The Role of Private Universities and Colleges in the Spatial Restructuring of Higher Education in Poland

The development of private higher education institutions in Poland since 1989 has become a thorny political issue. The question is discussed in terms of the overall expansion of higher education in Poland, the Polish national development strategy, the spatial distribution of higher education institutions in Poland, and the role of higher education in the formation of the Polish national e´lite. The author argues strongly in favour of the equal treatment of private higher education.     

A financial perspective: categories of higher education institutions

From a financial perspective, the criteria for category distinction of higher education institutions should be based on the ownership of institution property and income for recurrent expenditure. The development of modern higher education witnessed the period wherein higher education institutions have both private property and private payment for recurrent expenditure. The development also saw the period wherein all the institution properties were owned by the state and all the recurrent expenditure were paid by the government. Accordingly, universities could be divided into two categories of “public” and “private” institutions until the 1970s. However, things have been changing greatly over the past 20 years. Property ownership and payment for recurrent expenditure have been separated. The public institutions appeal to more and more individuals sharing recurrent expenditure, while private institutions ask for more and more public financial support. Therefore, some financially mixed institutions came into being and “three categories with sub-groups” has become a new phenomenon. __________ Translated from Peking University Education Review, 2004 (2)     

The CRASP Research Institute: A Response to the Need for Informed Policy in Higher Education and Research

The Polish higher education system has undergone profound changes since 1989. In particular, state institutions have gained a great deal of autonomy, and private institutions have been organized. Student enrollments have skyrocketed, but funding per student has decreased, along with faculty salaries. The system of higher education as it stands today requires deft strategic management based on competent analyses and accurate information. Thus, in order to better address matters of policy, governance, and management collectively, the Polish doctoral degree granting institutions have formed the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland (CRASP) that in turn has decided to support the creation of an independent research institute. The work of this Institute will cover almost all aspects of higher education and science. It will function foremost according to a networking principle. The results of its research projects will be made available, not only to CRASP itself, but also to other interested parties.     

Towards quality private higher education in central and eastern Europe

The number of private higher education institutions in post-communist Eastern Europe has risen spectacularly since 1989. In some countries, private-sector enrollments have neared one-third of total enrollment. This article traces the development of these private higher education institutions. The argument is that while their quality is currently varied, they are structurally much better suited to serve the post-communist world than are the rigid, cash-strapped public universities. However, they must first overcome certain challenges, such as a lack of prestige, that arise from their very identity as private-sector institutions.     

Public and Private Higher Education Institutions--Joint or Separate Evaluation and Ranking: The Polish Perspective

Since 1989, Polish higher education has been characterized by the emergence of a private sector of higher education as well as by the development of procedures and institutions for the evaluation and accreditation of higher education institutions and programmes in both sectors. Currently, the two sectors are evaluated separately by separate institutions. The authors call for the convergence of the two higher education sectors. Not only would evaluations of Polish higher education institutions thus be made more accurate and comprehensive, but the two sectors would learn from one another, and the private institutions and their students would become eligible to receive state grants.     

Financing higher education in Colombia

All countries and particularly the less developed face serious difficulties in the financing of higher education. This has also been true of Colombia, where private higher education has grown more rapidly than the official sector to the point of accounting for 60% of total enrollment due to the State's inability to increase the number of its institutions and to provide them with growing budgets.Given the greater efficiency in expenditure demonstrated by private institutions, a comparison is made of their income and expenditure structure with that of public institutions and differences are established in order to define those areas in which greater internal efficiency can be achieved.In spite of the total cost of higher education in Colombia it is relatively low due to the prevalence of low salaries and lack of equipment or sophisticated facilities and due also to the fact that research is still in an incipient stage.Faced with problems of fairness toward lower income families that must pay more than they can afford, or on the other hand, those who could pay more but are receiving free state education, a state subsidy is proposed to carry out a direct transfer to the student, while all state universities would charge tuition that would cover the cost of instruction. This subsidy should be channelled through ICETEX, a pioneer institution in the world in the field of student financing through credit. Several sources of student financing are examined that reflect a more realistic way of responsibly subsidizing study.     

HIGHER EDUCATION IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA: SOME PROBLEMS OF THE TRANSITION PERIOD

The political revolution of November 1989 in Czechoslovakia brought with it a call for systemic changes in higher education, changes which were mandated by the Higher Education Law of May 1990. The Law has given institutions of higher education major academic rights and liberties and has also provided for participative management. The possibility of diversifying study and financial resources as well has also been unveiled. Nevertheless, these positive developments have given rise to problems. Both individual institutions and the system of higher education itself must become more democratic following forty years of oppressive state policies. At the same time, they are also having to face a somewhat restrictive financial situation. Willingly or not, they have to take greater initiatives towards the needs of the economy so that additional resources may be generated. In this ‘context, the new organization and the new institutions of higher education in Czechoslovakia are discussed and recommendations are made for the further development of higher education.

     

Social Implications of the Opportunities for Romanian Higher Education in the New World Order∗

An overview is given of the course of development and the social role of higher education in Romania since the revolution of December 1989. The pros and cons of private higher education institutions are presented with the added note that the existence of these institutions saves money for the Romanian state and subsidizes the salaries of professors teaching in the state institutions. Suggestions are made as to how to improve the teaching/learning environment both for students and for teachers, and a plea is made that higher education in Romania, both public and private, avoid becoming overly market‐oriented. Rather, higher education should contribute to the remaking of civil society.

     

Higher Education Institutions and Their Regions: Linking the Local and the Global

This article is based on the Final Report of the "International Seminar on the 'Emergence of Universities: New Higher Education Institutions and their Role in Local and Regional Development'," held in Zielona Go´ra, Poland, in May 2001. A first set of presentations argued strongly that the presence of higher education institutions in given regions is increasingly important for the continued development of these regions. However, for the presence of higher education institutions to be effective in regard to their regions, universities may have to be reorganized and smaller institutions merged. A second set of presentations detailed specific ways in which universities can be of service to their regions, as, for instance, in providing linguistic services and in furthering inter-ethnic and cultural understanding. A third set commented upon the converging roles of public and private institutions and discussed the challenges facing higher education in general.     

韩国、马来西亚、菲律宾三国私立高等教育经费政策研究

韩国、马来西亚和菲律宾等国的私立高等院校所占比例均在85%以上,在校生数占一半以上,高者达74%。这与所在国的高等教育发展政策、经费政策和管理政策是分不开的,其政府实施的经费资助政策更是私立高等教育发展、稳定与否的"晴雨表"。三国私立高等教育发展变化显示,私立高等教育发展与政府的经费政策,尤其是多元化教育投入有着很强的联系。     

Public Money and Private Providers: Funding Channels and National Patterns in Four Countries

A rich body of literature has emerged that seeks to shed further light on how concepts like globalization and internationalization shape higher education systems and their institutions. This paper examines how the rise of private higher education in various national contexts has engendered global patterns of public financial support for private institutions and particularly the various ways in which public funding is channeled to such providers. A cross-national typology of public/private higher education sectors and a system-level map of how public funding is directed to institutions are both used to explain why different patterns may emerge. This framework is then used to examine the policies and practices in four representative systems: England, Germany, New Zealand, and the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. The available evidence suggests that in systems with weak or newly emerging private sectors, unclear regulations and concerns about quality implies that public funding tends to be channeled into private institutions indirectly (e.g. through tax-abatements and student financial aid). In systems where private institutions play a more substantial role, public funding is channeled to privates using a mix of indirect and direct mechanisms.     

Internationalising higher education: comparing the challenges of different higher education institutions in Malaysia

Internationalisation of higher education in Malaysia is seen as a means for improving and empowering higher education so that the higher education institutions in the country can become comparable to the best in the world. While the government has spelt out the directions as well as some of the targets for internationalisation, higher education institutions in the country have been internationalising for different reasons and with different levels of priority and intensity. Public universities, especially the older ones, have been engaged in internationalisation as part of their academic growth and development. Concurrently, a variety of private institutions of higher learning has evolved since the opening up of private higher education from the 1980s. These include private universities that have been established by large corporations, smaller private colleges that have been elevated to the status of degree-conferring institutions as well as branch campuses of foreign universities. The objective of this paper is to examine the different concepts and challenges of internationalisation faced by the different types of higher education institutions in the country, using the case study approach. It was found that in each of these cases, the concept of internationalisation and the challenges faced are different, although funding is raised as a problem in three of the four cases. These different challenges imply that current policies may have to be fine-tuned in order to address the different needs of these institutions in their respective efforts to internationalise.     

Privatization Or Marketization: Educational Development in Post-Mao China

In the post-Mao era, the reformers have taken significant steps to privatize social policy and social welfare. Revamping the social security system and commodifying social services have become more prominent since the mid-eighties. Despite the post-Mao leaders' discomfort about the term "privatization", signs of state withdrawal from the provision of social policy and welfare are clear. The author argues that the emergence of private educational institutions indicates that China's educational development has gone through a similar process of privatization or quasi-marketization though the Chinese experience is different from that of Western counterparts. Specifically, this paper tries to examine how the flourishing market economy and the policy of decentralization have affected the development of China's higher education. No longer solely relying on public schools, private and minban (people run) educational institutions are becoming more popular in the new socialist market system. This paper attempts to examine how privatization and quasi- marketization have affected educational development in mainland China. The paper concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of the privatization of education in China.     

Private higher education in Africa: The case of Monash South Africa

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to review the contribution of private institutions to higher education in Africa and use Monash South Africa as a case study. A literature search was conducted to gain perspective on the current situation with respect to private higher education institutions in Africa and how they are perceived in relation to public higher education institutions.

In comparison with public higher education institutions, private higher education institutions in Africa were successful in four areas: ? Widening access to higher education in the continent

? Improving the quality of education

? Improving student experience

? Increasing the recognition and marketability of their degrees

However, private higher education institutions in Africa have failed in two areas: ? Reducing the costs of higher education in Africa

? Assisting with retention of skilled human capital in African countries.

In fact, private higher education institutions in Africa, have exacerbated the two situations above.

Monash South Africa was the first foreign university to be established in South Africa and one of over 100 private universities in the continent. As a campus of Monash University in Africa, it has seen a steady growth with over 3,500 students in the past 10 years of its existence. Like other private institutions, the campus was successful in the four areas above and also fails in the area of costs and assisting in retention of skilled staff in Africa. The campus has been successful in blending its private provider status with a public purpose mandate by offering degrees in social science, business and economics, information technology and health sciences.     

The Teaching Cohort in Higher Education Institutions in Fujian Province,the Problems Surrounding It,and Thoughts on Building It

Teachers are a critical factor in the effective reform and development of higher education institutions and the quality of the talent they nurture. There is some discrepancy between the current state of development of the higher education teaching cohort in Fujian province and the "tenth five-year" development plan for Fujian higher education institutions. The building of a teaching cohort in Fujian province must be "based on people"; more must be done to nurture and to bring in key teachers and leaders of disciplines; reform must be intensified; and in building a teaching cohort management must be improved.     

我国民办高校倒闭问题之思考

近年来我国民办高校的倒闭问题日益严重。究其原因,对民办高校“合法性”的质疑和外部竞争强度的加剧固然对民办高校的发展影响很大,但从根本上讲,还在于民办高校自身在发展过程中存在着重重问题,是外部环境和内部原因综合作用的结果。我们必须站在民办高等教育可持续发展、民办高校学生健康发展的高度,切实转变观念,为民办高校的发展提供良好的外部环境;正确认识“我国的高等教育是一个卖方市场”这一命题,客观估计我国民办高校的发展空间;以“善前”机制为核心加强制度建设,为民办高等教育的发展提供制度保障。     

台湾私立高等教育发展特点探析

台湾私立高等教育经过60余年的发展,形成了比较完整的体系。在其发展过程中呈现出：私立高等教育体系完整,办学层次上移;私立高等教育法律法规体系比较健全;私立高等教育办学主体、经费来源多元化等特点。这为大陆民办高校发展提供了一定的启示和借鉴。     

Public and private higher education institutions in Serbia: Legal regulations,current status and opinion survey

This article provides insight into the state of higher education in Serbia, particularly in the context of reform processes based on European Higher Education Area principles. A multidimensional approach was taken, encompassing (a) a review and analysis of legal regulations relevant to the historical context of Serbia, (b) an examination of current working conditions at accredited state and private higher education institutions, (c) and a pilot survey of attitudes among the main participants in higher education teaching. The research gauged attitudes of university professors and students with work or study experiences, respectively, at both state and private higher education institutions. Specific instruments for measuring attitudes were constructed for this study. Professors' attitudes toward state and private higher education were compared through the assessment of aspects of organisational culture including work organisation, stimulating atmosphere, innovation, and creativity. Students expressed their attitudes toward state and private higher education in terms of general atmosphere, curricula, grading criteria, and student status. The results indicate that private higher education was appreciated slightly more than state higher education; both professors and students held more positive attitudes of private higher education for all dimensions investigated.     

Private initiatives in higher education in Kenya

Africa's higher education crisis has prompted the growth of private institutions. Enrollments are very low and in most African countries do not account for a significant proportion of university enrollments. The largest number of private institutions are in Kenya which is the subject of a case study. Private institutions provide professional training in fields of employment opportunity but also offer an education that emphasizes character building functions of higher studies. Private higher education is expensive to provide and costly to attend. Many private institutions are caught in a dilemma. They can not achieve significant efficiencies by reducing instructional costs without damage to the quality of their programs, and they are reluctant to raise tuition and accommodation charges because of the distorting effects on student recruitment. As long as public higher education is provided at low or no cost and private higher education is entirely self-supporting, the private sector will have a peripheral role in higher education in Kenya and other African countries.     

台湾地区私立高校评鉴及退场机制研究

近年来,台湾地区私立大专院校数量快速增加,但由于少子化趋势、教育经费不足等原因,造成了台湾地区私立高等教育质量的失衡.为了提升私立高等教育质量,台湾地区教育部门重新制订了公私立大学的评鉴制度,并逐步修订私立学校法律,建立私立大学退场机制,以促进台湾私立大学竞争力的提升.