Sustainable Public Financing with Equity in Higher Education: Comparative Policy Insights from Norway, Canada, Chile, and Türkiye

Year 2025, Volume: 6 Issue: 2, 137 - 154, 31.12.2025

Halime Öztürk Çalıkoğlu

https://doi.org/10.55993/hegp.1812711

Abstract

This study examines how higher education financing regimes influence equity and completion outcomes across diverse governance contexts in Canada, Chile, Norway, and Türkiye between 2015 and 2025. Employing a qualitative comparative policy analysis supported by OECD, UNESCO, and World Bank indicators, the study integrates quantitative trends with case-based interpretation to explain how financing designs mediate progress toward SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). The findings show that publicly funded systems sustain broader inclusion and completion, while privatized or mixed regimes reproduce stratification unless offset by redistributive reforms. Even high-investment systems face persistent sustainability challenges. By linking cost-sharing structures to redistributive, procedural, and participatory dimensions of justice, the study proposes a multidimensional framework for assessing sustainable equity in higher education. The results offer policy insights for post-2030 frameworks that align equitable funding design, transparent governance, and inclusive monitoring with fiscal sustainability.

Keywords

Higher education financing , equity , comparative policy analysis , post-2030 agenda , funding models

Ethical Statement

This study is an article conducted with document analysis; thereby, no requirement for ethical approval process.

Supporting Institution

No funding was received from any institution or organization for this study.

Thanks

No specific acknowledgments are applicable for this study.

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