FINANCING SOURCES OF THE CONTEMPORARY US HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM
Background. The USA created one of the largest higher education systems in the world today. The success of its development also depends on the effectiveness of its funding. The investigation of its finance system in terms of structure, forms, major trends is relevant in connection with a rapid development of the higher education finance system in Russia and a need for critical use of relevant foreign experience. The article aims at investigating basic forms, mechanisms, trends and outcomes of finance issues at the present time. Materials and methods. The objectives were achieved through analyzing official statistical materials on the higher education funding sources structure, the volume of grant assistance to students and student loans, tuition fees and the access to financial aid in higher education; as well as materials of contemporary researches on the optimization of the finance system in higher education institutions. Results. The study resulted in identifying the main trends of development of the higher education finance system in the United States, its structure, forms, complexities and internal contradictions. Conclusions. At the present time the US policy on financing higher education is highly controversial and non-sustainable demonstrating significant differences at the federal and state levels. Higher tuition, increased room and board fees, an increased number of student loans and student debts, a number of defaults, reduced public spending on education demonstrate negative and disturbing trends in American higher education today. To solve these problems it is necessary to enhance the role of the federal authority in ordering the system of higher education financing and implementing budgetary control in this area; to enhance the role of grant aid in the framework of financial assistance to low-income students; to have clear legal regulation of both public and private student loan programs; to optimize the taxation system in higher education to stimulate private investment in this area.