Between public, private and hybrid modalities, this axis of work focuses on the historical and new challenges involved in the provision of resources – financial, infrastructural, human – and the institutional and political management of the higher education (HE) system in Latin America and the Caribbean.

From the financing dimension, the axis has the task of analyzing factors such as the evolution of HE financing models and amounts in the region, the current distribution of financing sources according to their origin and the different models of public financing for institutions, students and academic programs. Likewise, the growing demand for higher education, resulting in a context of massification and universalization, underscores the need to reflect on and propose coordinated financing and governance measures. What modalities stand out and what management models – administrative and political – are offered as alternatives?

Beyond the institutional and national levels, it is also worth asking about the governance of the regional higher education system, the coordination and network collaboration initiatives that already exist and what other measures can be taken to strengthen academic links at different levels and, in particular, in the promotion of research and postgraduate training in the region. 

With a view to the coming years, this line of work is also dedicated to analyzing and evaluating the risks and challenges that higher education financing faces and may face, as well as the challenges related to governance in a changing context, where different factors – political, economic, technological – lead higher education to question not only its contents and functions, but also its organizational capacity and the fulfillment of its social mission. 

Leading the work of this axis are: Franco Bartolacci, Rector of the Universidad Nacional de Rosario; Jorge Calzoni, Rector of the Universidad Nacional de Avellaneda, Argentina and member of the Executive Council of UDUAL; Pablo Beltrán Ayala, President of the Higher Education Council of Ecuador; and Rodrigo Arim, Rector of the Universidad de la República, Uruguay.

AXIS 10 DOCUMENTS