Cost Sharing in Ethiopia: an Analysis of Challenges and Prospects

Higher education finance is one of the main issues in the economic analysis of higher education systems. This book explores the basic theoretical foundations of cost sharing and the different forms of implementing it in higher education. The book also puts forth the relevance of the political and socio-economic context for the relative success of the adoption of cost-sharing. These aspects are analyzed by focusing in the Ethiopian higher education system, a system characterized by an elite enrollment pattern, since it has traditionally excluded the majority of potential students who could join the system and therefore contribute to the development of the country. The Ethiopian system has been facing a number of challenges throughout its recent history, and financing the sector is certainly one of the major ones. Cost sharing is one of the main policy changes and has been adopted in 2003 to meet a specific set of objectives. This book discusses the challenges and prospects of cost sharing in Ethiopia.