Privatization and Inequality: Comparative Studies of College Access, Education Policy, and Public Finance

This volume-the inaugural entry in the new monograph series Issues in Globalization and Social Justice: Comparative Studies in International Higher Education-examines the consequences of national strategies that have fostered the privatization of public colleges that have resulted in both expanded access to higher education and increased inequality. While privatization of higher education is a global pattern, the Pacific Rim region has followed this avenue to education and economic development with more vigor that the rest of the globe.

Consequently, the volume highlights three national case studies (China, South Korea, and the United States) and one state-level case study (California) in order to provide a closer look at the ways public policies on finance and education relate to inequalities in access across diverse groups within nations.

California provides a particularly interesting study here, since the state has in many ways resisted the global pattern. While the authors do not propose an optimal approach to the public financing of higher education, they provide more detailed information about the relationships between public finance and both access and equal opportunity than has been previously available.

The result is a compelling new set of studies that can inform comparative conversations about the financing of higher education and the strategies for achieving the public good.