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A radical change is taking place in universities around the world as fast-expanding private provision offers access to millions of new students. Is this a threat to the traditional sector and to standards of education or is it a challenge that will force the academy to raise its game? Philip G. Altbach outlines the global trends, while overleaf, others consider what the future holds in the UK and the US.
Across the world, private higher education has grown remarkably in the past several decades. Today, 30 per cent of global higher education enrolment is private, according to Trends in Global Higher Education, a report for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.
Private higher education has existed in many countries for centuries. It has traditionally been the dominant force in a number of South-East Asian countries, and it constituted a key part of the American higher education landscape. Globally, however, it was a minor element. But now private higher education institutions, many of them for-profit or quasi for- profit, represent the fastest-growing sector worldwide. In Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan, more than 70 per cent of students are educated privately; and in countries such as Mexico, Brazil and Chile more than half of students use the private option. Private universities are expanding rapidly in Central and Eastern Europe and in the countries of the former Soviet Union, as well as in Africa. China and India also have significant private sectors.
In general, the private sector is...