A report published today by Universities UK looks at the growing force of private and for-profit providers, and their role in delivering higher education in the UK. It considers key issues such as quality assurance, regulation and funding, as well as the opportunities for collaboration and partnership with publicly-funded institutions.
Worldwide, private provision is experiencing significant growth, providing approximately 30% of the total global enrolment. Many parts of the world now have private higher education and those countries where it has existed for some time have seen such provision grow strikingly. In western Europe however, the public sector remains relatively unchallenged. In the UK there are currently four private providers with degree awarding powers, though several other organisations are also looking to apply for this.
The report’s main findings include:
- The distinction between for-profit and not-for-profit is becoming less relevant, as many publicly funded universities in the UK undertake commercial activities alongside their public service obligations.
- What distinguishes publicly funded universities from 'for-profit' education providers is that public providers reinvest any surpluses in improved services rather than paying share holders.
- Quality and standards are not uniform across the private sector and the experience offered to students by private providers is rarely the same as that in publicly-funded institutions.
- Both sides of a public-private partnership could gain from working together. This could be further improved by greater cross-sector dialogue and information sharing which could be helped if the private sector could agree on the creation of one representative body, rather than the two which exist now.
- The role of the private sector in UK higher education is unclear in policy terms. For example, how would an influx of overseas providers be regarded?
Professor Geoffrey Crossick, Chair of UUK’s Longer-Term Strategy Group and Warden, Goldsmiths, University of London said: “This report examines where we are now and provides a series of likely scenarios for the future development of the private sector, and how we might respond. These scenarios include private providers awarding degrees, funding systems that give students a choice of public or private provision, and changes to the marketplace to neutralise any competitive advantage.
“The regulation of the private higher education sector is a critical issue – the UK does not currently have an overall legislative framework or formal statement of policy within which the private sector can operate, and this is an obvious threat. However, as the case studies in this report illustrate, there are positive reasons why publicly-funded institutions make links with private sector providers, and benefits to be gained.”
Notes
- The report, The growth of private and for-profit higher education providers in the UK, was launched at a Universities UK/GuildHE conference on Thursday 18 March 2010. It was commissioned by UUK’s Longer-Term Strategy Group.
- This report was produced for Universities UK by John Fielden of CHEMS Consulting with the help of Professor Robin Middlehurst and Steve Woodfield from Kingston University and Don Olcott and his colleagues from the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education. For interview requests, please contact the Universities UK press office on 0207 419 5568 pressunit@universitiesuk.ac.uk