Policies to Enhance Investment in Higher Education

Higher education is widely considered to be critical to sustain growth and to adapt to globalisation. As a consequence, OECD governments are considering reforms to address perceived shortcomings of existing higher education systems, while preserving or enhancing equality of access to higher education. This chapter shows how labour market conditions, policies and institutions affect private incentives to invest in higher education, as well as the ability of individuals to finance this investment and the supply characteristics of core educational services. It also assesses the relative importance of several reform options to affect the number of new tertiary education graduates across OECD countries, and, in this context, considers the trade-offs involved.