Iranian Higher Education at a Crossroads

Consequences of Expanding Access and Equity Policies

抄録

Following the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Iran pursued policies aimed at expanding higher education opportunities and promoting equitable access in response to the expectations of underprivileged groups. As a result, the gross enrollment ratio (GER) in higher education reached 72% by 2015. However, entering the 2020s, Iran began implementing policies to reduce higher education capacity. This paper seeks to clarify the factors that led to the shift from expansion to downsizing by analyzing the actual conditions of higher education expansion and equity policies, as well as the negative consequences they produced.

The expansion of higher education capacity in Iran was achieved not only through the establishment of new government universities but also through the creation of tuition-charging institutions such as the Islamic Azad University (IAU), Payame Noor University (PNU), and the University of Applied Science and Technology (UAST). In addition, to improve university enrollment rates among rural residents and underprivileged groups, a quota system was introduced in the nationwide entrance examination (konkūr) to reduce regional and socioeconomic disparities. These policies contributed to the rise in GER. However, an analysis of the consequences of quantitative expansion reveals significant issues, including an oversupply of university graduates and a decline in the value of academic degrees in the labor market, an increase in unemployment among highly educated individuals, and the intensification of credentialism. Furthermore, the quota system has not necessarily succeeded in rectifying regional and socio-economic disparities and has faced criticism for undermining fairness.

Moreover, demographic changes, such as a declining youth population, along with the socioeconomic impacts of economic sanctions, have contributed to a decrease in both GER and student numbers since 2015. In response to these challenges, from the early 2020s, Iran shifted its higher education policy from quantitative expansion to contraction by consolidating higher education institutions and enforcing stricter enrollment controls, with the aim of enhancing educational quality. However, the extent to which such measures will effectively address the underlying problems remains to be assessed.