Comparative Study On Chinese And American Higher Education Financial Aid System

As the continuous development of global higher education, the issue concerning of financial aid has attracted widely attention from all over the world. However, the performance of higher education financial aid system, HEFAS for shortening, embodied social democracy and fairness. Moreover, it makes a difference in social stability and country’s development. As an most developed country with most powerful comprehensive national strength in the world, America is always played an bellwether in economic power, technological standing and creative ability. The element which upholds all of them is high-quality and high-efficient higher education. As the a country with prosperous higher education in the world, America not only has so many colleges and institutes on first scale, but also cultivates most ones who have wined the Nobel price. What should we pay attention to, is that although American higher education had experienced prompt development after WWII, and the cost of higher education and tuition fee are constantly go upward, it does not have any effect on the enrollment rate which ranks at the front of the world all along. The reason is that besides American government’s profound attention on the development of higher education, American HEFAS with scientific and rational aid concept, mixed and multiple aid mode and high-efficient aid process also exerts tremendous effect to it.Nowadays, as the biggest developing country, China as a political power and economy enjoying robust growing has been drawn widely attention from all over the world, thus the reform and development of higher education has always been the focus of public interest. Since1990s, our higher education has entered flying developing era. As college enrollment scale becomes wider and wider, and reformation of higher education tuition fee system becomes deeper and deeper, issues concerning about poor and working class students and their financial assistance are becoming increasingly acute. After decades of years’experience, our country has set primarily mixed financial aid system, placing encouragement, credit, subsidy, assistance and reduction five elements as one. However, as continuous promotion of higher education popularization and increase of the number of poor students, the efficacy of present HEFAS can be no longer satisfied the requirement, thus different kinds of problems have appeared. So how to create chances for saving poor students admit higher education, and how to construct an all-sided HEFAS which accords with national condition, promotes higher education development and gives consideration to efficiency and fairness, is the problem impatient to be solved in the process of higher education innovation. Consequently, the author draws on the experiences of HEFAS in developed countries, taking America as an example, in order to borrow and to absorb its reasonable elements. The research lends itself to conduct exactly the way of construction of HEFAS, with theoretical and practical significance.At the end of 2007, the period of internship in American college, the author who was subsidized by China Scholarship Council does research on American HEFAS. This thesis takes HEFAS as its subject, makes research on both American and Chinese HEFAS’s history, currency, tendency and particularity through literature research, questionnaire survey, linear regression analysis, comparative research and systematic analysis. It compares two countries’ HEFAS from the angle of their social environment, educational system, funded notion and administrative mode, summarizing advanced experiences in American HEFAS to provide reference for the development of Chinese HEFAS.The thesis consists of nine chapters. Chapter One is an introduction, which briefs the concept of HEFAS, theoretical foundation, research background, significance of the study, research technique and the literature review of the thesis. The main body has five parts:Part one:Namely chapter two and chapter three, is an introduction of the background of the society and history of American HEFAS. This part gives an overview of the development of American higher education and HEFAS, relatively introduces American HEFAS in colonial period, period during War of Independence and war between Northern and Southern States, period during war between Northern and Southern States and WWⅡ, period after WWⅡ. It also introduces the current situation and ideology of higher education. Because of the policy made by government is embodied the innovation of HEFAS’s history, the author thinks it is necessary to start his paper from the innovation of its ideology. In chapter three, the author brings in the root in ideology from political, economical and spiritual prospect besides of HEFAS’s innovation. After that, it introduces equality of educational opportunity, theory of manpower capital investment which constitute the theoretical foundation of American HEFAS. In the end, the formation process of HEFAS is introduced, also using scholarship and grants, grant loans and some other categories to present American HEFAS’s basic structure.Part two.-Namely chapter four of the thesis, is case study of American HEFAS. This part, from the angles of a funded American college student, makes a comprehensive study of the operational process for applying admission of American HEFAS in light of on-the-spot investigation in American colleges. Then aiming at two running mode referring to the calculation of quantity demand of HEFAS and designing program in financial aid package, the author analyzes American HEFAS’s authority, accuracy and flexibility three particularities relatively.Part three:Namely chapter five and six, is case study of Chinese HEFAS. This part looks back the development of Chinese higher education, from the angle of the reason of poor student’s existence, discuses the continuously serious higher education poor student issue, making a brief introduction of the necessity of constructing HEFAS and its current situation. The analysis of the development of higher education financial aid work is in proper sequence, stage of development first and then present stage. In chapter six, according to the problems in the work of higher education financial aid process, the author visits some poor students in a certain scale, and designs questionnaire survey under the result of the interview. The author uses linear regression analysis to deal with the result. He also concludes the limitation of financial aid ideology, policy slippage of subsidy, restriction of the channel of aid resources and absence of systematical aid methods still remained in Chinese HEFS.Part four:Namely chapter seven of the thesis, is comparative research between American HFEAS and Chinese’s. This part is the core paragraphs of the thesis, combining the analysis of American HEFAS’s particularities to make a conclusion of major problems in our country. The author draws an all-round comparison on the ideology of higher education, operational process of aid work and participation of social strength.Part five:The concluding and anticipated part, is chapter nine of the thesis. This part is focused on the problems existed in Chinese HEFS based on content above. It integrates the former successful experiences, puts forward the promotion of scientific actions of HEFAS in China, from the perspectives of providing healthy external environment, optimizing internal work and keeping sustainable development. In chapter nine, the author tries to point out the innovation. At last, direction for future study is leaded.