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Expresses concern about recent trends in financing higher education in India. Outlines several proposals for finance reform and considers national and international experiences with them. Argues that reform suggestions being made for developing countries are not empirically valid for the contexts in which they are to be implemented. (Author/MSE)

A discussion of the economics of higher education in developed and developing countries looks at these issues: increasing costs, spending in comparison with level of development, public subsidization, access, proportion of spending on salaries, higher education as investment, funding sources, cost reduction, and strategies for shifting cost burdens from government. (MSE)

Problems in the financing of higher education in India, particularly in the large proportion of costs borne by the government, are examined. Several policy proposals to remedy the problems, including privatization, are critically reviewed. It is concluded that there is a need for experimentation with a number of alternatives. (MSE)

Since India's independence much of the responsibility for educating the population has shifted from the Indian states to the central federal government. While education remains constitutionally identified as a state matter, and while the federal government controls most of higher education as well as vocational, professional, and technical training, it also provides significant financial support to the states. This support is funneled through two commissions: the Finance Commission, which distributes resources guaranteed by statute and aimed primarily at program maintenance, and the Planning Commission, which distributes discretionary funds directed toward development. Increasing reliance on this federal support weakens the states' autonomy in education. Although originally intended to encourage equity by redistributing wealth among the states, the federal government's educational finance system actually serves political purposes that lead to increased disparities. Reform should involve an increasing federal role in financing accompanied by a decreasing federal control of policy formation. A brief review of the historical development of government responsibility for education in India, beginning in the colonial period, provides the background for this paper's analysis of the current relationship between federal and state authority. Principles of resource allocation are also briefly reviewed. Tables display comparative data on educational finance in the various Indian states. (PGD)

The primary objective of this study was to analyze the financial implications of achieving the target of universalization of elementary education in India by 1990. The study first examines the general allocation pattern of resources for Indian education. An analysis of the intra-sectoral allocation among different levels of the educational sector shows a consistent trend of shifting the emphasis from elementary education to other educational levels, especially higher education. An analysis of elementary education in terms of enrollment in different states in the country for the past decades shows that if the past trends guide the future the universalization of elementary education will not be reached by 1990. The resources allocated for education have been grossly inadequate. The required growth rates for each state and their financial implications for the 1980's are estimated. Although finances alone will not ensure universalization of elementary education, more money is a necessary condition to achieve the goal. At least seven percent of Gross National Product should be allocated for education by 1989-90 to realize modest targets in education. (RM)