The WTO and the University: Globalization, GATS, and American Higher Education

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Taylor & Francis, 2006 - Education - 211 pages
This book fills a niche in the literature on trade and higher education services by providing context and analysis of the trade issue in the American higher education context. By and large, the debate about the merits of including higher education services within free trade policies has occurred outside of the United States, even though the U.S. Office of the Trade Representative has specifically included higher education services in its March 2003 negotiating offer to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). This book emerged from research and conversations on the potential implications of free trade on American higher education, implications which have yet to lead to any real conversation or debate within the broad higher education community in the United States.

The scope of the book is specifically US centered, though this is background information on higher education in a global policy context. It is distinctive in that it is a unique and original examination of the free trade in higher education services, from the perspectives of the US-based actors and within the context of globalization and its implications for higher education. Its selling points would be the timeliness of the issue, the uniqueness of the topic and research, and the contribution it can make to spurring some greater dialogue and debate within the American higher education community about the pros and cons of free trade in higher education services.

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Contents

Chapter One Introduction
1
Chapter Two The Research Questions
11
Globalization Internationalization and Higher Education
17
Chapter Four Higher Education as an International Policy Concern
35
Chapter Five The General Agreement on Trade in Services GATS
53
Chapter Six The USTR the GATS and US Higher Education as a Tradable Commodity
63
Chapter Seven The Associations Representing American Higher Education
75
Chapter Eight Negotiating the Intersection of Trade and US Higher Education
97
Chapter Eleven Conclusions
163
Appendix A Questions asked of Higher Education Association Representatives
187
Appendix B Questions Asked of USTR Officials
189
Appendix C Questions Asked of the Department of Commerce Representative
191
Appendix D Questions asked of the National Conference of State Legistlatures Representative
193
Bibliography
195
Index
207
Back cover
213

Chapter Nine The Associations Perceptions and Concerns about Free Trade
119
Chapter Ten Understanding Trade Concerns through Commodification Theory
147

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About the author (2006)

Roberta Malee Bassett is currently serving as a research associate at the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College.

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