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The educational and living costs of undergraduate studies and the ways these costs are shared among parents, students, taxpayers, and philanthropists/donors are considered for five countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, and Sweden. Five policy issues that are linked to how costs are shared by parents, students, and the general taxpayer are identified, including the participation in higher education by low-income and other previously excluded groups. The five country profiles and comparative analysis consider: the out-of-pocket costs faced by students and parents; the expected parental contribution, if any, and how it is derived; the expected student contribution, from savings, work, or loans; the taxpayer-borne contribution (e.g., need-based grants, loan subsidies); trends and issues regarding the sharing of higher education costs within each country; problems or issues common to all five countries; and each country's structure and governance of higher education. Appended materials describe the concept of "purchasing power parity," as well as concepts for separating subsidized loans into a "true loan" and an "effective grant." (SW)

The paper uses data from the United States and several other industrialized nations to evaluate the costs of post-secondary education. Discussed are: variations on the concept of higher educational costs; three cost issues (how much higher education, the unit costs of higher education, and sharing the costs); higher education costs and social goals--equality of opportunity, efficiency, and equity; the costs of higher education in five nations (United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Sweden). Among the international trends identified are the following: (1) aggregate expenditures will increase in real terms; (2) the underrepresentation of children from less privileged socioeconomic classes will remain a great problem in all nations; (3) pressures to spend more on aggregate higher educational capacity and on a per-unit basis will be resisted by increasing pressures from governments (taxpayers) to lower unit costs and become more productive; (4) technology (though unsuccessful in altering unit costs in Europe and North America) may play a role in the cost-effective expansion of higher education in Asia and sparsely populated regions; (5) higher education will become increasingly differentiated; (6) higher education will continue to broaden its revenue base away from overwhelming reliance on the taxpayer. Forty-four endnotes are attached. (DB)