高校学费的性质:事业性收费、价格或是使用者付费

Nature of College Tuition: Business Charge, Price or User Charge

本文提出,高等教育准公共产品属性和教育商品性使得高等教育学费的性质可以被定位于使用者付费。学费收取的依据是私人受益情况和服务提供成本,学费形成的机制是政府干预下私人受益部分的市场定价。学费性质上使用者付费的定位,不同于事业性收费强调的成本分担,也不同于价格定位单纯强调市场供求,在理论和实践上都具有重要意义。

The article indicates that the dual nature of higher education, both as quasi-public goods and educational product, makes its tuition qualify to be regarded as user charge. The definition of user charge indicates that the rationality of tuition is based on private benefit and the cost of service, and the tuition is mainly determined by market with government regulation. Considering tuition as user charge is different from regarding it as business charge or price, which emphasizes cost sharing and market provision respectively. Clarifying the nature of college tuition as user charge is important both in theory and practice.