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Higher Education for and beyond the Sustainable Development Goals

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Global Higher Education ((PSGHE))

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Abstract

SDG4 proposes equal access to quality tertiary education as one of its goals, but in practice most countries are far from achieving it. This chapter analyses the conditions of entry to higher education in three contexts—England, Brazil and Kenya—which despite being diverse in terms of income levels and coverage of the higher education system, are all implementing policies to ensure an equitable expansion. From the analysis, the chapter proposes three dimensions that must be in place for higher education system to have fair conditions of access: availability of places, accessibility for students, and horizontality of quality and recognition between institutions. These three dimensions place significant demands for change on higher education systems.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The figure from the national agency rather than UIS has been used in the case of Brazil, due to disparities of calculation.

  2. 2.

    On account of the significant differences between the higher education systems in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, this discussion will relate only to England, rather than the whole of the UK.

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  1. UCL Institute of Education, London, UK

    Tristan McCowan

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  1. Tristan McCowan
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McCowan, T. (2019). Access. In: Higher Education for and beyond the Sustainable Development Goals. Palgrave Studies in Global Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19597-7_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19597-7_6

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-19596-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-19597-7

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