Exploring the Potential for Tuition-Free Higher Education in South Africa: A Scoping Review

Reasons for free education

Higher education as a public good?

A major point of contention between those who are pro-free education and those against has been whether education is a private good or public good (Tilak, 2008; Williams, 2016). Those who argue that education is a private good point to the many benefits that accrue to individuals due to being educated, while those who argue it is a public good consider education as key to society’s betterment and thus serve the public interest (Marginson, 2007). In Nordic countries where an economic and social model has been developed towards the upliftment of society as a whole, education is considered a public good thus they have adopted tuition-free education (Antikainen, 2016). Public goods are described as non-rivalrous and non-excludable (Marginson, 2011; Samuelson, 1954). Consumption of non-rivalrous goods does not lead to their exhaustion while non-excludable goods have their benefits extending beyond the consumer (Williams, 2016). It has been argued that education does not fully meet the characteristics of non-rivalry and non-excludability (Marginson, 2018). Entry into top higher education can be rivalrous due to limited spaces and the benefits of education do accrue to individuals making them excludable (Nixon, 2017). However, education has been noted to have benefits for society as a whole thus investment in education can be for the “public good” (Marginson, 2018). South Africa’s cost-sharing model whereby the government contribute a share and individuals contribute a share as well is borne out of the idea that higher education generates both private good and public good (De Jager & Baard, 2019).

Higher education is a right?

Proponents of tuition-free higher education argue that education is a right thus the state has a role in ensuring that those who wish to be educated are accommodated (Burke, 2013; Gilchrist, 2018). This points to the state working towards removing all obstacles for those who want to participate in higher education. For some students, tuition fees can be an obstacle. Education can be viewed as a social right that should be afforded to every citizen for the betterment of society as a whole (Lee, 2013).

Promotion of equality

In a world increasingly marked by inequality, with the rich increasingly becoming richer while the poor become poorer, education is regarded as a promoter of equality (Li et al., 2022). Proponents of free education call for equality in access to higher education as a cure to economic, and social inequality (Dias, 2015; Sá & Serpa, 2022). Thus the call for all students to have equal opportunities in accessing education despite their social and economic background, religion, gender, race, and other differentiating factors. Education is considered to be human capital and studies have indicated that improving the human capital of a nation can lead to economic growth (Gyimah-Brempong et al., 2006). Improvements in a nation’s human capital can lead to improved productivity and better technologies (Abel et al., 2012; Baharin et al., 2020). Education also has other benefits for the public such as better health, improved workforce flexibility, increased government tax revenues and higher consumption (Bloom et al., 2006; de Gayardon, 2019; Vossensteyn, 2009).

Higher education in South Africa

It would not be proper to discuss South Africa’s education systems without mentioning the Apartheid Era. It can be argued that some of the inequalities in the current education system are a result of Apartheid-era policies that discriminated against large sections of the population (Mekoa, 2018). The advent of democracy in 1994 brought about a new government which focused on making education accessible for the population as a whole (Mzangwa, 2018).

Funding for public higher education institutions in South Africa flows from three main sources; government grants, student tuition and other fees, and other private income which can be in the form of donations (Steyn & De Villiers, 2007; Wangenge-Ouma & Cloete, 2008). According to Khuluvhe and Netshifhefhe (2021), government grants constitute 42% of the source of funds for public higher education, while student tuition and other fees contribute 33%, and other private income contributes 25% each. This indicates the massive role the government has in the funding of public higher education institutions.

In comparison to other developing countries South Africa’s spending on education is not particularly remarkable; the government spends around 0.9% of GDP (Yende and Mthombeni, 2023), while other developing countries such as Brazil spend 1.1% of GDP and Chile spends 1.26% of GDP (DHET, 2018). In recent years the South African higher education sector has seen a decrease in government subsidies thus the burden on students has increased (De Jager & Baard, 2019). The portion of higher education institutions’ income coming from students rose from 24% in 2000 to 35% in 2015 (DHET, 2018). It is important to note that the student portion of money spent on higher education has some of it originating from government coffers, for example in 2015 about 40% of the fees paid by students were from NSFAS (DHET, 2018).

NSFAS has been one of the main vehicles to directly fund individual students who lack the funds to attend University. NSFAS funding has seen a more than fivefold increase from R5.9 billion in 2014 to R34.7 billion in 2020 (BusinessTech, 2021). On 16, December 2017 President Jacob Zuma announced the introduction of tuition-free education at higher education level for some students. The announcement indicated that those in households with a combined income of less R350 000 would be funded by the government (Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), 2018). The announcement indicated that NSFAS would now be granting bursaries rather than loans (Mavunga, 2019). This gave rise to the question; is South Africa ready for tuition-free higher education? This article sought to assess the feasibility of tuition-free higher education for all in South Africa given its level of GDP based on literature.

The evolution of South African policies on higher education

Policy initiatives and government actions under the Apartheid government resulted in 19 racially and ethnically composed education departments (Bunting, 2006). Under the National Party apartheid government, higher education institutions had to have clear designations of which race group they were serving (Beale, 1998). Universities designated for whites received the bulk of funding and were more resourced than universities for other racial groups (Beale, 1992; Bunting, 2006). The participation rates in higher education reflected the inequality of the apartheid policies with whites having a 70% participation rate while they had only 10% of the population, blacks it was 9% while they constituted 80% of the population, coloureds it was 13% and for Indians it was 40% (Sehoole & Adeyemo, 2016).

The post-Apartheid administrations of South Africa have worked to reverse the policies of the Apartheid State (Wangenge-Ouma, 2012). Several policies have been promulgated to this effect (Mzangwa, 2019). These policies have been designed to ensure equal access to higher education and to ensure the affordability of higher education for the formally marginalized and the poor (Akala, 2023). Among them are Education White Paper 3, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme Act, 1999 (Act No. 56 of 1999, and The National Plan for Higher Education (Akala, 2023; Sehoole & Adeyemo, 2016).

Education White Paper 3 was promulgated in 1997 with one of its main goals being the broadening of access and participation in higher education irrespective of race, gender, ability or age (Boughey & McKenna, 2021). The policy also sought to redress the effects of Apartheid policies and to eradicate discrimination (Dreyer et al., 2020). With increased participation of historically marginalised groups, the policy is viewed as having been successful to a certain extent (Akala, 2023). However, groups such as students with disabilities are still facing challenges in participating in higher education (McKinney & Swartz, 2022).

The NSFAS Act (Act No. 56 of 1999) provided for the creation of a loan and bursary scheme that catered for eligible students coming from low-income households (Ede et al., 2022; Pillay et al., 2021). The loan and bursary scheme loan as NSFAS has played a critical role in facilitating the participation of formerly marginalised groups and of those from low-income households (de Villiers, 2023). As of 2017, the loan scheme has been transformed into a bursary scheme to cater for students from households earning less than R350 000 (DHET, 2018).

The National Plan for Higher Education was promulgated in 2001 with the goal of providing an implantation framework for policies such as Education White Paper 3 (Akala, 2023). The policy sought to ensure that the right to education for all became a reality in South Africa (Mouton, Louw & Strydom, 2013).

Funding was one of the most important mechanisms used by the Apartheid government to ensure to achievement of set policy goals (Wangenge-Ouma, 2012). The post-Apartheid government of South Africa has recognised that to reverse the negative effects of Apartheid policies there is a need to make use of funding as a tool.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

The inclusion criteria called for articles published in English, articles that focused specifically on tuition-free education, higher education and South Africa. Articles which focused on tuition-free education at other levels of education such as primary and secondary education were excluded from the study. The articles considered also included grey literature that discussed tuition-free higher education in South Africa. Studies using quantitative, qualitative and mixed method methodologies were included to give a broad view of the subject.

Information sources

Articles were sourced from Google Scholar and Scopus. The search sought articles between the years 2015 and November 2023. However, articles outside of these dates were used when found through the snowball method and when considered relevant. The snowball method was also used to locate articles not identified through the search parameters.

Search strategy

Selection process

The researcher screened and selected the articles on her own. Each report was screened through reading the title, abstract and conclusion. The search for articles yielded 125 articles. After removing duplicates, 120 articles were left. After reading through the selected articles, 3 articles were identified from the references of the articles. These articles were added to the final list of articles used in the study. Three articles seemed to meet the inclusion criteria but were found to be focused on tuition-free education in primary and secondary education and thus were excluded.

The result of screening the articles was 15 articles published between the years 2008 to 2022. One article looking at free education in other countries was included. This was done when the article were viewed to provide insights that might be helpful in a South African context. Identified articles were downloaded from the databases. Analysis of the articles entailed first examining the abstract, keywords, and methodology used in the study. This was followed by reading the whole article, in some cases reading several times to gain a deep insight into the conclusions reached.

The inclusion and exclusion criteria called for studies undertaken in South Africa, focused on tuition-free higher education and undertaken in the English language. Figure 1 shows the selection procedure for the articles.

Figure 1. Study selection.

Charting the data

Data charting was undertaken by one researcher. The data charting consisted of identifying the year of publication, the methodology used in the studies and information on tuition-free higher education. Focusing on the issue of tuition-free higher education the content of the studies was analysed. The focus was on the arguments for and against tuition-free higher education and the reasons offered in the studies (Figure 1).

Study characteristics

Of the 15 articles used in the study, one (7%) was published between the years 2005 and 2010, two (13%) between 2010 and 2015, 11 (73%) between 2016 and 2020, one (7%) between 2020 and 2023. The majority of the articles being published between 2016 and 2020 might be due to it being the period where the debate of tuition free education was at its peak due to the #feesmustfall protests that began in 2015. All but one (7%) articles were published in South Africa, the one which focused on other countries was included as it offered insights deemed useful to the South African context. Of the articles used in the study, six (40%) were grey literature and nine (60%) were academic articles. Of the nine academic articles, eight were based on qualitative designs, while one used quantitative designs. Table 1 and Table 2 provide a summary of the characteristics of the articles used in the scoping review.

Economic implications

Findings of the scoping review point to free education for all being too costly for South Africa. Free education in South Africa is too costly and requires difficult trade-offs by the government as the government has finite resources which are needed in many sectors of the economy (Wangenge-Ouma and Cloete (2008). Free education in a developing country such as South Africa could be “financially, empirically and morally wrong” (Clote, 2015:11). The conversation should not focus on free education for all but rather on affordable higher education for all. This means students from different income groups should pay different amounts. It is morally indefensible to require the poor who earn amounts below a certain threshold to pay for higher education (Clote, 2015). It is also morally indefensible for the rich not to pay anything for higher education (Clote, 2015). In the event of the government not addressing issues related to the missing middle, that is the group of students that do not qualify for NSFAS funds yet are not in a position to get loans, there is a possibility of protests in the form of Arab Springs or perhaps in the form of the French Revolution (Clote, 2015).

Findings from the review of Badat (2011) suggest that the likely consequences of free education for all is that public higher education institutions will lose much-needed resources leading to poor outcomes, which may necessitate a movement of the wealthy to private institutions or overseas. A possible solution is the introduction of graduate tax whereby beneficiaries of government funding pay a tax, the revenue which is used to fund other students (Badat, 2011).

In order for the South African government to be in a position to fund free higher education for all, there is need for the government to increase GDP by at least R2.88 trillion (Yende and Mthombeni, 2023). Currently South African tax payers are overburdened by tax thus it is difficult to extract more revenues from taxpayers. One of the consequences of tuition-free higher education for the poor has been a shift from the economic burden from students and parents to higher education institutions. With increased enrolment due to tuition-free education, institutions face the burden of managing dwindling resources with a larger group of students. Dwindling resources means difficult decisions have had to be made regarding reducing the sizes of faculty and reducing support services. This has the effect of adversely impacting the quality of education offered by institutions. The dynamics of the job market have also been impacted by tuition-free higher education with an influx of graduates who are saturating the job market in some fields, with the result being higher competition in some fields (Yende and Mthombeni, 2023).

Free higher education should be merit based rather than free for all (Sefoka, 2018). This would ensure that the quality of higher education is not compromised and maintain academic excellence. It is difficult for a developing nation such as South Africa to fund free education for all due to limited resources which are needed for a variety of critical needs (Sefoka, 2018). A point to note is that the South African government is not obligated by any legal instrument to offer free higher education for all (Hlaka and Sefoka, 2022). Furthermore the lack of resources in South Africa presents a significant obstacle to the delivery of free higher education.

Free higher education in South Africa can lead to unsustainable demands on the fiscus (De Jager and Baard (2019). South Africa lacks the key qualities associated with countries that have been able to implement free higher education for all, these qualities include a strong economy, a firm and wide tax base, low unemployment levels, and limited access to higher education. The South African government needs to take care of more pressing demands such as basic education and health services thus presenting challenges in funding free higher education. Funding of free higher education in South Africa is hindered by corruption and wasteful expenditure in government departments (De Jager and Baard, 2019). It is important to consider that South African higher education students do not believe that the government should offer free higher education (Dunga and Mncayi, 2016). Students feel it is not feasible and in cases where it is provided should be provided for those academically deserving.

A cost-sharing model between the state and students is appropriate for South Africa as higher education is both a public good and private good (Universities South Africa (USAf), (2017). There is a need of a mechanism designed for the poor and academically deserving, however free education is not feasible for all. It is important to note that the South African government has no clear plans on funding free education in the long term and that it has failed to honor commitment towards subsidies in the past thus it is likely to fail in a commitment to free higher education (Universities South Africa (USAf), 2017).

Social implications

It is important to consider that funding free higher education for all in South Africa might result in the poor footing the bill for the rich as most students who are eligible for higher education come from high income families (Cloete, 2015; Wangenge-Ouma & Cloete, 2008). Free education for all does not necessarily increase access and success in higher education (de Gayardon, 2019). In countries with free education, philosophical and historical traditions drive the adoption of the free higher education policy. In some countries, free higher education is viewed as a right while some view it as a way to promote equal opportunities. In order to offer free higher education, governments need to make adjustment in order to ensure financial stability (de Gayardon, 2019).

It is important to consider other structural matters when discussing free higher education for all in South Africa (The Public Service Association, 2016). For instance, one of the issues causing poor graduation rates in Universities is poor basic education thus there is a need for government to address the issue of basic education (The Public Service Association, 2016). Offering tuition free higher education on its own is not adequate in solving societal problems in South Africa (Motala, Vally, and Maharajh, 2018). This means students need to be availed with funding for food, books, accommodation, travel, and registration. Funds for tuition-free higher education can be raised through taxation. Increasing taxes on the top 10% earners can yield significant revenues as this group earns 60 to 65% of income in South Africa (Motala, Vally, and Maharajh, 2018).

Feasibility

In January 2016, the South African government established the Commission of Inquiry into Higher Education and Training (also known as the Heher Commission) to investigate the feasibility of making higher education and training free (DHET, 2018). The interim report realised by the Heher Commission in November 2016 recommended that the government fully fund students from households with less than R122 000 annual income and also provide funding for the ‘missing middle’ students from households exceeding the upper limit (R122 000) but in need of funding. The final report deemed tuition-free education to be not feasible for South Africa and suggested a funding model whereby students are funded through income-contingent loans rather than the NSFAS loan. The income-contingent loans would be offered by banks and students would pay them back upon being employed. The Heher Commission viewed the NSFAS loan system to be plagued by numerous problems and inefficiencies hindering its success. The Heher Commission proposed that TVET colleges be free and that they be improved upon so they could be first-choice institutions for some students (DHET, 2018).

Considering past attempts at instituting free education in some African countries, among them Kenya, Mozambique and Uganda reviews failures (Langa, Wangenge-Ouma, Jungblut and Cloete, 2017). The tuition-free higher education regime in these countries resulted in increased inequalities between the rich and the poor (Cloete, 2015). This was due to children of the political and business elites getting access to free higher education at the expense of the deserving and academically gifted poor. In addition, the attempts in these African countries to implement free higher education proved very costly in the long run resulting in poor public higher education institutions. Free education in a highly unequal society, such as South Africa, can result in higher education benefits only accruing to the already privileged who already have the “economic, social and cultural capital necessary to participate and succeed in higher education”. (Langa, Wangenge-Ouma, Jungblut and Cloete (2017).

Free higher education in South Africa is not feasible due to economic challenges faced by South Africa and the competing demands of limited government resources (Mlambo, Hlongwa & Mubecua (2017). It is prudent for the South African government to focus the provision of free higher education towards low income students. In order to afford funding poor students, the government should pursue private-public partnerships. The government can increase student participants in TVET colleges, this ensures costs are minimised as they are less costly than universities.

Lessons learnt and implications

Fifteen articles were reviewed to assess their position on the feasibility of tuition-free education is feasible in South Africa. Several lessons were gathered from the articles. Authors on the subject of tuition-free higher education make a distinction between tuition-free higher education for all and tuition-free education for the poor and academically deserving (Cloete, 2015). This distinction is important in the context of South African higher education, as the latter seems to receive support from most stakeholders.

A key consideration in the discussion of the feasibility of tuition-free higher education in South Africa is resource availability. The South African government operates within the confines of a limited budget (Wangenge-Ouma, 2008). Given the competing demands of the South African fiscus, there is an argument that the funding of tuition-free higher education results in the defunding or underfunding of other important government services such as healthcare and social security programs.

The calls for tuition-free higher education in South Africa are not novel calls on the African continent. Other countries tried tuition-free higher education policies post-independence. These policies were instated to reverse colonial inequalities and aggressively promote education (Langa et al., 2017). These well-meaning attempts at tuition-free higher education resulted in increased inequalities between the poor and, political and business elites. This is a cautionary tale for South Africa that the promotion of tuition-free higher education can have the unintended consequences of creating or furthering inequalities between elites and the poor. Another possible result of the migration of elites to foreign universities and private institutions was the result in the African countries that attempted to institute tuition-free higher education policies.

It is important to keep in mind that the quality of higher education offered by South African institutions needs to be maintained or improved upon. It is therefore for tuition-free higher education proponents to carefully consider the effect of the policy on the quality of higher education (Badat, 2011). In the event of access increasing while quality drops, this will possibly result in a brain drain with qualified and experienced lecturers and researchers leaving for better countries and will result in the rich choosing private institutions.

Countries with free higher education systems have certain characteristics that South Africa seems to lack at the current moment. These characteristics include a strong economy, a firm and wide tax base, low unemployment levels and limited access to higher education (de Gayardon, 2019). These characteristics play a role in ensuring tuition-free higher education is sustainably funded in the long term. A strong economy ensures the government has adequate resources to meet its obligations. Low unemployment levels are essential to ensure the government has a wide tax base that provides revenue for tuition-free higher education. South Africa has high unemployment levels and a relatively small proportion of the population that pays taxes. When this is coupled with corruption and wasteful expenditure (De Jager and Baard,2019), the sustainability of tuition-free higher education in South Africa is not assured.

The government of South Africa should not forget to look at other structural issues that are essential for improving access and participation in higher education. One of the issues is the need for improving the basic education system which has been producing a significant portion of students that are ill-equipped to participate in higher education (The Public Service Association, 2016). The result is that even if some of the students are granted access a significant portion struggles to complete studies on time and others fail to complete their studies. It is important that in considering offering tuition-free higher education for all the government consider other issues that hinder student success. These include access to books, housing and transportation. A possible source of resources for the government to fund tuition-free higher education for all is through increasing taxes on the top 10% of income earners in South Africa who earn a combined 60 to 60% of income (Motala, Vally, and Maharajh, 2018). However, since the bulk of tax revenue already comes from this demography such a policy will simply serve to overburden an already-burdened taxpayer group