Description
Privatization in reference to higher education refers to a process or tendency of colleges and universities (both public and private) taking on characteristics of, or operational norms associated with, private enterprises.
Statement
Global financial crisis and subsequent austerity measures have directly affected academia, with governments privatizing studies so as to provide income and cut expenses. The effect is immediate, however, arguers claim that in the long-run, the state will be damaged, as studies are both a public good that should be provided for free and also an investment on the countries future work force. We invite you to provide your opinion regarding the benefits and drawbacks of higher education privatization.
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Privatization in reference to higher education refers to a process or tendency of colleges and universities (both public and private) taking on characteristics of, or operational norms associated with, private enterprises.
Statement
Global financial crisis and subsequent austerity measures have directly affected academia, with governments privatizing studies so as to provide income and cut expenses. The effect is immediate, however, arguers claim that in the long-run, the state will be damaged, as studies are both a public good that should be provided for free and also an investment on the countries future work force. We invite you to provide your opinion regarding the benefits and drawbacks of higher education privatization.
9 comments:
Privatization of universities has the significant advantage that private sector can follow market trends and produce educated workforce towards directions that will allow the quick absorption of the students in jobs.
So far state has shown that cannot cope with the market needs.
Therefore I am all for privatization.
Yeah, but what about lower society classes that do not have the money to study in those private universities? How will they be able to have access to higher education level?
Also, private universities are restricted by the Greek constitution
Why not have both systems? Having private OR public universities is a pseudo-dilemma. Allow private universities to operate, but continue to offer good state education. Of course, if one of the two sides totally dominates the other, then we can study why this happened, which will probably reveal the large problems of the loosing side.
Trial and error may be one solution but the conseuquences may be dire.
On a side note, privatization may also refer to even state-owned universities operating as if they were privately-owned businesses. But in this case, it is not feasible to go both ways.
I think there is a middle way in this, both types of activities (free public and tuition-based private institutions). But the most prominant change that should take place and would have multiple benefits would be the linking between the universities through the creation of innovation parks for private companies to collaborate with education. This would boost innovation with minimum public cost, create revenue for the universities (e.g. shared ownership of patents) and will drive companies to sponsor universities laboratories either with funds or equipment, that would minimize the operational cost of the public institutions. Furthermore, the students would have the opportunity to get involved with high end equipment and directly liaise with the private sector. One prominent example of the benefits of this approach is of course Silicon Valley and Stanford University cooperation.
Common goods like health and education should always be open and accessible by anyone.
Privatizing studies to cut expenses shouldn't be an option. Private universities could also find their spot but only under the rigorous supervision of the state. Unfortunately, in countries like Greece, nothing is done according to a plan, and that usually leads to chaos! :-)
Greeks are always afraid of what they haven't had. In practice, coexistence of public and private universities has shown to upgrade the quality of public universities, so that they can compete. Low-quality universities, accessible to everyone, can continue existing as they do today; allowing the establishment of private universities is something independent. When in doubt, always look at the countries with the best universities, such as the United States.
One important issue in the discussion of privatization is the presumptive gap within the academic world, regarding those who can afford higher tuition fees, and those who don't. Therefore another form to be considered could be a foundation. On the negative side, this creates more administration for scientists etc, but the positive part is that the university becomes more flexible, and could more easily adapt to market trends, as you discussed before.
What's important is that education remains accessible to everyone.
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