scholarly journals Higher Education, Widening Access and Market Failure: Towards a Dual Pricing Mechanism in England

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin McCaig ◽  
Nicola Lightfoot
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Price Competition ◽  
Market Failure ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Pricing Mechanism ◽  
Entry Requirements ◽  
Prestigious Institution ◽  
Market Intervention ◽  
Entry Qualifications

Over a period of around fifteen years English higher education has become characterised by an increasingly marketise and differentiated system, most recently with the encouragement of new “challenger” providers potentially creating price competition for undergraduate degrees. This paper explores shifting patterns of enrolments between different institution types (those requiring high entry grades and those requiring lower entry grades) for evidence of how these types may be responding to the new market conditions. We introduce the concept of a “dual-pricing” mechanism to model how different institution types may be reacting. Dual pricing would be exemplified as a situation where entry requirements (a “price” based on qualification tariff points required for entry) and tuition-fee are matched in a linear hierarchy of institutions: Only the most prestigious institutions offering the courses demanding the highest entry qualifications (tariff) would command the highest fee (in this case a maxima of £9250 per annum), with fees demanded by institutions requiring lower entry requirements tapering off towards £6000 per year. This dual-pricing mechanism is discussed here as a policy aim, and the intention of this paper is to locate it in relation to market failure (defined as the failing of a market intervention to meet that policy aim). This paper’s critique of the marketised direction of travel in English higher education (HE) policymaking is that a dual-price mechanism would seriously undermine efforts to widen access for underrepresented social groups, particularly those from low income households who may be more likely to access low-cost provision rather than more transformative HE opportunities (supposedly those deriving from having a degree from a more prestigious institution), even if they met the entry requirements for higher-cost provision.

scholarly journals “In Today’s Society, It’s a Necessity”: Latino/a Postsecondary Plans in the College-for-all Era

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Ovink
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
College Completion ◽  
Socioeconomic Mobility ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
East Bay ◽  
College Completion Rates

Latino/a enrollments at U.S. colleges are rapidly increasing. However, Latinos/as remain underrepresented at four-year universities, and college completion rates and household earnings lag other groups’. Yet, little theoretical attention has been paid to the processes that drive these trends, or to what happens when students not traditionally expected to attend college begin to enroll in large numbers. Longitudinal interviews with 50 Latino/a college aspirants in the San Francisco East Bay Area reveal near-universal college enrollment among these mostly low-income youth, despite significant barriers. East Bay Latino/a youth draw on a set of interrelated logics (economic, regional, family/group, college-for-all) supporting their enrollment, because they conclude that higher education is necessary for socioeconomic mobility. In contrast to the predictions of status attainment and rational choice models, these rationally optimistic college aspirants largely ignore known risks, instead focusing on anticipated gains. Given a postrecession environment featuring increasing costs and uncertain employment, this approach led many to enroll in low-cost, less supportive two-year institutions, resulting in long and winding pathways for some. Results suggest that without structural supports, access to college fails to meaningfully redress stratification processes in higher education and the postrecession economy that significantly shape possibilities for mobility.

scholarly journals “In Today’s Society, It’s a Necessity”

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Ovink
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
College Completion ◽  
Socioeconomic Mobility ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
East Bay ◽  
College Completion Rates

Latino/a enrollments at U.S. colleges are rapidly increasing. However, Latinos/as remain underrepresented at four-year universities, and college completion rates and household earnings lag other groups’. Yet, little theoretical attention has been paid to the processes that drive these trends, or to what happens when students not traditionally expected to attend college begin to enroll in large numbers. Longitudinal interviews with 50 Latino/a college aspirants in the San Francisco East Bay Area reveal near-universal college enrollment among these mostly low-income youth, despite significant barriers. East Bay Latino/a youth draw on a set of interrelated logics (economic, regional, family/group, college-for-all) supporting their enrollment, because they conclude that higher education is necessary for socioeconomic mobility. In contrast to the predictions of status attainment and rational choice models, these rationally optimistic college aspirants largely ignore known risks, instead focusing on anticipated gains. Given a postrecession environment featuring increasing costs and uncertain employment, this approach led many to enroll in low-cost, less supportive two-year institutions, resulting in long and winding pathways for some. Results suggest that without structural supports, access to college fails to meaningfully redress stratification processes in higher education and the postrecession economy that significantly shape possibilities for mobility.

Cross-culture outcomes of a brazilian professor Fulbright in the USA

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (50) ◽  
pp. 115
Author(s):  
Marcelo Da Silva Leite ◽  
Celeste Gaia
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Cross Culture ◽  
College And University ◽  
Governmental Agencies ◽  
The Past ◽  
University Curriculum ◽  
Fulbright Scholar ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Higher Education Costs

Over the past decade due the expansion of globalization there has been an increasing emphasis on internationalization among faculty, administration and accrediting agencies in the Higher Education.  Although to promote internationalization in the Higher Education, costs are a big challenge, one way to have the international actions with low cost, it is seeking for grants from different governmental agencies and foundations.The Fulbright Scholar program provides a long-standing and externally-funded means for internationalizing college and university curriculum. This article is going to share the perspective   of a Brazilian Fulbright Scholar at an American college and the institution perspective of the Fulbright scholar participation at the College.

Moving Up without Losing Your Way

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Morton
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
College Students ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Upward Mobility ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
College Experience ◽  
Career Opportunities ◽  
Community Finding

Upward mobility through the path of higher education has been an article of faith for generations of working-class, low-income, and immigrant college students. While we know this path usually entails financial sacrifices and hard work, very little attention has been paid to the deep personal compromises such students have to make as they enter worlds vastly different from their own. Measuring the true cost of higher education for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, this book looks at the ethical dilemmas of upward mobility—the broken ties with family and friends, the severed connections with former communities, and the loss of identity—faced by students as they strive to earn a successful place in society. The book reframes the college experience, factoring in not just educational and career opportunities but also essential relationships with family, friends, and community. Finding that student strivers tend to give up the latter for the former, negating their sense of self, the book seeks to reverse this course. It urges educators to empower students with a new narrative of upward mobility—one that honestly situates ethical costs in historical, social, and economic contexts and that allows students to make informed decisions for themselves. The book paves a hopeful road so that students might achieve social mobility while retaining their best selves.

scholarly journals A North–South-South partnership in higher education to develop health research capacity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: the challenge of finding a common language

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christiane Horwood ◽  
Sphindile Mapumulo ◽  
Lyn Haskins ◽  
Vaughn John ◽  
Silondile Luthuli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Research Capacity ◽  
Nutritional Epidemiology ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
English Speaking

Abstract Background Globally, increasing numbers of higher education institutions (HEIs) in non-English-speaking countries have adopted English as a medium of instruction (EMI), because of the perception that this provides opportunities to attract high-calibre students and academic staff, and engage with the international research community. We report an evaluation of a North–South-South collaboration to develop health research capacity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by establishing a postgraduate programme in nutritional epidemiology at the Kinshasa School of Public Health (KSPH), where EMI was adopted. We report experiences and perceptions of stakeholders, facilitators and students about using EMI. Methods In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted between October and December 2019 among convenience sampled stakeholders (8), facilitators (11) and students (12) involved in the programme from all three partner institutions (University of Kinshasa; University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; University of Bergen, Norway). Interviews were conducted in participants’ language of preference (English or French), audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and translated into English when required. Analysis employed a thematic approach. Results Most participants viewed EMI positively, reporting that studying in English created opportunities to access relevant literature, improve interactions with the scientific community and advance their careers. As a result of adopting EMI, some students had opportunities to present research findings at international conferences and publish their research in English. English-speaking researchers from partner institutions were able to participate in supervision of students’ research. However, inadequate English competency, particularly among students, was challenging, with some students reporting being unable to understand or interact in class, which negatively affected their academic performance. Further, EMI created barriers at KSPH among academic staff who were not proficient in English, leading to poor participation among non-English-speaking staff and lack of integration with other postgraduate programmes. Participants suggested additional English language support for EMI. Conclusion Partnerships between HEIs could be a powerful tool to develop research capacity in low-income countries in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. EMI could be a solution to language barriers faced by many such partnerships, but wide-ranging support to develop English proficiency among staff and students is essential to ensure that the challenges do not outweigh the benefits.

scholarly journals 662 PAP Therapy: A Review of Resources for the Uninsured during COVID-19

SLEEP ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. A259-A259
Author(s):  
Melissa Malinky ◽  
Abigail Oberla ◽  
Meena Khan ◽  
M Melanie Lyons
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Web Search ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Wait Time ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fixed Cost ◽  
United States Census ◽  
Lower Socioeconomic ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Available Resources

Abstract Introduction In 2019, the United States Census estimated 8% (26.1 million) people were without health insurance. Further, an estimated 3.5 million people became/remained uninsured from COVID-19-related job losses. Patients with OSA that belong to a lower socioeconomic status (SES) are less likely to have access to healthcare and may be under or uninsured. Untreated OSA can lead to increased risk of symptoms and associated co-morbidities. Resources to help the uninsured to obtain PAP therapy were available pre-COVID, including two main sources, American Sleep Apnea Association (ASAA) and our local branch serving central Ohio, The Breathing Association. However, the COVID pandemic limited access or closed these programs. Our Sleep Medicine clinics saw 148 uninsured OSA patients between March-December, 2020. Given these difficulties, we re-evaluated available resources for the uninsured. Methods We conducted a search for current low cost ($100 or less) PAP therapy options for the uninsured, March 15, 2020-December 3, 2020, by: (1) contacting pre-COVID-19 resources, including Durable Medical Equipment (DME) providers, (2) consulting social work, and (3) completing a librarian assisted web-search not limited to PubMed, Embase, CINAHL for academic related articles and electronic searches using a combination of English complete word and common keywords: OSA, PAP, uninsured, no insurance, cheap, medically uninsured, resources, self-pay, low-income, financial assistance, US. Resources such as private sellers were not investigated. Results During COVID-19, assistance for PAP machines/supplies have closed or required a protracted wait-time. Options including refurbished items range from low, one-time fixed cost or income-based discounts from: one local charity (Joint Organization for Inner-City Needs) and DME (Dasco), and four national entities (ASAA, Second Wind CPAP, Reggie White Foundation, CPAP Liquidators). An Electronic Health Record-based tool was developed and distributed to increase provider awareness of pandemic available resources. Conclusion Untreated OSA is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular co-morbidities. Access and cost may limit treatment in OSA patients from a lower SES. The COVID-19 pandemic has shuttered programs providing discount PAP and supplies, leaving fewer resources for these patients, thus further widening this health care disparity. Alternatives are needed and current resources are not easily accessible for providers and patients. Support (if any):

scholarly journals Housing Programs for the Poor in Addis Ababa: Urban Commons as a Bridge between Spatial and Social

2021 ◽  
pp. 009614422198997
Author(s):  
Marianna Charitonidou
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Urban Planning ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Addis Ababa ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Housing Program ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Government

The article presents the reasons for which the issue of providing housing to low-income citizens has been a real challenge in Addis Ababa during the recent years and will continue to be, given that its population is growing extremely fast. It examines the tensions between the universal aspirations and the local realities in the case of some of Ethiopia’s most ambitious mass pro-poor housing schemes, such as the “Addis Ababa Grand Housing Program” (AAGHP), which was launched in 2004 and was integrated in the “Integrated Housing Development Program” (IHDP) in 2006. The article argues that the quotidian practices of communities and their socio-economic and cultural characteristics are related to the spatial attributes of co-housing practices. Drawing upon the idea that there is a mutual correspondence between social and spatial structures, it places particular emphasis on the analysis of the IHDP and aims to show that to shape strategies that take into account the social and cultural aspects of daily life of the poor citizens of Addis Ababa, it is pivotal to invite them to take part in the decision-making processes regarding their resettlement. Departing from the fact that a large percentage of the housing supply in Addis Ababa consists of informal unplanned housing, the article also compares the commoning practices in kebele houses and condominium units. The former refers to the legal informal housing units owned by the government and rented to their dwellers, whereas the latter concerns the housing blocks built in the framework of the IHDP for the resettlement of the kebele dwellers. The article analyzes these processes of resettlement, shedding light of the fact that kebele houses were located at the inner city, whereas the condominiums are located in the suburbs. Despite the fact that the living conditions in the condominium units are of a much higher quality than those in the kebele houses, their design underestimated or even neglected the role of the commoning practices. The article highlights the advantages of commoning practices in architecture and urban planning, and how the implementation of participation-oriented solutions can respond to the difficulties of providing housing. It argues that understanding the significance of the endeavors that take into account the opinions of dwellers during the phase of decision-making goes hand in hand with considering commoning practices as a source of architecture and urban planning frameworks for low-cost housing in this specific context. The key argument of the article is that urban planning and architecture solutions in Addis Ababa should be based on the principles of the so-called “negotiated planning” approach, which implies a close analysis of the interconnections between planning, infrastructure, and land.

scholarly journals Evaluation of a Low-Cost Commercial Actigraph and Its Potential Use in Detecting Cultural Variations in Physical Activity and Sleep

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 3774
Author(s):  
Pavlos Topalidis ◽  
Cristina Florea ◽  
Esther-Sevil Eigl ◽  
Anton Kurapov ◽  
Carlos Alberto Beltran Leon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Cultural Variations ◽  
Step Counts ◽  
Scale Step ◽  
Potential Use

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the performance of a low-cost commercial smartwatch, the Xiaomi Mi Band (MB), in extracting physical activity and sleep-related measures and show its potential use in addressing questions that require large-scale real-time data and/or intercultural data including low-income countries. We evaluated physical activity and sleep-related measures and discussed the potential application of such devices for large-scale step and sleep data acquisition. To that end, we conducted two separate studies. In Study 1, we evaluated the performance of MB by comparing it to the GT3X (ActiGraph, wGT3X-BT), a scientific actigraph used in research, as well as subjective sleep reports. In Study 2, we distributed the MB across four countries (Austria, Germany, Cuba, and Ukraine) and investigated physical activity and sleep among these countries. The results of Study 1 indicated that MB step counts correlated highly with the scientific GT3X device, but did display biases. In addition, the MB-derived wake-up and total-sleep-times showed high agreement with subjective reports, but partly deviated from GT3X predictions. Study 2 revealed similar MB step counts across countries, but significant later wake-up and bedtimes for Ukraine than the other countries. We hope that our studies will stimulate future large-scale sensor-based physical activity and sleep research studies, including various cultures.

scholarly journals Adsorptive Removal of Phosphate from Aqueous Solutions Using Low-Cost Volcanic Rocks: Kinetics and Equilibrium Approaches

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1312
Author(s):  
Dereje Tadesse Mekonnen ◽  
Esayas Alemayehu ◽  
Bernd Lennartz
Keyword(s):  
Aqueous Solutions ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Phosphate Removal ◽  
Phosphate Adsorption ◽  
Adsorptive Capacity ◽  
Batch Adsorption ◽  
Order Kinetic ◽  
Adsorptive Removal

The contamination of surface and groundwater with phosphate originating from industrial and household wastewater remains a serious environmental issue in low-income countries. Herein, phosphate removal from aqueous solutions was studied using low-cost volcanic rocks such as pumice (VPum) and scoria (VSco), obtained from the Ethiopian Great Rift Valley. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted using phosphate solutions with concentrations of 0.5 to 25 mg·L−1 to examine the adsorption kinetic as well as equilibrium conditions. The experimental adsorption data were tested by employing various equilibrium adsorption models, and the Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherms best depicted the observations. The maximum phosphate adsorption capacities of VPum and VSco were calculated and found to be 294 mg·kg−1 and 169 mg·kg−1, respectively. A pseudo-second-order kinetic model best described the experimental data with a coefficient of correlation of R2 > 0.99 for both VPum and VSco; however, VPum showed a slightly better selectivity for phosphate removal than VSco. The presence of competitive anions markedly reduced the removal efficiency of phosphate from the aqueous solution. The adsorptive removal of phosphate was affected by competitive anions in the order: HCO3− >F− > SO4−2 > NO3− > Cl− for VPum and HCO3− > F− > Cl− > SO4−2 > NO3− for VSco. The results indicate that the readily available volcanic rocks have a good adsorptive capacity for phosphate and shall be considered in future studies as test materials for phosphate removal from water in technical-scale experiments.

scholarly journals Assessing Inequitable Urban Heat Islands and Air Pollution Disparities with Low-Cost Sensors in Richmond, Virginia

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 10089
Author(s):  
Andre M. Eanes ◽  
Todd R. Lookingbill ◽  
Jeremy S. Hoffman ◽  
Kelly C. Saverino ◽  
Stephen S. Fong
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Early Morning ◽  
Urban Heat Islands ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Adverse Environmental Conditions ◽  
East End ◽  
The City

Air pollution and the urban heat island effect are consistently linked to numerous respiratory and heat-related illnesses. Additionally, these stressors disproportionately impact low-income and historically marginalized communities due to their proximity to emissions sources, lack of access to green space, and exposure to other adverse environmental conditions. Here, we use relatively low-cost stationary sensors to analyze PM2.5 and temperature data throughout the city of Richmond, Virginia, on the ten hottest days of 2019. For both hourly means within the ten hottest days of 2019 and daily means for the entire record for the year, the temperature was found to exhibit a positive correlation with PM2.5. Analysis of hourly means on the ten hottest days yielded a diurnal pattern in which PM2.5 levels peaked in the early morning and reached their minima in the mid-afternoon. Spatially, sites exhibiting higher temperatures consistently had higher PM2.5 readings, with vulnerable communities in the east end and more intensely developed parts of the city experiencing significantly higher temperatures and PM2.5 concentrations than the suburban neighborhoods in the west end. These findings suggest an uneven distribution of air pollution in Richmond during extreme heat events that are similar in pattern but less pronounced than the temperature differences during these events, although further investigation is required to verify the extent of this relationship. As other studies have found both of these environmental stressors to correlate with the distribution of green space and other land-use factors in cities, innovative and sustainable planning decisions are crucial to the mitigation of these issues of inequity going forward.

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