An overview of recent history of Nigerian higher education chronicles periods of phenomenal expansion, economic downturn and retrenchment, monitoring of efficiency and academic standards, continued uncontrolled expansion in the absence of basic facilities, recently improved fiscal management, revival of student aid, and proposals for the opening…

The relationship between business cycles and expansion in higher education in 1870-1985 is analyzed and compared for Germany, Italy, France, the United States, and Japan. In most countries, expansion corresponded to economic recession. Spectral analysis, used to explore the cyclical character of the phenomenon, was found to be a powerful…

Analysis of the role of research councils and the awarding of research grants suggests that they have become part of the reward system of the scientific community. It is proposed that research councils must become entrepreneurial, seeking both resources and a role in strategic networks, or face obsolescence. (MSE)

Since establishment of national university systems in Mexico and Venezuela, three principal demands have dominated policy formation: government ideological demand; economic demand for expertise; and political and social demand for upward mobility through education. Tensions between these demands have stemmed from economic inability to sustain…