Can higher education be both inclusive and high quality?

On the surface, Argentina’s public universities are some of the most inclusive in the world: Tuition is free, and there’s no application process, entry exam, nor caps on admission. Inclusivity has long been a governing principle for public universities here. But while anyone can begin a degree, few make it to graduation – and only one-fifth of college-aged Argentines enrol in the first place, writes Erika Page for The Christian Science Monitor.

The reasons vary, from inadequate preparation in public high schools to the economic hurdles of paying for books or rent while in college. Funding one’s university education is particularly difficult in a country with unusually long degree programmes, which last a minimum of five and often more like nine years.

Argentine public universities are free and don’t require entry exams, but the low graduation rates have experts asking if higher education can be both inclusive and high quality. “Argentina was historically the country with the most educational and human capital in Latin America ... which is what constitutes the real wealth of a nation,” says Marcelo Rabossi, an expert in higher education policy at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires. But that level has “long been falling”.
Full report on The Christian Science Monitor site