FOCUS AREA: HIGHER EDUCATION




HIGHER
EDUCATION
NEEDS TO
CHANGE TO
MEET THE
DEMANDS OF A
FAST-CHANGING
WORLD
   Higher education is instrumental in fostering long-term growth
   and boosting shared prosperity in both low- and middle-
   income countries.

   WHY IT MATTERS                                                    OUR APPROACH
   People with a quality post-secondary education are more           The World Bank supports higher education reforms
   employable, earn higher wages, and cope better with               and innovation through concrete steps to achieve
   economic shocks. Higher education benefits both individuals       improvements. Our work focuses on enabling equitable
   and society. Economic returns for college graduates are           access to higher education, improving quality and
   the highest in the entire educational system—an average           relevance of programs to increase employability of
   17 percent increase in earnings per year of schooling as          graduates, supporting financing that promotes efficient
   compared with 10 percent for primary school. The social           and effective use of public resources, fostering the
   benefits are also substantial. A highly skilled workforce         integration of a system of universities and technical
   comprised of workers who have a solid post-secondary              and vocational institutions, supporting public-private
   education is a prerequisite for a country’s ability to innovate   partnerships, improving linkages between higher
   and for its healthy long-term growth. As the global youth         education institutions and employers, and promoting
   population swells, demand for access to higher education          the preparation of students as future professionals and
   increases and expectations of what higher education can           citizens. We partner with governments and work with
   provide rise. We cannot predict what jobs will be available in    universities, technical colleges, and training institutions to
   the future, but we know that higher education must embrace        create programs that are tailored to fit the needs of local
   change to meet future needs.                                      economies.
Governments face budget constraints that make it hard to cope with
increased demand for higher education, while the cost keeps higher
education out of reach for many of the world’s poorest and most
marginalized youth.


OUR PRIORITIES:
1 Strengthening market relevance and linkages                        4 Developing an integrated higher education
with the development process                                         system
Teaching and research activities at public and private               A diversified and flexible higher education system is a
higher education institutions need to be aligned with labor          complex but inevitable challenge. Educational systems
market imperatives. The World Bank supports countries                (and societies) must stop seeing technical streams as
to develop public-private partnerships and collaborate               a less prestigious option. It is necessary to create and
by, for example, establishing curriculum advisory and                strengthen a range of post-secondary institutions such
review boards with stakeholders from the private sector,             as community colleges, polytechnic institutions, and
developing incentives to set up and strengthen industry-             technical training institutions, all of which must be part of
university links, and providing learning opportunities that          a single ecosystem together with universities.
link educational institutions with firms.
                                                                     5 Focusing on results and boosting transparency
2 Supporting Science, Technology, Engineering,                       As the higher education sector has become more
and Mathematics (STEM) education                                     sophisticated and diverse, there is an increased need
As economies transform, they need a selective and                    for greater openness and transparency. The World
gradual emphasis on building engineering and managerial              Bank is supporting countries to collect and make
human capital with close links to the private sector. The            available detailed data on the performance of academic
World Bank is supporting higher education institutions in            programs—including graduation and job outcomes.	
research and development activities in STEM fields.
                                                                     6 Leveling the playing field
3 Rethinking financing to improve equity and                         Successfully managing the expansion of higher education
efficiency                                                           is likely to require a range of high-quality public and
Despite significant growth in student enrollment, higher             private educational institutions, giving students more
education still is out of reach for many poor and socially           options and generating healthy competition. The World
disadvantaged students. Higher education must compete                Bank supports a constructive role for governments in
for public funding with other equally important priorities.          regulating the sector to ensure quality, accessibility, and
The World Bank supports policies to expand access                    relevance.
through new financing approaches.




         educationgp@worldbank.org    worldbank.org/education    @WBG_Education Human Capital Project #INVESTinPeople