This books takes a comparative look at the ways in which most western democracies have experienced a shift from elite to mass education. While keeping the global economic context in mind, it focuses on different national traditions and experiences of this phenomenon, addressing a key range of questions about the expanion and fiversification of higher education.

Palfreyman, David; Tapper, Ted

Preface, Contributors, 1. The rise of mass higher education, 2. Values, discourse and politics: an Australian comparative perspective, 3. The politics of access to higher education in France, 4. Bildung or Ausbildung? Reorienting German higher education, 5. The value of higher education in a mass system: the Italian debate, 6. Access to Dutch higher education: policies and trends, 7. Access to higher education in the Nordic countries, 8. Mass higher education in Poland: coping with the 'Spanish Collar', 9. British higher education and the prism of devolution, 10. Access to higher education in England: who is in control?, 11. A transatlantic persuasion: a comparative look at America's path towards access and equity in higher education, 12. Conclusion: the reshaping of mass higher education, Index