definition of tertiary level education

Definition of Tertiary Level Education

An institution that offers the majority, if not all, of its programmes at the educational level above secondary school.

Its entry matriculation requirements include:

Successful completion of a specific number of secondary subjects

Definition of courses and levels at which an applicant has been successful at secondary level

Different Types of Institutions which have specific characteristics including:

Admission/entry requirementsTypes and levels of certification offeredQualifications of staff required at each level of

certificationResearch System of teaching and learning

Some Types of Tertiary Institutions

University Technological University Open University Virtual University Community College Teachers’ College Polytechnic Institute

Factors Influencing Cost and Financing

1. Type of institution – research very expensive activity as it is time consuming

2. Levels of Certification offered

3. Types of Programmes offered – eg. engineering requires equipment and infrastructure

medicine – laboratories etc.

Factors Influencing Cost and Financing

Reputation of institution including vale (credibility) of degrees offered

Cost – concept of probability

>Tuition fees Must include constant upgrading of

facilities eg. laboratories, libraries

Why Tertiary?

Financing linked to purposeLevel at which greatest educational value gained based on higher level thinkingTransfer of knowledge and generation of

new knowledgeExperimentation and applicationProblem solving capacity

World Bank Report 2003

Average worker and technology eg. bauxite, m/v requires minimum of 12years schooling to cope with technology at the workplace i.e. to the threshold of the tertiary level.

Current estimates of average years of schoolingJamaica 7.5%Trinidad 8%Barbados 9%

Tertiary Education more than preparation for job market

Should also provide: Perspective on life/civilisation Locate Jamaica and its development in that context Codify knowledge about and around areas in which

we have competitive advantage (eg. hospitality and sport)

Adapt and enhance the nation entertainment for social and economic reproduction

Build a cohesive society with shared values, roles and responsibilities

Private Gain or Public Good?

Will determine level of personal vs public investment (Vanus James 2004) Private return on investment in university education (i.e

3 yrs Bachelors’ Programme) = 19.5% (earning power) in terms of private gain

Social returns (public goods) = 12.3%

Overwhelming evidence – significant gap in wages of those with tertiary level education and those without.

Some Basic Facts

Seventeen (17) public tertiary level institutions

Total enrolment of 74,601 in various institutions

Total tertiary enrolment – 29.5% of age cohort eligible for tertiary

Some Basic Facts

Female enrolments• 5 subject areas with highest enrolment

Business 37%Education 29% (teachers)Social Studies 6%

Liberal Arts 5.4%Computer Studies 4.9%Health 4.9%

Government Allocations – Tertiary Education Budget

Total $12b for colleges with bulk of funding going• CASE• Excelsior Community College• Edna Manley College

Cost

*High CASE: $444,726*Low G.C. Foster College $354,728

Basic Fees (Averages)

• Excelsior Community College - $129,511.74 (Cost Sharing) per annum• Portmore Community College - $109,397.18 per

annum• University of the West Indies (UWI) - $559,831

per capita• University of Technology (Utech) - $156,846 per

capita

Basic FeesTotal Government Subsidies (J$)• UWI $6.2b• UTect $1.7b• Community Colleges $1.8• Teachers Colleges $1.5• Scholarships (including 7 Jamaica Scholarships) $159,839,770.82• Double Option Mathematics and Science (Teachers Colleges)

$64,988,637.04• (10yrs Project initiated in 2002) Vet & Dentistry $241,780,286.67• Financial Assistance Grants $36,750,000.00• Total Approx. J$ 10b

Subvention based on a formula of 75% of economic cost of programme of study

Financing

• Direct government subvention• SLB• JAMVAT• Scholarships/tuition support programmes (government

and colleges)• Commercial loans

- increase funds available

- Lengthen repayment period of loans to make more affordable• Provide greater options for study eg. increase articulation

and pathways • differentiated delivery modalities eg. online distant

Planning for Tertiary Education

No goesGraduate taxContribution scheme