Such a rise has occurred in a number of western countries, Australia included. From an increased dependence on fees, a number of questions flow and it is around these that the current volume is organised. The first set concerns the effects of fees on the size and composition of the student body. Rises in fees have occurred in a period of rising returns to higher education, as measured by the size of the income differential favouring workers with university education. In these circumstances, rising fees have not yet caused overall enrolments to fall.
Analysts dispute the etiology of the income differentials.
Whatever the cause, the increase in demand has provided scope for rises in tuition fees. A significant distinction is between up-front fees and deferred fees and, particularly, deferred fees that are payable according to future income rather than the effusion of time. In the very diverse US system, fee rises have pushed students with low socioeconomic backgrounds disproportionately into two-year and community colleges. The 'University of Australia' is much less diverse, and so the effects have been different. In the foreseeable future, student fees and private endowments cannot fully replace public funds in public universities.