Towards New Structures of Post-Secondary Education; A Preliminary Statement of Issues.

Overview & Synopsis

This report deals with some of the basic problems member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have to face as they approach the threshold of mass higher education. Part I deals with the issues in the planning of future overall structures of post-secondary education. Specifically, it discusses: (1) prospects of further growth; (2) economic constraints; (3) the end of elitist higher education in Western Europe; (4) deficiencies in the existing structures; (5) the relationship between secondary and post-secondary education; (6) different models of mass higher education; (7) differences in the curricula of the traditional and the mass higher education system; and (8) the relationships between higher education and society and education and employment. Part II of the report deals with the problems involved in short-cycle education outside the universities, specifically the different models of short-cycle higher education institutions (SCI) such as the junior colleges, polytechnical schools, etc. Also discussed are the objectives and motivations behind the development and reform of the SCI and the issues and dilemmas that have to be faced. (AF)