While the not-for-profit private sector in higher education has existed for centuries, the last decade has seen tremendous growth in for-profit provision. This has been driven mainly by a combination of excess student demand for higher education and a lack of resources available from governments to support the state sector. Increasingly in lower and middle-income countries, domestic student provision is being met by the private sector. Similarly, the global mobility of students seeking internationally accredited programmes has given rise to a competitive market in which private higher education providers are active, both independently and frequently in various forms of partnership with state providers. The current mix of for-profit private providers embraces all from small single-owner colleges to large international companies, although the latter are dominated in the main by some of the large US corporations.
Given the increasing global importance of the private sector in the delivery of higher education, this session considers current trends and likely future directions, assessing the implications for government policies. Some of the questions asked will include the following: What might public providers learn from the private sector and what might private providers learn from the public sector? How can the public and private sector work together to deliver a quality education for all students? Are there examples of good practice? Why is there a perception, particularly amongst public providers, that private institutions deliver 'inferior' programmes? Is the current regulatory framework for private providers adequate? If not, what changes are required? Are state sector providers disproportionately subsidised and supported by governments?
