The state and higher education in Colombia

Abstract

The development of higher education in Colombia is discussed in terms of its recent quantitative expansion and the accompanying qualitative differentiation. Beginning in 1980 with the University Reform of that year, the state sought to give shape to the system by policies intended (i) to improve its organization (ii) to expand it on more democratic lines and (iii) to improve its quality. The authors discuss the developments which marked attempts to implement these aims. Two critical policy areas emerged—the funding of the system and the administration of the public sector part of it. Current debates are analysed and the authors provide pointers to possible future developments including the development of a highly stratified system with little interaction between the top and the bottom.