Policy Brief - IS FREE TUITION THE PANACEA TO IMPROVE EQUITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION? - Evidence-Based Rationale for Mauritius, Mexico, and the Philippines

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jacob

Policy brief addressing whether free tuition can genuinely improve equity in higher education by reducing financial barriers without undermining quality or long-term fiscal sustainability. It reviews rising university costs and graduate indebtedness that have driven student protests and tuition reforms across countries. The brief analyzes three recent cases—Mauritius, Mexico, and the Philippines—explaining political economy conditions, and assessing expected effects on access, student outcomes, institutional funding constraints, and equity outcomes under new policy commitments.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

THE RATIONALE FOR FREE TUITION

MAURITIUS

MEXICO

THE PHILIPPINES

April 2019 | Number 13 Policy Brief IS FREE TUITION THE PANACEA TO IMPROVE EQUITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION? Rodrigo Guerra Botello, Secretary General, Federation of Mexican Private Higher Education Institutions; Goolam Mohamedbhai, Former SecretaryGeneral, Association of African Universities; Concepcion Pijano, International Consultant for Accreditation; and Jamil Salmi, Global Tertiary Education Expert THE RATIONALE FOR FREE TUITION In the past few years, growing concerns about the rising costs of university education and soaring levels of indebtedness among graduates have led to strong student protests in places as diverse as Berkeley, Bogota, Johannesburg, Juba, Khartoum, Lilongwe, London, Madrid, Montreal, Santiago and Seoul (Salmi, 2017) . As a result, several governments have acceded to students’demands for free higher education, notably in Chile and South Africa, followed by initiatives to eliminate or reduce tuition fees in Italy, Japan, and South Korea. A few Canadian provinces and states in the United States have also considered or already implemented similar measures. In this context, this short article looks at three nations, Mauritius, Mexico and the Philippines, that have recently joined the group of countries seeking to decrease the financial burden on students by eliminating fees for all or at least for those students coming from the lowest income groups. In each case, the article mentions the political economy conditions explaining the policy decision and attempts to assess the likely equity, quality and financial sustainability impact of the new tuition policy. MAURITIUS Mauritius, with a population of 1.3 million, has a tertiary enrollment ratio of about 40 percent, one of the highest in Africa. The public sector, representing 56 percent of total enrollment, comprises four universities and six institutes. It enrolls 22,000 students, 83 percent of whom are in the universities, with the University of Mauritius (UoM), the oldest and largest institution, enrolling 40 percent of all the students in the public institutions. All public institutions charge tuition fees, albeit subsidized, except for UoM, where undergraduate students are exempted from tuition. Recently, however, the government announced the abolishment of tuition in all public institutions, effective from the 2019-20 academic year, the given reason being to increase access to support the country’s future development (Mohamedbhai, 2019) . The announcement came as a total surprise, as there had been no public demands or demonstrations from any stakeholder groups for abolishing tuition. Several questions arise. First, will access really increase as a result? There has been aslight decrease in enrollment over the past couple of years but there is no evidence that this is due to the prohibitive cost of tertiary education. The most likely reason is the reduction in the quantity and quality of students graduating from the secondary education sector. In any case, the majority of students at UoM are not paying tuition. A targeted approach aimed at providing support to those really in need would have been more effective. Also, the additional cost of the measure will result in an increase of 49 percent of the current public budget for tertiary education. Is this financially sustainable in the long term, especially asthe aim is to significantly increase tertiary enrollment? And if the institutions are not provided with sufficient funds, will this not have a negative impact on their quality? MEXICO The Mexican higher education system has experienced spectacular growth. The gross enrollment rate for university-age students rose from 16 percent in 1991 to around 38 percent in 2016. Today, 4.5 million students are enrolled in the 3,152 Mexican universities, 65 percent in 928 public universities and 35 percent in 2,224 private universities. Because of the huge increase in the demand for higher education, private universities have emerged as an op

FAQs

Why have some countries considered eliminating or reducing tuition fees?

Rising university costs and growing graduate indebtedness have triggered strong student protests, leading governments to adopt reforms aimed at improving affordability.

What concerns does the Mauritius case raise about free tuition?

The brief questions whether access will truly rise, notes enrollment changes without clear links to affordability, and highlights large additional budget costs that may threaten long-term sustainability and program quality.

How is Mexico’s move toward free and universal higher education being debated?

Debates focus on fiscal viability, underfunding risks for new public universities, possible quality impacts, and the effect on student flows from private institutions, with ongoing congressional discussions into 2019.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jacob