Free education

Free education refers to education that is funded through taxation, or charitable organizations^[1] rather than tuition fees. Although primary school and other comprehensive or compulsory education is free in many countries, for example, all education is mostly free (often not including books (from primary) and a number of administrative and sundry fees in university) including post-graduate studies in the Nordic countries.^[2] In Norway and Finland, no fees apply for foreign students enrolling at a university, although they may not be eligible for a monthly study allowance and loan. Sweden, until recently, provided free education to foreign students but changes have been introduced to charge fees to foreign students. Denmark also has universal free education, and provides a monthly stipend, the "Statens Uddannelsesstøtte" or "SU", to students over 18 years of age.^[3] Greece and Argentina provide free education at all levels, including college and university.

In Brazil, free education is offered by the Ministry of Education. The Ministry offers scholarships for graduate degrees, masters, doctoral and post-doctoral for Brazilians and immigrants who have Brazilian citizenship. The best universities and research centers are public institutions, financed by either the local state (state universities) or the federal government (federal universities). Graduate students can get paid if they qualify for the incentive but competition is extremely fierce. There has been a proliferation in the last 10 years of private universities which are interested in providing professional training to their undergraduates. These private colleges are not interested in nurturing research centers, since it is not part of their business model to get involved with research.

In Sri Lanka, free education is provided by the government at different levels. Government funded schools such as national schools, provincial schools and piriven provided primary and secondary education free, while assisted schools and semi-governmental schools provided the same at subsidized rates. At the university level, the state universities provide undergraduate courses free, however this totals only about 10% for those qualified for university entrance. Grants and scholarships are provided for a limited number as study allowances.

Elsewhere, free education usually comes to students in the form of scholarships and grants, if they cover all or most of students' expenses. Individuals, institutions and advocacy initiatives are examples of providers of grants and scholarships. They may have economic (e.g. tax-deductibility), humanitarian, charitable or religious motivations.

There are examples of steps towards free education being taken across the world primarily in those nations developing rapidly, such as China.^[4] In some developing countries like Sri Lanka, education is free from the primary level to the tertiary level. The renowned centers of learning in Libya and Cuba may be attended free of charge.

History

Free education has long been identified with "sponsored education". This may now evoke images of advertising campaigns, but in the past, especially during the Renaissance, it was common practice among rich dignitaries to sponsor the education of a young man as his patron.^{[citation needed]}

In the late 18th century, Thomas Paine was amongst the earliest proponents of universal, free public education, which was considered to be a radical idea at the time.

In the United States, the government's compulsory education was introduced as free or universal education during the late 19th century, and extended across the country by the 1920s.

Compulsory education is typically funded through taxes. Aggravated truancy can be prosecuted. Homeschooling, private or parochial schooling is usually a legal alternative.

Free education on the Internet

Online education has become an option. One of the pioneering universities to sponsor free education in management is the School of Business and Economics at Umeå University. Free education has become available through several websites with some resembling the courses of study of accredited universities. Online education faces barriers such as institutional adoption, license or copyright restrictions, incompatibility and educator awareness of available resources.^[5]

Due to the extensive requirements of resources for online education, many open community projects have been initiated. Specifically, the Wikimedia Foundation has developed a project devoted to free online educational resources, Wikiversity, and recently, several other sites for specific topics have developed. MyMCAT^[6] was designed as a free community project to aid students wishing to take the MCAT.

As free educational resources become available online, the Internet has become a platform for learning. Since the early days of the Internet adoption, the United States federal government has foreseen both benefits and risks to information sharing. The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was enacted on October 21, 1998 to protect children from sharing their personal information online. The COPPA regulation has proven difficult for website and online service operators to implement.

List of countries with free post-secondary education

This is not a complete list, and only countries discussed in the article are mentioned.

• Argentina
• Brazil
• Denmark
• Finland
• Greece
• Norway
• Scotland
• Sri Lanka (limited)
• Sweden

See also

• Education Index
• Global Text
• Libre Knowledge
• Open education
• Open educational resources
• Open source curriculum
• Wikibooks

References

1. ^ Goodwill Community Foundation Intl. http://www.gcflearnfree.org
2. ^ The Swedish School System http://www.skolverket.se/sb/d/354
3. ^ The Danish School System http://www.su.dk/
4. ^ BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | China ends school fees for 150m
5. ^ http://www.capetowndeclaration.org/read-the-declaration
6. ^ http://www.mymcat.com