Kofi Nkrumah-Young 1 Financing Education Abroad Risk and Responsibility for Education Abroad Programmes

Kofi Nkrumah-Young 2 Financing Education  Tuition  Course material  Accommodation  Meals  Health  Insurance  Travelling  Other

Kofi Nkrumah-Young 3 Areas of Main Risks  Tuition  Accommodation & Meals  Health  Insurance  Travelling

Kofi Nkrumah-Young 4Tuition  Why be concerned? - Different modes of financing HE and related issues. –No tuition –Flat Fee –Variable Fees –Students’ Loan –Income contingent loan schemes –Economic cost for foreign students  Who pays? Will the home Govt. pay or is it the students’ responsibility?  How much? Will the student expect to pay the local rate and if so who stands the difference? Will the host institution absorb the difference?

Kofi Nkrumah-Young 5 Some Cases  Swedish Student in Jamaica – Expected to pay local tuition rates  Czech Republic – No tuition for any student studying in the Czech language  Holland – Phd. Students regarded as part time contracted staff  UTech – Different support mode for regional as against creating confusion for students

Kofi Nkrumah-Young 6 Accommodation & Meals  Why be concerned? Differences between host and home countries. –Does the home country finance boarding and lodging? –How will the student studying abroad deal with the difference? –Is the cost of living higher in the host country? –Who deals with the difference?

Kofi Nkrumah-Young 7 Health and Insurance  The state of the public health sector in the host country.  The cost of health insurance  The existence of liability laws and the extent of responsibility  Who pays in the event of negligence or accident?

Kofi Nkrumah-Young 8 Health and Insurance Cont’d  UTech making health insurance compulsory for all foreign students  EU requiring health insurance for all non-EU nationals

Kofi Nkrumah-Young 9 Travelling  Relocation cost  Visits to home

Kofi Nkrumah-Young 10 Financial Risks  To students –Probability of increased educational cost due to higher tuition, accommodation, health and relocation expenses  To HEI –Probability of reduced income as a result of incurring additional expenses without compensating income –Probability on increased cost due to increased liability expenses - insurance and health

Kofi Nkrumah-Young 11 Mitigating the risks  Exchange programmes – you cover mine and I’ll cover yours  Bi-lateral agreements – –Let’s discuss the specifics – UWI’s MOU –We will take care of ours - PSL arrangements with UTech –We cover these and the rest is yours – Scholarships  Multilateral agreements – The Socrates/Erasmus programme

Kofi Nkrumah-Young 12 Discussion Questions  Is there need for further protection against financial risks in these EAPs?  What of cost/benefit analysis?  In light of the unfinished discussions on the financing of HE can the Caribbean afford to or not afford to take on EAP at this time?

Kofi Nkrumah-Young 13 Results of the Discussion  EAP is important for Modern language programmes at UWI but cost for students restricts participation  Suggested strategy –Exchange programmes –Seek Grant funding –Provide information on funding that are already available: Students enrichment programme and millennium project

Kofi Nkrumah-Young 14 Results of the Discussion  Gap between faculties and EAP office  Reciprocity factor in bilateral and multilateral agreements  Tapping into private sector, alumni for source funding  Non support of taxation laws in Jamaica to support philanthropy

Kofi Nkrumah-Young 15 Results of the Discussion  Cost benefit analysis to support EAP –Need to highlight that benefits accrue to national development and not just to the institutions and students –Need to summarise the quantitative as well as qualitative benefits –Difficulty in measurements –Whose responsibility to drive the education on benefits? –Role of inclusion in strategic plans and into policy –Institutional Will is needed and such must be the responsibility of management.

Kofi Nkrumah-Young 16 Minimising the financial risk to students  Grants  Employment opportunities  Assisting students in planning their budgets  More coordinated approach to financing

Kofi Nkrumah-Young 17 Minimising the financial risks to the Institutions  Use of bilateral agreements to protect weaker institutions  Buffer organisation to absorb the risk  Exchange programmes with reciprocal agreements hence no increase cost to institution while not reducing the coverage to students  Multilateral programmes where the Government absorb the risks e.g. the socrates/erasmus programme