The Investigation of the Cost of Education and Scientific Qualifications of the Foreign Scholarship Students during the First, Second, and Third Developing Plans in Higher Education

The main purpose of the research has been to investigate the cost of education and the scientific qualifications of graduates using foreign scholarship in comparison with their counterparts inside the country in the first, second, and third developing plans. The research methodology is descriptive (documental and survey type). The research population consisted of all members of faculty (totally 13649) with at least the academic status of assistant professor in all universities of Iran. The research sample (totally 386) was selected randomly out of the given population using multi-step cluster random sampling. The research tools were two researcher-made questionnaires whose validity was obtained by applying the expert's feedback, project reader and counsellor. The reliability of the tools was extracted by administering them to a sample of 30 subjects as pilot study and the obtained index was 0.75 for Chronbach's Alpha. While the researcher followed the procedure of descriptive analysis, the obtained data resulting from administering the research tools based on the different items of the questionnaires were analyzed using the statistical methods of the test of Variance Analysis, Kroskal Valis. The results showed that the cost of education in well–established foreign universities in three developing plans is more than that in local universities and non–state universities (Azad Islamic University) in Iran. There is no such difference between students inside and outside regarding their educational–scientific qualifications. In comparison with the academic members graduated from state and non-state local universities in the same level, those graduated from foreign countries are more qualified in the scientific, executive, and research fields.