Latin America higher education has undergone an astonishing transformation in recent years, highlighted by the private sector's growth from 3 to 34 percent of the region's total enrollment. In this provocative work Daniel Levy examines the sources, characteristics, and consequences of the development and considers the privatization of higher education within the broader context of state-society relationships. Levy shows how specific national circumstances cause variations and identifies three basic private-public patterns: one in which the private and public sectors are relatively similar and those in which one sector or the other is dominant. These patterns are analyzed in depth in case studies of Chile, Mexico, and Brazil. For each sector, Levy investigates origins and growth, and then who pays, who rules, and whose interests are served. In addition to providing a wealth of information, Levy offers incisive analyses of the nature of public and private institutions. Finally, he explores the implications of his findings for concepts such as autonomy, corporatism, and privatization. His multifaceted study is a major contribution to the literature on Latin American studies, comparative politics, and higher education.

The purpose of this series is to bring together the main currents in today's higher education and examine such crucial issues as the changing nature of education in the U.S., the considerable adjustment demanded of institutions, administrators, the faculty; the role of Catholic education; the remarkable growth of higher education in Latin America, contemporary educational concerns in Europe, and more. Among the many specific questions examined in individual articles are: Is it true that women are subtly changing the academic profession? How is power concentrated in academic organizations? How successful are Latin America's private universities? What is the correlation between higher education and employment in Spain? Is minority graduate education in the U.S. producing the desired results?

Heralded as one of the great educational innovations of the 20th century, community colleges have played a crucial role in democratizing and expanding post-secondary education. In the United States and Europe, one- and two-year education and training programs now absorb at least half of all high school graduates. Community Colleges: A Model for Latin America? explores how these institutions can help address the very challenges faced by post-secondary education in the region: an expanding and heterogeneous clientele, a lack of alternative social mobility options for people unable to attend traditional universities, and the need for more relevant curriculum that emphasizes knowledge and skills better attuned to the needs of the job market. The book aims to foster the development of effective community college models in Latin America by discussing the issues and obstacles from the North American experience in terms of financing, accreditation, prestige, and a regulatory and incentive framework. Latin America is far behind Europe and the United States in developing diverse, quality programs for its growing post-secondary population, which includes many people previously excluded from higher education. Schools that offer one- and two-year programs generally serve the least affluent and politically influential groups, so they often are short-changed in the allocation of funds. Yet, as demand for these programs grows, educators and ministries are left grappling to find new teaching methods, identify new markets for graduates, and better match students with real labor market demand. The community college model may be a source of inspiration for Latin America's efforts to reach out tothis new educational clientele.