Title: Facing a shrinking population: is government control an effective strategy for higher education?

Authors: Juseuk Kim; Lynn Ilon

Addresses: Joongbu University, 201 Daehak-ro, Chubu-myeon, Geumsan-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea ' Bayoom Hub, Hamyeol Jeongja Kil 19, Iksan, Jeonbuk, South Korea

Abstract: Facing a shrinking population, the Ministry of Education in Korea introduced a higher education evaluation system aimed at shrinking institutional size or closing some institutions while emphasising quality and regional relevance. The question is, has this evaluation process been successful in achieving its stated and implied goals? This analysis reveals that there may be unintended consequences. Focusing on the evaluation process itself, results show that it tends to bias metropolitan universities. The expenditure of resources required to prepare the evaluation report draws away resources that might otherwise be directed toward quality improvements. A policy analysis exposes the explicit and implicit goals of the government policy for higher education downsizing. A case study cost analysis shows the resource cost of the evaluation process for small and larger higher education institutions.

Keywords: higher education policy; government control; cost analysis; performance-based funding; Korea higher education.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMIE.2020.110694

International Journal of Management in Education, 2020 Vol.14 No.6, pp.644 - 664

Received: 03 Aug 2019
Accepted: 13 Dec 2019
Published online: 28 Oct 2020 *

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