고등교육재정교부금법 제정의 필요성과 방안(1)

This article examines the legislative rationale and normative framework for the enactment of a Higher Education Finance Grant Act. It argues that the existing structure of higher education financing reflects a disproportionate reliance on private contributions and that a recalibration towards enhanced public responsibility is required as a matter of educational equity and constitutional governance. In this respect, the establishment of a clear statutory basis for determining the scale and scope of state financial support for higher education is of central importance. Legislation should further serve to clarify and allocate the respective financial responsibilities of public authorities and higher education institutions within a coherent legal framework. From the standpoint of public law, private universities are legally constituted as higher education institutions and are not substantively distinguishable from national and public universities in terms of their educational functions. On this basis, differential treatment in the provision of state financial support requires compelling justification. In the absence of such justification, parity of support between private and national or public universities ought to be regarded as a normative benchmark within the higher education finance system. The article further contends that the internal structure of higher education finance grants should be articulated with greater legal precision. In particular, the distinction between general grants and project-based grants should be expressly codified, with the purposes, permissible uses, and allocation criteria of each category clearly defined. Such differentiation is necessary to enhance transparency, legal certainty, and accountability in the distribution of public funds. Moreover, in addressing regional disparities in higher education provision, the grant framework should encompass not only compensatory measures aimed at mitigating existing inequalities but also developmental mechanisms designed to foster sustainable institutional capacity within regional universities. In terms of specific legislative design, this article advances four principal proposals. First, the financial resources for higher education finance grants should be secured in statute as a fixed proportion of total domestic tax revenue in the relevant fiscal year. The applicable grant rate should be determined at regular intervals by Presidential Decree, taking into account national fiscal conditions and comparative data on higher education expenditure among OECD member states, with the legislative objective of securing funding equivalent to 1.1 per cent of GDP. Second, higher education finance grants should be formally classified into general grants and project-based grants, with a statutory allocation ratio of 60 per cent to general grants and 40 per cent to project-based grants, and with their respective objectives and authorised uses specified in law. Third, insofar as private universities fulfill functions equivalent to those of national and public universities and contribute significantly to the expansion of access to higher education, the provision of state financial assistance to private institutions should be recognised as an integral and legitimate component of the higher education finance regime. Fourth, in furtherance of balanced regional development, a Grant Review Committee should be established as a statutory decision-making body, endowed with clearly defined powers to deliberate on grant allocation and to facilitate targeted support for the enhancement of research capacity at regional universities. The composition, powers, functions, and eligibility criteria for membership of the Committee should be expressly prescribed by statute in order to ensure institutional independence and procedural legitimacy.