The WTO and the University

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. It 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, as well as the pros and cons of free trade in higher education services from the perspectives of the U.S.-based actors.

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

1. Introdution  2. The Research Questions  3. A Review of the Literature: Globalization, Internationalization, and Higher Education  4. Higher Education as an International Policy Concern  5. The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)  6. The USTR, the GATS, and U.S. Higher Education as a Tradable Commodity  7. The Associations Representing American Higher Education  8. Negotiating the Intersection of Trade and U.S. Higher Education  9. The Associations' Perceptions and Concerns about Free Trade  10. Understanding Trade Concerns through Commodification Theory  11. Conclusions