1. Marketising Higher Education: the Rise of the Private University
Steve Woodfield, Senior Researcher in HE Policy and Management, Kingston University London
SRHE Annual Research Conference 2013
11th-13th December 2013, Celtic Manor Resort, Newport, Gwent

2. ‘Private’ HE: 5 Myths Novelty Homogeneity Poor quality Irrelevancy
Separation
Novelty:
OECD classifies UK HEIs as private (publicly funded)
Private HE sector is not new – what is new is it’s growth (esp. for-profit), and many private HEIs are new entities – it is a fast-changing, dynamic sector
As PA said – worldwide it has been a rapidly demand absorber – where the public sector cannot provide, the private sector will step in – the cost/access dynamic created optimum conditions
2. Homogeneity:
Private HEIs are not all the same – ownership; mission; governance; function; access
E.g. for-profit/not for-profit; conglomerates/families, individual entities; publicly-funded/privately financed; religious/specialist; small/large; specialised (70%)/broad; UK awards/non-UK awards, DAP, franchised
3. Poor quality:
UK awards – quality assurance, accreditation. Overseas awards – some accreditation. Other countries mixed QA. Some private HEIs (e.g. Korea, Malaysia, Japan, US) are high in rankings
What do we know? BIS (2013) maj. students satisfied. Does the market decide? Separate out fraud from quality. Threshold vs. relative quality?
4. Irrelevancy:
UK: Small numbers (160k vs.2m) but niche and demand-led provision (vs. threat). Policy drive to ‘open up’ system to alternative providers (lower cost). 27 conglomerates (global), TNE in UK. UK – lower cost - flexibility.
Worldwide: expansion 35m sts, 30% enrolments (esp. where public finance weak). Only Europe – small scale (participation rates, demography). Usually more costly (subsidised public HE).
5. Separation:
UK: part of HE ecosystem. collaborative provision (designated providers), partnerships and support (DL, pathway provision, shared services, curriculum materials) – unbundling
Outside Europe: well-established parts of HE sectors – many UK TNE partners are private colleges; UK HEIs act as private entities overseas

3. ‘Private HE’: 5 Challenges
Equitable treatment in regulation
Dangers of stratification
Commodification
Privatisation
Fraud
Equitable treatment in regulation
Not equal – level playing field in evolving regulatory landscape: SNCs, SLs, Information & accountability, QA, DAP, Title, Designation (course or providers?). Devolved nations, PSRBs, Tier 4.
Overseas: QA a focus - control, licensing, recognition. Accreditation – course, institution.
Stratification
Treating types of inst. differently – open up sector to stratification (hierarchies) – new binary line, or more strata? Where to draw the line? Profit-not for profit? Quality thresholds
Overseas: merging QA, more relaxed about stratification
3. Commodification
Markets, products and customers – HE as a commodity – societal vs. market value (employability).
Unbundling, outsourcing, franchising, validation, MOOCs – disruption or innovation? Impact on st experience – access to research, facilities, campus culture
Efficiency: Competition between providers to drive down costs vs. quality
Takeovers and role of hedge funds, global conglomerates
4. Privatisation
Private benefit (fees) vs. public good (subsidy, funding) – battle lost?
Income-generation (o/s); commercialisation – changing status of HEIs – new European designation?
Staffing – contracts, working conditions, career structures
5. Fraud
Invisible provision (overseas providers offering non-UK qualifications, diploma mills)
Quality in collaborative provision – fit for purpose? Do we know enough? QA consultation
Monitoring sub-degree provision
Consumer protection and trading standards, UK HE sector reputation