The Future of University Education: Funding, Focus and Philosophy

The higher education sector is changing in Finland, in the UK but also in other European countries. Market-orientation and concepts from economics have extended to the higher education sector, even if especially universities have for long been regarded as bastions of civilized education. Economic thought is called for to tackle concrete challenges facing public services in general: due to problems in public finance, greater efficiency, improved activity and instant value generation are demanded also from the higher education sector.

This project emphasizes three challenges facing higher education: financing of higher education institutions, focus of higher education and the elementary philosophy of higher education. The project studies these challenges and explores models and opportunities to meet the challenges.

We are asking questions such as:

- How the public sector, the private sector and the students themselves should participate in financing higher education?

- What should be taught, i.e. are all subject matters equal in value? How to teach in order to maximize cultivation, professional skills and citizen skills of students+

- What is essentially the purpose of higher education? Who benefits from higher education and who governs the system?

Report: Current changes in higher education funding in England - Description of the education market for the student consumer

Read the report here (in Finnish)

Read the English summary here.