Equity in Access to Higher Education

Over the last decades, equity issues related to access to higher education have acquired more importance due to the global processes. In spite of widening access to higher education under-representation of disadvantaged groups still remains unsolved. Social justice involves equal opportunities, equal distribution of all resources and benefits for all. Moreover, it requires equal distribution of burdens or responsibilities. Lack of information and responsibility, less involvement of the society and less protection from the state creates the obstacles for vulnerable groups to get equitable access. The book explores the issue of equity in access to higher education for special needs and socially deprived students and depicts policy discourse of higher education system by illustrating case studies of different European countries. The overview of the law of Georgia on higher education and the analysis of Georgian higher education system in historic and current perspectives alongside the admission system can be useful for education policy-makers and institutions to define reasons for still existing inequality and identify further steps to promote fair access to higher education.