Evaluation and Prioritization of Higher Education Functions from the Perspective of the Young Population of Gonabad City in 2014

This study aims to evaluate and prioritize higher education functions from the point of view of young people. To this end, these functions were investigated from the economic, political, social and cultural perspectives, based on Parsons&#39 social theory. Survey was the method adopted to conduct the study and a questionnaire was designed using Osgood’s Scale. The respondents were asked to rate higher education functions based on the stimulus “university graduate”. The questionnaire was completed by 471 young participants from the city of Gonabad, Iran. According to the results, the higher education functions were rated “average” and all respondents gave priority to social (better social status), cultural (knowledge, creativity and open mindedness) and economic (future work opportunities, adequate income and social efficiency) functions. Young people who participated in the study believed that variables such as gender, age, education level (pre-university student, university student, graduate), marital status, employment and the interest to pursue higher education have an influence on higher education functions. Approximately, the above mentioned factors explain a total of 13% of the changes of the dependent variable in ordinal regression.