measured by both quantity (participation rates and attainment rates) and equity (socioeconomic). However, Latin America is the best region when it comes to equal access for females and males.

<u>There is not necessarily a simple relationship between affordability of tertiary education and accessibility. Hence, high affordability to the families does not necessarily lead to</u> high access. This is likely to be the case for low-income families, where even living costs presents a barrier to access. However, this may not be the case for middle and highincome families. This is explained by the fact that if the families do not contribute to the part of the costs, the government has to shoulder the full costs, and this tends to limit available supply of higher education.

The findings presented in this paper could be improved and extended in at least three ways: (i) the data on tuition levels and other education costs could be improved, in particular for Brazil and Peru, (ii) the analysis could be expanded to other Latin American countries, and (iii) the affordability and to a certain extent accessibility analysis could be undertaken separately for students in public and non-governmental institutions, and also separately for students from low-income families compared to students from high-income families. That would provide highly relevant research that could inform policies for admission, potential cost-recovery and student assistance.

# **Policy Implications**

The above findings show that the examined Latin American countries finance tertiary education in a different and unique way compared to high-income countries. Further, the study shows that there are important differences within Latin America. Policies therefore have to be tailored to each country. The differences and the lack of reliable information also highlight the need to undertake more data collection and research before designing policies.

<u>The first implication that we draw from the analysis is a requirement to take a comprehensive approach to tertiary education financing. Education and living costs,</u> public financing of tertiary education, student assistance and other financing policies should be examined together. Tertiary education finance is more than only the issue of cost-recovery of public universities. Further, it is should be well-known that high affordability does not necessary lead to high access, because if the families are not contributing to the investment in tertiary education, the government has to foot the entire bill. However, without a high level of tax contributions, government financing is insufficient to finance a broad section of the qualified students, and is inequitable in many cases.

<u>The second policy implication is that governments in Latin America have an opportunity to improve affordability of tertiary education through increased student assistance. By</u> doing so, the governments would help families finance the relatively high costs of tertiary education and thereby increase enrollment and equity. This could be done by:

- <u>Expand availability of student loans. Student loans allow students to postpone</u> the costs of tertiary education, so that costs—the loan repayments—coincide

31