State level higher education boards in the USA and reform suggestions for Turkey: Governance, quality assurance, and finance

Abstract

The US higher education system has received significant attention from different parts of the world because of the international success of its universities. Therefore, many countries have adapted some of its features to their systems. Turkey’s system level governing board, the Council of Higher Education (CoHE), was also modeled after state level higher education boards in the USA. Given this context, the current study aims to investigate the structures and functions of the state level higher education boards in the USA, compare them with the CoHE, and make reform suggestions for higher education governance in Turkey. With this aim, one state with a consolidated governing board, Georgia, and one state with a coordinating board, South Carolina, were selected for detailed investigation and comparison. The results of the study show that there are several significant differences between the CoHE and higher education boards in the USA, both in terms of their structures and their main functions. Suggestions for higher education governance reform in Turkey are also made based on the results.