Reforming Higher Education

Annual tuition at what is considered by many to be the top K-12 school in the country, International School of Ulaanbaatar (ISU), can be as high as 81 million MNT. In contrast, the annual tuition of what is considered by many to be the top university in the country, National University of Mongolia (NUM), is four million MNT. At first glance, since ISU is privately owned and NUM is state owned, this gap might seem like a matter of private institution versus public institution costs. The gap might even look like the ideal when looking at it without context. However, when delving deeper, signs of a more systemic problem begin to show.

Admittedly, the ISU's tuition is a bit of an outlier, but many other private schools have tuitions that are double or triple that of NUM's, the nation's top" university. These private schools do not charge exorbitant amounts just for the sake of it, the quality of education and the school facilities that they offer seem to justify their tuition. The primary and secondary education systems seem to have a well-balanced mix between private and public institutions, which allows the market to dictate private school tuition. While the higher education system also has a mix of private and public institutions, the market has been in a choke hold under the standards set by the country's more well-established public universities.

Generally speaking, the tuition of a university being low is a great thing. It allows more equal opportunity for people of all backgrounds to receive higher education. In Mongolia, the aforementioned gap is indicative of the devaluation of higher education. There is no hierarchy of universities 24,000 students attend the nation's top" university. The selection process is too lenient for what is supposed to be Mongolia's best higher education institution. While there are hundreds of private schools competing for the brightest young minds, there are only a handful of established (mostly state owned and run) universities. Since the majority of university students study at the same select universities, their degrees have less prestigious value. This results in a seemingly educated yet redundant workforce. According to a 2015 study from the Labor Research Institute, of the 45,000 students graduating annually only 28,000 have found jobs. This leaves 17,000 students unemployed. The limited amount of choices leaves less opportunity for students to stand out, and results in more people looking to receive...