Funding South African Higher Education: Steering Mechanisms To Meet National Goals.

This report offers an array of steering mechanisms to help advance South Africa's higher education goals (equity and redress, efficiency, development, and accountability). Building on the experiences of other nations, the paper proposes both base formulas and non-base funding mechanisms that, combined, suggest that such policy-driven steering devices are not only possible, but also desirable in these times of rapid change and increasing instability for higher education. The paper uses three examples (the use of 3-year rolling averages, the realignment of government contribution factors, and the use of a performance-based mini-formula) to demonstrate how these proposals might impact the distribution of base funds. It also illustrates how a new non-base funding stream of performance-oriented mechanism could be developed. The paper focuses on: the higher education funding context in South Africa; a description of steering mechanisms; the overarching purposes of steering; and policy-driven steering mechanisms. The paper concludes that development of the new funding system must be simultaneous with the restructuring of the entire institutional landscape. Appended are: data on South African higher education trends and influences, a glossary of abbreviations, and a table on alternative calculations of subsidy students. (Contains 31 references.) (SM)