State Funding as an Enabler for Access and Success in Higher Education

The funding of public higher education presents challenges in most countries. Funding models attempt to find the ideal distributive model to support the production of graduates needed for the economy of any country. In South Africa the demand for higher education grew substantially since 1994, while the ratio of state funding in comparison to the enrolment increase was not proportionate. In 2004 the Ministry of Higher Education implemented a new funding framework in order to address issues of equity, access and efficiency in higher education. The aim of this paper is to analyse the current funding framework and its impact on enrolment and graduate rates in South African Higher Education. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p186