Modul de formare-Managementul resurselor financiare - uefiscdi

allocated to higher education. At the national level, the education as a national priority is
granted by the allocation of a certain percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). Established
within a limit of decency (6%), this percentage is far from being satisfactory for Romanian
education system in order to meet the qualitative challenges of the European education system.
The financial autonomy should not be viewed as an itself purpose, but as a reaction of the
universities in the process of adaptation to the global funding system. The global funding is, in
this context, a major challenge.
1.2. The reconsideration of the higher education funding at international level
Until three decades ago the higher education institutions have been permanently financed
primarily, from public funds, as their main goal was to form an elite group capable of governing
the state. This was noticeable, especially in the European countries that have adopted the
Napoleonic university model 3 . The state has agreed to fund the universities because they were in
his service, satisfying its needs for highly qualified staff. In addition, the cost of higher
education system was relatively low, not constituting a burden on the public budget.
The development of higher education worldwide during the last three decades has modified the
main role of the universities, turning them into institutions more oriented towards satisfaction of
the productive and social system. Therefore, the state stops being the main beneficiary of the
public service for higher education and, as such, it is increasingly less willing to fund the higher
education alone.
The recent trends in the higher education funding are associated with the change of the
perception on the role of the higher education. The basic characteristics of the higher education
such as "free right", "public good", "social investment", are ignored entirely, the state's role in
the higher education being highly debated 4 . As such, the neo-liberal economic reforms launched
in the developed and in transition countries led to a collapse of public funding for the higher
education.
On the background of a downward trend of the public expenditures on the higher education and
a growing number of students enrolled in this form of education, the need for financing the
higher education is amplified. However, the reduction of the public expenditures, the budgetary
constraints, raises the question of allocating the adequate financial resources to promote a
performant higher education system.
Unfortunately, there is an educational risk the investment in the education is facing. The
individual can not be sure about the successful graduation of his studies or on future wage
income after graduation. In fact, the results of the education are very different, because there are
students that are not completing their studies, the differences in wage income after graduation
are high and there is even a risk that the graduates, after completing their studies, to not be
employed.
The public loans to the students, which must be returned, do not change the nature of the
educational risk. The risk of investment in education of an individual is a significant problem
because he can not be insured against these types of risks on the private market.
As such, at national level it is very important to determine which is the average income of all
the university graduates. The state must invest in the higher education system to the level where
the average marginal revenue from the educational investment equals the marginal costs of their
3 Miroiu A., Dincă G (2000), Asupra unor probleme privind finanţarea globală a universităţilor, Fundaţia
Coloana Infinitului, pg. 11.
4 Jandhyala B., Tilak G. (2005), Global Trends in the Funding of Higher Education, International Association of
Universities Horizons, World Higher Education News, Vol. 11, nr. 1, pg.1.
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