Access and Inequality in US Higher Education: Policy Issues

Abstract

AbstractBecause of the international reputation and positive socioeconomic impacts achieved by US higher education, current efforts at the ‘massification’ of other national systems often look to America for guidance. But with respect to equity of access to bachelor’s degree education, the US possesses a number of limitations. For example, regarding the percentage of young US adults who have completed tertiary education as well as measures of social mobility, the US now trails a number of EU nations. This chapter reviews US research on student access addressing the nature and impacts of US college and university financial aid, the informational and behavioural constraints confronting lower income student applicants, and the effects of higher education affirmative action programmes intended to correct past discrimination. The strengths and weaknesses of these US policies are explored as a possible guide to the design of college and university access policies in other countries.