Although China has fully implemented the policy of individual sharing part of the cost of higher education, this does not mean that the state finance can reduce the supply of funds for higher education. In many countries, the reality is that while personal higher education expenditure is growing rapidly, public education expenditure is also growing rapidly.
For example, during the period of 1990- 1995, Australia's private higher education investment doubled, while its public education investment also increased by 26%; In Spain, public and personal expenditures have increased by 30%; In France and Japan, the growth of public investment is 30% and 23% respectively, while the growth of private investment in these two countries is slower than that of public investment, which is 23% and 16% respectively.
As a quasi-public product, higher education should still be provided by the public to a great extent, that is to say, it should be mainly borne by the state finance. Higher education is a public consumption product that benefits the whole society. It plays a prominent role in the growth of national economy and occupies a special position in improving the level of national innovation and international competitiveness.
Moreover, because the cost compensation of social labor force trained by higher education should be reflected in the value created by social labor in the future, the value created is part of national income and then part of fiscal revenue, so this part of the cost without compensation source should also be borne by fiscal expenditure. Considering China's current specific national conditions, in the future, the investment in higher education should still be mainly from the national financial input.
Therefore, we must adhere to the system of "financial allocation as the mainstay, supplemented by other channels to raise education funds" and implement "three growth" and "two proportions". Finance at all levels should increase financial input and keep the level of financial input unchanged after enrollment expansion. The state should also gradually increase its investment in higher education and take effective measures to ensure that the total expenditure on education accounts for 4% of the gross national product when financial resources permit. In order to promote the healthy and balanced development of higher education in China, consider the gap between the east and the west, and give consideration to fairness, the state finance should also support the development of higher education in the west through the transfer payment function of finance, formulate some special preferential policies for higher education in the middle and west, attract more social funds to participate in higher education in the middle and west, and promote the healthy development of higher education in the middle and west.
Second, reduce the burden of personal expenses and improve the student financial aid system.
According to the rent-seeking theory in contemporary economic theory, free higher education is to support a few people to go to school with taxes paid by all citizens, while the vast majority of scholars who are not in universities bear the hidden education expenses, which is unfair to scholars who are not in universities. So individuals have to share part of the cost. However, the cost of higher education is high, and China has long implemented a low-wage policy, so individual residents' monetary reserves are limited. Especially for the vast majority of rural residents, it just stays at the level of food and clothing. Therefore, if the cost of higher education is shared by individuals in the same proportion, the economic pressure of residents will be very different.
Therefore, the national conditions of China and the affordability of the general public must be taken into account when formulating the policy of higher education charging system. In this case, establishing and perfecting the compensation system for vulnerable groups and the student financial aid system and increasing the financial aid for poor students will play a positive role in developing higher education consumption and ensuring the fairness of education consumption. At the same time, this is also in line with the strategic goal of China's social and economic development. Solving the gap between the rich and the poor, whether between regions or between urban and rural areas, has become an important task of this government.
At present, colleges and universities mainly adopt five ways to help poor students: award, help, supplement, reduction and loan. Banks in developed countries generally allow students to pay off their loans ten or even twenty years after graduation. In China, due to the imperfect personal credit system, banks are worried that they will not be able to recover their loans, so they are required to repay their loans within four years after graduation, and graduates are under great pressure to repay their loans. ?
To solve this problem, the state needs strong policy support, such as establishing a special education risk fund to help banks share risks. At the same time, we should continue to improve the national aid system. In the past, the economic needs of students were mainly judged by family income. However, at present, China lacks perfect income information and personal income is opaque, which makes it difficult for the government to effectively identify the potential recipients of the national student fund, to provide financial assistance to those who need it most, and to provide full financial assistance to all those who need it.
Therefore, China's national student aid system first needs to review the income status of major family members, and can follow the existing practice, with the applicant providing a written application, a family economic survey and proof of difficulties at or above the township level; Secondly, identify the social status of individuals, including nationality, gender, parents' education, location and other information. Generally speaking, the development of ethnic minority areas is relatively backward, and the opportunities for receiving higher education are uneven. The educational status of parents will not only affect family income, but also have differences in providing opportunities for their children to receive higher education. The area where the individual is located can also provide effective information. Generally, the income in the western region and rural areas is low, while the income in the eastern region and cities is high. Through the identification of the above information, we can truly identify the students' funding needs, thus truly reflecting the fairness and efficiency of the national funding system.
Third, encourage tax incentives for donations and improve the education donation mechanism.
Encourage enterprises and society to donate money for education. Social donation plays a very obvious role in the expansion and development of colleges and universities and the improvement of school funding structure, which can never be ignored. The state should strive to improve the education donation mechanism,
1. Improve the incentive mechanism for higher education donations, and encourage industrial and commercial enterprises, social organizations and individuals to participate in university funding in various ways through various preferential policies. Industrial and commercial enterprises, social organizations or individuals can set up public welfare education funds or scholarship funds in colleges and universities, establish a "hope project" for the socialization of higher education, and give help to poor students as much as possible.
2. Improve the management system of social donation, vigorously support, develop and cultivate non-profit organizations as carriers of social donation, set up institutions responsible for donation, and standardize management.
Equipped with specialized staff, do a good job in perennial donations and special donations, and provide special services for all kinds of people who are willing to contribute to education, so that they have more opportunities to participate and make the whole donation more convenient. At the same time, it is necessary to establish a supporting and feasible legal policy system and supervision mechanism.
3. Improve the social donation reward mechanism, establish a correct social evaluation system, improve the donation recognition and reward system, and effectively protect the spiritual interests of donors.
Increase tax incentives and encourage donations. China has formulated certain preferential tax policies in the current income tax collection regulations: all pre-tax income of enterprises and individuals except donations to rural compulsory education through non-profit social organizations and state organs can be deducted (Cai Shui [2001103]); For other donations to education, if the annual taxable income of the enterprise is less than 3%, it can be deducted before tax, and the part exceeding 3% of the taxable income can be taxed in full. However, China's current tax system is not perfect. China has not levied inheritance tax and gift tax. The combination of high tax rate inheritance tax and gift tax with tax exemption policy for charitable donations can encourage taxpayers to donate their property to charity. Therefore, the government can consider levying inheritance tax and gift tax in time to promote social finance to support higher education.