Skunks in an English Woodland: Should England Embrace For-Profit Higher Education?

摘要

The British government is encouraging the growth of for-profit alternative providers of higher education (HE). While it is true that for-profits have opened HE access to previously under-served groups and have been more agile in reacting to market demand, they have done so at a considerable cost to students and the taxpayer because they do not share in the cost of the failure of HE to ensure a payoff for many of their students. The US experience with for-profits should be a cautionary tale for those supporting their expansion in Britain. Policy is needed to craft a regulatory framework that produces the benefits that for-profits can provide, but minimises the costs that often accompany them. At present, it is far from clear that expanding alternative providers-that is, for-profits-would 'work better' for students.