Promoting the accessibility and affordability in Portuguese higher education

In the last decades Portugal experienced a significant change regarding higher education admission and participation, as it passed from about 24000 students in 1960/1961 to round 377000 students in 2007/2008. Accessibility is countrywide guaranteed. Portugal has followed up the higher education funding policies in the scope of the international tendencies. A cost-sharing policy has been taken by means of the introductions of tuition fees in public education and policies which have stimulated the development of private education and changed the burden of the funding Higher Education in the direction of the students and their families. How is affordability guaranteed?