deals with the identification of difference in tuition fees of the educational courses in the universities of different countries. The reason behind the difference in tuition fees have been linked to the intentions and the policies of government of the countries in the developed and developing economies in attaining comparative advantage. The range of tuition fees designed in the universities of different countries and the approach of the government towards the foreign students as strategic policies for developing the education sector have been studied in this work. Introduction The process of globalization has opened the gates of the economies and increased the level of acceptance of foreign ventures in the local economies. This has resulted in several benefits of different sectors of the economy due to the inflow of expert knowledge and free interchange of ideas and thoughts related to the area of exchange. The field of education has been undergone rapid changes due to the process of globalization mainly due to the changes of the tuition fees in educational systems. The changes in the tuition fees had large impacts on the socio-political environment of the countries all over the world (Berg, 2002, p.46). The process of globalization has led to the shift in the educational processes from the traditional school mode to the online learning mode. Due to the changes in the structure of education, there have been changes in the inflow of the students, teachers as well as the administration. The government has played a crucial role in bring about changes in the educational system in line with the steps taken for economic reforms and globalization. The changes in the tuition fees and the changes in the education structure have changed the perception of the society which is an important area of study. Method The method applied for studying the difference in tuition fees and the socio-political impact in the context of globalization have been explained as follows. The impact of the difference in tuition fees have been analyzed in context to developments in the three countries, namely UK, US and China. The policies adopted by China in order to achieve comparative advantage as compared to the universities of the developed economies have been studied. The steps taken by the government in UK and US in order to check the outflow of students to foreign universities have also been studied using the online sources, books, journals, etc. This has provided the rationale for the policies of the three countries in order to attain comparative advantage in the educational sector (Altbach, 2004, p.8). The impacts of the difference in tuition fees, scholarships on the society in attaining education and adapting to global lifestyle have also been observed under this method. Results The process of globalization have led to the inflows of educational universities in the developing markets and led to the growth of online learning mode. This has resulted in the spread of learning among the population to a wide range of students who were not eligible for regular courses offered in the universities. The growth of online mode of learning as the economies like China attracted educational programs from universities have led to the improvement of the educational system due to which the tuition fees of the educational bodies also underwent changes. Due to the process of globalization, the liquidity level of the economies also increased. The increase in income level of the world population and the rising demand for education also led to the increased migration of students to the foreign universities (Barnett, 2000, p.67). The education system and the universities in the developing countries, therefore, varied the tuition fees of the educational courses offered by them with an aim to sustain the comparative advantage with respect to the other countries in the scenario of huge migration of students between the developed and developing economies of the world. The universities of UK, Wales and USA are examples which show that the tuition fees have been varied with an eye on the changing trends of globalization and due to the need to maintain comparative advantage with respect to the developing countries like China. The design of tuition fees was the decision of the universities that could be varied according to the changing trends of student inflows, availability of faculties, technologies in the process of education. In order to counteract the forces and incentives in global education that encouraged students from the developed economies to move to the developing economies in China, the universities in UK designed tuition fees which were charged based on the information of the country of residence of the students and the place of education. The maximum tuition fees charged by the UK universities in the undergraduate courses are 9000 pound sterling. For international students studying at the UK universities a different scale of tuition fees are charged. The tuition fees for the international students in the UK humanities in the subjects of humanities, social sciences, clinical subjects, science and engineering have been provided below which is higher than the students of UK. (Source: The Complete University Guide, 2013, p.1) In case of finance for the purpose of education, the universities in UK offer limited scholarships to the international students. The international students receive scholarships primarily from their country of residence. The international students are also asked to undertake a guarantee by the universities in UK that they have sufficient funds to complete their educational courses in the UK universities (Green, 2004, p.4). The scholarships and grants are provided to the students of the home country on a larger scale. The students of Wales, however, receive financial support from the Assembly of Wales in order to pursue their education in the UK universities. The universities in UK, however, allow the students of Wales to apply for educational finance for an amount up to 3575 pound sterling. The remaining part of the regular tuition fees are paid by a fee grant to the students of Wales. The changing trend in the tuition fees in the universities in USA have also been observed due to the process of globalization. The tuition fees for studying in the public colleges in US have grown over the years due to the privatization of the US and reduction of state and federal appropriations in educational courses (Currie, DeAngelis, DeBoar, Huisman and Lacotte, 2003, p.105). The rising tuition fees for students in the public courses and the decline of state funding over the years have been represented in the graph shown below. (Source: Desrochers, Lenihan and Wellman, 2008) The reduction in the total funding of state has resulted into limited scholarships for the international students while providing financial support for the students of US (Guri-Rosenblit, 1999, p.82). The tuition fees in the US universities vary in terms of selection of the colleges which may be private, public or community colleges. The tuition fees for the community colleges range from $15000 to $30000. In case of private colleges, the tuition fees range from $10000 to $20000 and in the community colleges, the tuition fees range from $8000 to $12000. The range of tuition fees in the above three categories indicate the fact that the US university have put maximum cap in the tuition fees that is charged from the students of US. The scale of tuition fees for the international students varies depending on the country of origin of the student and the place of educational institution (Duderstadt, 2000, p.57). As compared to the universities of UK and US, the tuition fees in China is comparatively low and also supports the overseas students to take up academic courses in China. The economic reforms in the education sector and favorable policies for attracting the overseas students include implementation of various scholarship programs for the foreign students. The students are first required to pay a CUCAS application fee of $30 for applying to study in the Chinese universities (CUCAS, 2013, p.1). For payment of this CUCAS application fee, the foreign students could apply for up to six programs in the Chinese universities. The tuition fees in China range from $2000 to $4000 depending on the cost of living of the different cities in the country. The incentives provided to the foreign students in terms of scholarships and privatization of the universities has resulted in the high volume of inflow of both the students and foreign educational ventures in China. The process of globalization and the government policies in the area of education and tuition fees have resulted into comparative advantage of the countries over their counterparts (Harley, 2002, p.63). Discussion The socio-political changes due to the difference in tuition fees as a result of the process of globalization have been explained as follows. The globalization has occurred due to the economic reforms adopted by the governments that led to the opening of several sectors like education. The policymakers of China have set up favorable policies in order to attract investments in the educational sector. This led to the inflow of foreign capital in the education system of China (Castells, 2000, p.95). The universities of China have also adopted the policy of providing scholarships to the overseas students that has led to the inflow of large number of foreign students in China. The increase in the inflow of foreign students resulted in the flourishing of the Chinese education system (Curran, 2001, p.111). The increase in the foreign students in China has led to increased earnings of the Chinese universities. The rise in the demand for education in China resulted into more number of jobs in the educational sector. This resulted in the rise of income level of the society and the demand of the economy was also boosted. Due to the overall economic development in China, the living standards of the society improved that led to the changes in the lifestyle of the society. All these developments in the educational sector have been due to the comparative advantage attained by China as a result of the policies framed during economic reforms. In order to counter the comparative advantage of China, the policy makers and the government of UK and US have also set up laws and regulation in the designing of tuition fees in their universities that provided incentives to their home students as an encouragement to study at the home universities (Cunningham, Ryan and Coaldrake, 2000, p.41). In order to check the outflows of the students of UK and US to foreign universities, the governments have limited the scholarships applied to the foreign students and put a maximum cap for the tuition fees to be charged from the home students. By applying preferential treatment in the form of tuition fees to the students of their home country, the universities of UK and US were able to reduce the comparative advantages of China attained due to the process of globalization (Garret, 2004, p.84). Due to the restructuring of the policies, the presence of private colleges increased as a result of privatization. The people of the society adopted the new online mode of learning that was introduced majorly in the private institution (Douglass, 2003, p.73). This led to changing view of the society towards the mode of education and the tuition fees in this form of education justified the lifestyle of the society. Conclusion In order to attain competitive advantage in the education industry, the policymakers of the countries like UK, US, China have framed suitable policies to tap the inflow of foreign capital in the international markets. The developing countries have looked to offer incentives in the form of several scholarship programs offered to the overseas students. The tuition fees of the universities in the developing countries are comparatively lower which attracted the students from the developed countries to pursue education. In order to counter the comparative advantage attained by the developing countries, the developed economies have also restructured the tuition fees of their academic institutions. The government adopted the policy of providing preferential treatment to the students of their home country in order to restrict the outflow of their students to the foreign universities. The changes in the tuition fees have helped to attract more students in the universities that resulted into increased revenues, employment and income level of the societies. References Altbach, P. 2004. Globalization and the University: Myths and Realities in an Unequal World. Tertiary Education and Management. 1(1): 7-10. 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Going to University in England. [Online]. Available at: http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/university-tuition-fees/going-to-university-in-england/. [Accessed on 19 November, 2013]. Read More