Hi Sudev,

If well-funded and managed, private universities could help especially in countries with huge population. While some private universities are doing well in terms of quality of education and research, some are are just for money making with quality being compromised.

Best,

Semiyu 

Hi Sudev,

If well-funded and managed, private universities could help especially in countries with huge population. While some private universities are doing well in terms of quality of education and research, some are are just for money making with quality being compromised.

Best,

Semiyu 

In some countries, private universities are necessary because there aren't sufficient places in public universities.  Private universities here try to provide quality education, and research, and the graduates of several such universities are almost instantly employed.  Some of the private varsities that are very successful include Uniten and Lim Kok Wing.

It's true that some students who pay high tuition fees in private universities demand quality education and sometimes need to be restrained in behavior.  But the number of such undisciplined students is not that big, in this place.

http://www.limkokwing.net/united_kingdom/

if the focus of private universities is to support and enhance quality of education, then my answer is YES. For instance in the case of the US, the emergence of private universities is actually steering improvement in the quality of educational provision, and more so quality in research output. This is also beneficial as it means that coasting institutions [state / government funded and low quality private institutions] will always make an effort to improve on their quality of provision at a comparable level so as to attract high calibre of students and researchers.

Dear all,

Good day,

@ Miranda, I agree with you.

Best regards,

Many distinguished universities, including Konkuk University, are private universities in South Korea; but I also agree with previous posts that situations may vary from country to country. 

The very inception of a private university is to cater those individuals who are well in life and want to pay more for their education in a less crowded and well equipped places which by far  is not an inclusive vision to create knowledge to change society but to make business with the chosen and the affluent. Although that was the initial motive, it does not mean that private universities do not make contributions to society. Many private universities today are well furnished and equipped with well trained faculty that do make tremendous contribution to society in their own as a byproduct. 

We still have a mindset from our colonial past that "foreign is better", so whether private universities are good or not for research, they would still garner support from the local tertiary level population, in my view.

Best regards,

Debra

I think its a coin shadow effect. Very few pvt universities are doing better jobs like, Shiv Nadar and majority have made it an profit earning organisation and degree selling agencies.

Stepping up of privatization in higher education will lead some serious problems in future.

The emergence of private universities will be useful for education and research, only if they maintain quality, social justice, and as mission.

But it is missing! India is one example!

I appreciated the insights all my colleagues have provided. To answer this question, one has to consider the contexts.

Limited by my experience in the U.S., I see the very top American universities are the Ivy League schools such as Harvard and Yale and other private schools like Stanford, Caltech, and MIT. These universities provide top-notch education and research; their research is usually funded by different endowments/foundations, corporations, alumni associations, and the government, etc.

Do not think so. It is business schools have interest on profits more than research. This is only in some countries.   

The advent of private university ordinarily should have improved the quality of education and education but some of them have Bastardize the education system with little contribution while some are improving it. 

The value and importance of private universities rely on their scientific sobriety, and the role they play in the field of scientific research. Some private universities and educational institutions has a distinct role. On the other hand, there are institutions do not have any real role in education or scientific research.

Many of the world's best Universities are PRIVATE! Tradition play role, quality is a matter of time. The role of private Universities in both education and research should be significant, but it is not the case in Serbia. It takes time to achieve quality, retain quality, pass the accreditation process, ..., but many private institutions want to make fast and huge earnings with high tuitions and teachers of suspicious quality. The role of accreditation body is significant, if bribe and corruption do not ruin system.

benefit to education and research would largely depend on the focus of the university. If it is a commercial focus then NO.

The regulations and the implementation of the same would be the key.

One would need watertight regulations and then implementation. than only there would benefit to education and research. else NO. 

In physics, light has a dual nature (behaves like particles called photons & behaves like waves). In some countries, a university will have a dual nature (public & private): public in the sense that the country's president decides who become the board of trustees &  the president of the university and how this university functions ; private in the sense that the university collects fees from students & gathers material support  from internal & external sources. In such countries, there is no sharp division between public & private  and a good number of the university staff become ministers or governmental officials easily. A strictly private university in a 3rd world country is not established in a facile manner unless influential persons or families stand behind it.

I think that would be helpful, he was thinking about it today :)

Dear Sudev

I think they would/should be better in Applied Research and Public Universities in Fundamenta research. Otherwise, I don't think there is much difference between the two,

Narayanan

The university system in my country, Argentina, has been mixed since 1955, but with a marked predominance of state universities. 

Despite the many problems of state universities and criticism against them, their academic quality is far superior to that of private universities. Also keep in mind that state universities in my country are free and open to anyone, including foreigners. This however creates financial and overpopulation problems. 

The main private university --because of its academic quality and number of institutions, students and degrees- is the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina (UCA). Cardinal Bergoglio --now Pope Francis- was UCA's  Grand Chancellor.

There are also many small private universities, pointing to higher-income groups of the population. Paradoxically, the academic quality of the vast majority of these institutions does not stand a comparison with state universities.

State universities concentrate most of the research, and are almost the only conducting research in science and technology .In Argentina, very few private companies fund university research. This is probably the biggest limitation for research in private universities.

As long as private Universities offer much better salaries than State Universities, we shall face the quality problems of education process. Of course, this is the case with developing countries where private Universities have no tradition. Governments should start to solve this serious issue, it is an emerging one!

Government universities in India are not sufficient to accommodate the increasing number of students. I this context, the emergence of private universities will be useful for education and research.

The accommodation of students should not be a reason for the emergence of private Universities.

In Serbia, State Universities offer accommodation just to a small part of students. Students do pay small fees for such accommodation at University Campuses, while the majority of students pay much higher fees for accommodation. 

Private Universities in Serbia mostly do not have their own accommodation capacities to offer to their students.

For years, most of private universities in my country (Indonesia) are very bad in quality. Only a few of them who provide good education. Most of their focus on are collecting money from students, and maintaining their existences by having as many as students with low quality educational services. 

However, right now, there is a growing quality movement. Government of Indonesia, through ministry of research, technology, and higher education gives a strong warning to any university with worse performance. If they do not meet the criteria given by the government, they are prohibited to provide educational services. As its consequences, many private universities now are actively improving their educational qualities. 

So... for me, the emergence of private universities is ok as long as there is a strict and consistently executed regulation (from the government site) to control the quality.   

Yes to a great extent if investors in private institutions are prepared to hire the right calibre of world renown researchers. This also comes at a high cost but improved output in research output and improved competition amongst institutions in the global market. 

With pivete universities science produced in them becomes independent of state. In the future science will become independent of state, like other powers, e.g. religion.

Ideally both Public and Private Universities need to compliment and supplement each other. In Public Universities research may be more theoretical rather than as per the needs of the industry/society/government.

Here in India many private universities are backed by big industries. The universities are good and can channelize more funds for research in their own field of work. Research directed towards the market may be more fruitful rather than being in the libraries. Such individuals who do meaningful research can be later involved in the R & D activities of that particular industries.

The flip side is that while setting up private universities stringent measures need to be employed so that the quality is maintained. Every one should not be allowed to set up universities - as it seems to be happening in some places.

The linkages between the Government and the Universities - both public and private - are essential to find answers to many questions plaguing the society, polity and economy.

Students also tend to opt for universities which will provide better quality of education, better infrastructure, better faculties and better placements.

Here is the list of the top 10 private / deemed universities in India for the year 2014, see through link.

http://www.careerindia.com/top-10-private-universities-in-india-2014-011043.html