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Higher education policy refers to education policy for higher education institutions such as universities, specifically how they are organised, funded, and operated in a society. According to Ansell (2006) there are "three different institutional forms of higher education provision: the Anglo-Saxon, Continental and the Scandinavian education system."^[1]

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released the Higher Education Policy Observatory in December 2023. This online platform gathers information on national higher education systems in 146 countries from all world regions. It contains around 40 indicators related to 8 dimensions of higher education policy:

• Governance structures of higher education systems,
• Legislative frameworks regulating higher education,
• higher education quality assurance,
• higher education system planning,
• key principles for access to higher education,
• Gratuity of public higher education,
• Admission pathways to higher education,
• Recognition of foreign qualifications related to higher education.

All the information in the higher education policy observatory comes from public sources and has been centralised to provide easy access to comparable information on higher education policies and systems worldwide.^[2] The platform allows to view global trends in higher education policy through world maps and charts; consult country profiles with information on all indicators displayed for a single country and contrasted in light of other countries in the same region and income group; and directly compare policies and legislations around higher education in different countries. All the indicators in the higher education policy observatory are based on legal sources from countries that can be accessed through direct links.

The funding of higher education is contingent on the internal resources and policies enacted within the country of study. The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) uses knowledge gathered by the Higher Education Policy Team to compare the funding of higher education in the 38 countries that are affiliated with this international organization. In accordance to the Higher Education Resources Policy Survey conducted by OECD there are four main channels that contribute to higher education resource funding: Student Support, Institutional Funding, Resource Governance and Coordination, and Human Resources. In non-OECD countries such as Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Namibia, and others the framework pertaining to higher education resources are commonly indisposed due to Resource and Government Coordination in developing countries which hinders the implementation of a successful financial system for higher education.

External funding is an alternative method for funding higher education that results from the globalization of higher education. Some countries are able to consistently secure external funding from other countries as a competitive bid for prestige of higher education systems. A case study in Israel shows exceptional achievement in securing grant funding from the European Research Council (ERC) achieved through a regulated funding system that rewards performance in order to attract external funding in the form of research grants. However, performance based funding policies are associated with the marketization of higher education which encourages higher education institutions to embrace neoliberal behaviors that are market-oriented.

According to Ansell (2006), "[t]he Anglo-Saxon education system leads to a mass, partially private and publicly inexpensive system". The Anglo-Saxon system is sometimes described as an Anglo-American education system.^[3]

According to Ansell (2006), "[t]he Continental educational system leads to an elite, fully public and inexpensive system".

According to Ansell (2006), "[t]he Scandinavian education system leads to a mass, fully public, but highly expensive system".

Chapman, Bruce; Greenway, David (2006) Learning to Live with Loans? International Policy Transfer and the Funding of Higher Education. World Economy.^[1]

Golden, Gillian; Troy, Lisa; Weko, Thomas (2021) How Are Higher Education Systems in OECD Countries Resourced? Evidence from an OECD Policy Survey. OECD Education Working Papers^[2]

Hossler, Donald; Rabourn, Karyn E.;Siskin, Mary B. (2018) Performance-Based Funding of Higher Education: Analyses of Policy Discourse Across Four Case Studies. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies.^[3]

Weinreb, Yaniv; Yemini, Miri (2023) Navigating academic habits in a higher education system that prioritizes external funding - the case of Israel. Studies in Higher Education.^[4]

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