Understanding Higher Education

Education is a sophisticated multifunctional system, and its operating efficiency can be estimated through analyzing the complex of objective connections of education as a society subsystem with other subsystems and taking into account their interinfluence. Modern theories consider the level of development and efficiency of the education system to be one of the most important factors of the social-economical development of society; at the same time, it is noted that in developing countries high level of educational development does not guarantee the proportional socioeconomic growth. Hence, the emphasis is given for reproduction of the following efficiency conditions: a) rational structure of education agreed to the needs of society; b) efficient use of the present educational potential; c) high level and adequate structure of investments in education; d) high quality of education; - correctly chosen education strategy. Regardless of a certain disputable nature of the issues concerning education characteristics, in sociology there is a set of its specific features.