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This report summarizes an educational forum organized by the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) and held in Genting, Malaysia on November 6-8, 1990, to discuss the experience of student loans in Australia, the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. In addition, the forum explored arguments for and against loans as a means of providing financial support for students, and examined the reasons that some countries in the region have adopted loans as a way of financing higher education, while others have rejected the idea. Following an introductory chapter, the report discusses: (1) the existing patterns of finance for higher education and systems of student support; (2) the reasons for interest in student loans; (3) the administration of loan programs; and (4) the feasibility of student loans and their role in educational finance. Appendices include summaries of student support systems from each of the countries involved in the study. Contains 17 references. (GLR)

This report provides a summary of a forum held in Paris at the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) in September 1989. The purpose of the forum was to examine recent changes in industrialized countries in systems of financial support for students in higher education, and in particular to review experiences with student loans as a means of providing financial support. Following an introductory chapter, the report discusses: (1) the reasons for recent changes in student support systems in industrialized countries; (2) the effects of loans on access and participation in higher education; (3) the burden of debt caused by student loans; (4) the effects of demographic and labor market changes; and (5) the implications for developing countries. Annexes include summaries of student support systems from Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and a compilation of financial support for students participating in the European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students (ERASMUS) program of the European Economic Community. Contains 10 references. (GLR)

International experience with student loans as a means of financing higher education is examined, with particular reference to developing countries. After summarizing the main purposes and kinds of student loan programs and practices in developed countries, advantages and disadvantages of loans as a means of financing higher education are identified. Specific attention is directed to Latin America and the Caribbean, including the scale of student loan programs, administration of educational credit institutions, the financing of student loans, repayment terms, the cost of administering student loans, and default on student loans. Additionally, student loan programs in Asia, the Middle East, Ghana, and other African countries are addressed. Loan programs in developing countries are also evaluated in terms of feasibility, as a means of cost recovery, flexibility, efficiency, equity, manpower, and administration. The roles of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the World Bank in funding student loan institutions are examined. Finally, the choice between student loans and other methods of financing higher education is addressed, and policy options for student loan programs are summarized. Information on educational credit institutions in Latin America and a bibliography are appended. (SW)

This book presents information from the Commonwealth Ministers of Education's Ninth Conference in Nicosia, held in Cyprus in 1984, that addressed strategies to (1) increase resources for the development of education in developing countries, and (2) make better use of existing resources for educational needs. The book's main intent is to present some of the practical issues and choices that any authority contemplating setting up a student loan program must face, and to bring to the attention of policy makers the experience of student loan schemes already operating. Chapter 1 discusses the case for introducing student loan programs. Chapter 2 covers policy choices and contains discussions on policy decisions in designing a student loan programs including 10 crucial decisions and the advantages and disadvantages of different models. Chapter 3 shows how a computer model can be developed to examine the implications of alternative choices. Chapter 4 provides more details of actual experience, including experiences from both developed and developing countries and particularly highlighting activities in Colombia, Barbados, and Hong Kong as case studies of countries which have established student loan programs. Contains an 18-item bibliography. (GLR)

Patterns of government subsidies to higher education in five European countries are considered in order to provide a comparative perspective for U.S. policy-makers. Attention is focused on patterns of subsidizing both institutions and students for the five countries: France, West Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The subsidies are assessed in light of stated government objectives, and especially the objectives of efficiency and equity. Profiles of the countries includes information on: financing public and private institutions, free education vs. tuition and fee charges, organizational body responsible for budget development; sources of university income; types of student aid and their distribution; maximum award per student, December 1974; tax relief or family allowances for students' parents; indirect student aid (housing, food subsidies, health); interest rate on loans; and loan repayment. Implications of alternative patterns of subsidy are analyzed in depth, with attention to the optimum levels of subsidy, the case for aiding students by means of grants, whether the subsidy system creates equality of educational opportunity, and how costs of education should be shared between high and low income taxpayers. An ideal student aid package is proposed. (SW)

After a brief review of alternative methods of providing financial aid to students, the most significant differences between ten OECD member countries in the type, methods, and objectives of student aid policy are summarized. The implications of the alternative types of aid are then discussed. The ten countries are Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. (Author/MSE)

This report presents summaries of existing state-of-the-art reviews of educational research dealing with education, work, and employment. Part 1 contains seven summary reviews. Each is identified by title, bibliographic information, and author information. The reviews are (1) Education and the Employment Problem in Developing Countries, an assessment of the responsbility of educational authorities in the problem of unemployment and underemployment; (2) Work Employment Programme (WEP) Research: A Critical Review, an evaluation of some of the research carried out under the International Labour Office's WEP; (3) Education and Employment in Latin America, a review of educational innovations, including non-formal training; (4) The Role of Educational Planning in Situations of Unemployment, a formulation and classification of the major problems of education and economic development; (5) The Use of Educational Qualifications in Labour Markets, an annotated bibliography of 190 books and articles on employers' use of educational qualifications; (6) Labour Market Backwash and the Educational Process, an annotated bibliography with 275 items; and (7) Education and Work: An Evaluation and Inventory of Current Research, a review summarizing main conclusions and suggesting areas for future work. Section 2 contains Education, Work, and Employment, a synthesis of recent research. It overviews recent work on the education-employment relationship and summarizes main issues. (YLB)