Abstract
Applied degrees in colleges emerged as a distinct form of provision in many Anglophone countries around the turn of the twenty-first century. This includes foundation degrees in England, applied baccalaureates in Canada and the United States, and vocational degrees in Australia. The three rationales for this provision are that it can: expand access to higher education (HE) for disadvantaged students; result in HE aligned with the needs of the workplace; and, be cheaper for governments and individuals compared to university provision. Those of us researching the emergence of this provision thought that it would grow and be a key mechanism to underpin universal systems of HE. However, it did not, and instead growth has occurred through expansion of enrolments in universities. This chapter uses Trow’s (1974) framework of elite, mass and universal HE to explore the emergence of universal HE systems. The chapter argues that the growth of degrees in colleges in these countries is limited by the increasingly marketized and hierarchical structuring of tertiary education in each country and that colleges can never win in this competition. It argues that the growth of degrees in colleges is limited by three main mechanisms: 1. intermittent government enthusiasm for policies that seek differentiation in their higher education systems; 2. funding policies that disadvantage colleges; and, 3. ‘managed markets’ in which universities are advantaged over colleges.
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Notes
- 1.
As is discussed by Gavin Moodie in his chapter in this book (Moodie 2022).
- 2.
The United Kingdom comprises four nations: England, Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland. The main focus in this chapter is on England, although at times it refers to the UK when only UK-level data are available. See Parry et al. (2017) for a discussion of the organization of HE in FE in the UK and in each nation.
- 3.
- 4.
See Our World in Data, based at the University of Oxford: https://ourworldindata.org/tertiary-education#enrollment-in-tertiary-education-over-time.
- 5.
See Gavin Moodie’s chapter in this book for a discussion of system design issues.
- 6.
Attainment of qualifications will always be lower than participation in tertiary education because not all students complete their studies.
- 7.
This is based on a headcount of all students and not equivalent full-time enrolments. It includes domestic and international students.
- 8.
Derived from combining data with Table 2.2 and Table 13.2 (DESE 2019).
- 9.
This includes all levels of higher education programmes offered by TAFE—such as associate degrees, HE diplomas, and other postgraduate programmes. TAFE’s total enrolment in bachelor degrees in 2018 was 6394.
- 10.
Derived from combining the total number of undergraduate students at Ontario’s universities and colleges in 2015 and determining the percentage of each. See Wheelahan et al. (2017: 32) for the total number of degree students in colleges and the Council of Ontario Universities (2020), Table 3, for the total number of undergraduate students in Ontario’s universities.
- 11.
See Parry et al. (2017) for a comprehensive explanation of sub-bachelor higher education in FE colleges in the UK.
- 12.
The data here are primarily drawn from research conducted by the Community College Research Initiatives at the University of Washington. See: https://www.washington.edu/ccri/.
- 13.
Soler explains that as well as public community colleges, other two-year-type institutions that offered degrees included 4 tribal colleges, 48 not-for-profit colleges, and 83 for-profit colleges.
- 14.
In Ontario, the Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board regulates bachelor degrees in colleges, private institutions and out-of-province universities, but the point being made here still stands (Wheelahan et al. 2017). In Scotland, higher education in colleges is funded separately from other higher education and colleges have a much higher proportion of this provision compared to England (see Parry et al. 2017)
- 15.
I am grateful to Gareth Parry for reminding me of this insight.
- 16.
For example, domestic fees for degrees at New South Wales TAFE are in two clusters, with domestic students in the lowest cluster paying $30,720 for their degree, while students in the highest cluster pay $50,500 (TAFE NSW 2020). In contrast, fees for domestic undergraduate students in public universities are in three bands, ranging from $20,412 for the lowest band, $29, 094 in the middle band, and $34,065 in the highest band (assuming students undertake a three-year degree; professional degrees are often four years) (DESA 2020: 20). These are the fees charged to domestic students in public universities as of July 2020 and prior to proposed changes by the federal government outlined in the discussion paper cited here.
- 17.
Except in Scotland where different fee rules prevail.
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Acknowledgements
I am extremely grateful to Gavin Moodie and Gareth Parry for their very helpful advice and assistance in this paper.
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Wheelahan, L. (2022). Why Isn’t There More Higher Education in Colleges in Liberal Market Countries?. In: Knight, E., Bathmaker, AM., Moodie, G., Orr, K., Webb, S., Wheelahan, L. (eds) Equity and Access to High Skills through Higher Vocational Education. Palgrave Studies in Adult Education and Lifelong Learning. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84502-5_13
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