英國高等教育學費新制與啟示   免費試閱

The UK’s New Higher Education Tuition System and Its Lessons for Taiwan

面對高等教育的大眾化與市場化，英國的高等教育學費制度由以往的免學費，逐漸轉為附加學費制，2011年起，更以品質為訴求而調漲學費上限，其成效尚待觀察與驗證；另一方面，基於教育機會均等的理念，英國政府、大學與企業，除了提供多種對學生在就學期間的財務支援措施，也設計依薪資所得等條件清償學費貸款的規定，以保障經濟弱勢學生的就學機會。臺灣近年來同樣面臨高等教育普及化，因而導致高等教育經費與資源不足的問題，各大學校院期望能合理調整學雜費收費標準，以提升教育品質及競爭力。本研究分析英國學費政策制度演變與學生財務援助的相關措施，亦述及臺灣高等教育學雜費制度與問題。歸結英國高等教育學費制度之特色與其對臺灣高等教育之啟示有：一、成立獨立中介機構處理高等教育學費調整事宜；二、增加高等教育學生就學期間生活費用的補助及貸款措施；三、依照學生的畢業所得，適度展延或按比例償還貸款；四、政府有責任提供中立客觀的論證與政策說明。

Faced with the massification and marketization of higher education, tuition policy in the UK has gradually transformed from the free-tuition of the past into the current system of charging for tuition. Furthermore, since 2011, the UK’s government has raised the cap on tuition to allow universities to meet demands for high quality, but up to now, the effectiveness of this policy has been neither observed nor verified. Another aspect of this issue is the ideal of equal opportunity for educational opportunities. In order to protect educational opportunities for economically disadvantaged students, universities, the government, and businesses have come up with regulations governing the paying off of student loans based upon factors such as salary, in addition to implementing various measures for providing financial support for students during their studies. In recent years, Taiwan has also been faced with the popularization of higher education, resulting in problems such as inadequate funds and financial resources. Universities hope that the standard tuition can be raised to a reasonable level in order to improve the quality of education provided and to increase their own competitiveness. The distinguishing characteristics of the UK’s tuition system for higher education and its lessons for Taiwan can be summarized as follows:
1. The establishment of an independent agency to handle adjustments to tuition fees for higher education.
2. The increasing of subsidies and financial loans for the living expenses of students engaged in studies at institutions of higher learning.
3. Either the moderate postponement of the repayment of student loans based upon each graduate's income or the proportional repayment of loans.
4. The government taking the responsibility to provide neutral and objective bases and explanations for its policies.