This nine-country study of higher education financing in Africa includes three East African states (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda), five countries in southern Africa (Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa), and an Indian Ocean island state (Mauritius). Higher Education Financing in East and Southern Africa explores trends in financing policies, paying particular attention to the nature and extent of public sector funding of higher education, the growth of private financing (including both household financing and the growth of private higher education institutions) and the changing mix of financing instruments that these countries are developing in response to public sector financial constraints. 'This unique collection of African-country case studies draws attention to the remaining challenges around the financing of higher education in Africa, but also identifies good practices, lessons and common themes.

Virtually all countries in the world are struggling to provide the necessary resources to Higher Education. The challenges are particularly complex for economically poor countries in Africa, which have recorded massive expansion in the past decade. This book analyzes the state of funding and financing higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The training and development of human capital in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will help countries in the region diversify their economies, carry out economic transformation, and support sustainable growth. Higher education plays a key role in training qualified individuals who will be able to implement new technologies and use innovative methods to establish cost-efficient and effective enterprises and institutions. However, in order for SSA to reap the benefits of this investment in human capital, higher education institutions must secure financing to provide quality training and sound professional prospects to their students. Currently, tertiary education development is unsustainable resources per student are declining and the quality of education is affected. These issues are particularly pressing in times of financial global crisis, when available resources for tertiary education tend to diminish. The impact of the crisis that started in 2008 provides a clear illustration of the need to explore innovative ways to diversify and secure financing for higher education in SSA. 'Financing Higher Education in Africa' provides a comprehensive overview of higher education financing in SSA. The book begins with an explanation of the fundamental problems faced by higher education institutions and students in SSA, namely the combined pressure of a rapid growth in demand and a growing scarcity of public resources, and it presents the dramatic consequences of these trends on quality. The book then turns to analyzing and comparing the current funding policies in SSA countries and it provides recommendations for improvement. Finally, the book examines the alternatives to the status quo and the policy tools needed to both diversify resources and allocate them based on performance. It will be of great interest to governments, universities, research institutions, and international organizations throughout the region.

The book is a must read for policy makers, academics, university administrators and post graduate research students in the broad field of education and in higher education studies in particular. The book brings together a wealth of information regarding the imperatives of transformation in Africa’s higher education systems. Not only do some of the chapters provide critical discussion about the conceptualisation of transformation, the majority of the chapters reflect on empirical evidence for transformation in diverse fields of mathematics, science, gender, the training of doctoral students and the governance and management of universities. This central theme of sustainable change and reform runs across the chapters of the book. For students, the book provides exemplars of practical research in higher education. For scholars in higher education and policy makers, specific issues for reform are identified and discussed.

"Part of the African Higher Education Collaborative (AHEC)."

The financing of higher education is undergoing great change in many countries around the world. In recent years many countries are moving from a system where the costs of funding higher education are shouldered primarily by taxpayers, through government subsidies, to one where students pay a larger share of the costs. There are a number of factors driving these trends, including: A push for massification of higher education, in the recognition that additional revenue streams are required above and beyond those funds available from governments in order to achieve higher participation rates Macroeconomic factors, which lead to constraints on overall government revenues Political factors, which manifest in demands for funding of over services, thus restricting the funding available for higher (tertiary) education A concern that the returns to higher education accrue primarily to the individual, rather than to society, and thus students should bear more of the burden of paying for it This volume will help to contribute to an understanding of how these trends occur in various countries and regions around the world, and the impact they have on higher education institutions, students, and society as a whole. With contributions for the UK, USA, South Africa and China this vital new book gives a truly global picture of the rapidly changing situation