Higher education a privilege

Any debate on the tuition policy of state-run universities must be based on the premise that college education is a privilege, not a right as some people in this country would have us believe. It is a privilege for people who have the brains to pursue an academic career. And since college education is expensive, it is a privilege for those who have the financial means to pursue it, either raised individually, or by the community.

No single country in the world has made it a policy to make college education a basic right. Even the most developed countries like the United States, or socialist states like China, do not provide college education for all.

Primary education on the other hand is a basic right. It is the duty of the state to provide schooling, free of charge or, at least, made affordable for all parents. In Indonesia, the state provides education for all children for the first nine years up to the third grade of junior high school. Efforts have been made to make the cost of attending senior high schools as inexpensive as possible so that more people could finish their secondary education, but the onus still falls on parents to meet the costs.

Tertiary education by definition is very expensive.

State-run universities like the University of Indonesia (UI), Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) and Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta -- the country's top four centers of academic excellence -- have been able to offer relatively inexpensive programs for both undergraduate and graduate students because they had, until recently, been heavily subsidized by the government (taxpayers).

Past graduates of these universities must consider themselves privileged because they were getting the best of two worlds: academic excellence (by Indonesian standards) for little money.

Now that they have become autonomous institutions with little government funding, the Big Four have been criticized over their new tuition policy. UGM was criticized for charging a basic enrollment fee of Rp 5 million for all new students. Students willing to pay much more than this stand a better chance of getting admitted. UI and ITB are "auctioning" a portion of their seats to the highest bidders, subject to the students meeting the basic academic requirements.

The administrators of these universities have been accused of "commercializing" their institutions or even of compromising academic excellence. Besides facing protests from students, rectors of these colleges were rebuked by the House of Representatives last week. And they have been ordered to reverse their policies.

But just how much exactly does a seat at a university in Indonesia cost?

The answer varies, but either way they are nowhere close to what students at the Big Four have been paying, which have been less than Rp 10 million. One study suggests that the average cost of a university seat in these colleges varies from Rp 16 million to Rp 19 million (presumably by dividing the total operational costs with the number of students) per year. Others say the cost is actually as high as Rp 60 million to 80 million if we include the academic support facilities (including libraries and other research facilities).

If this sounds expensive, it is nothing compared to what colleges in other countries are spending. The average tuition fee (which to some extent reflect the costs) in the United States for state colleges is US$9,000 a year, and $20,000 for private colleges (Rp 72 million and Rp 180 million respectively).

With the Big Four now pressed for money to sustain academic excellence, they need to come up with innovative ideas to raise their own funds, while still maintaining their reputation as centers of learning.

Apportioning some seats (not more than 20 percent) to the highest bidders is one way of plugging the hole.

Bear in mind that the other 80 percent or more of the new students would still gain enrollment through strict selection tests. They would still be paying the inexpensive fees, but this time, the bulk of their costs will be subsidized by the wealthier students who gain enrollment because of their ability to pay.

The universities are not compromising academic excellence. They are still recruiting the most academically gifted in society, but now they are also recruiting the wealthiest as well to help pay for the upkeep. If these wealthy kids cannot keep up with the demands of the academic world, they will drop out, but their money is nonrefundable.

There are many other ways for society to fund college education, without imposing a burden on the government or the universities.

If parents treat college education as an investment, they will make the necessary sacrifices and save up for their children's future. The government or banks could provide student loans (with subsidized interest rates or easy repayment terms), or private corporations could be encouraged to set up education trust funds if they were offered attractive tax incentives.

Tertiary education is a privilege and it comes at a high price.

The burden of funding colleges must no longer be borne mostly by the government or universities. It is now time that members of the community, either individually or collectively, assume the greater share of the responsibility.