What Role for Private Higher Education in Europe? Reflecting about Current Patterns and Future Prospects

In recent decades, we have seen the emergence of private higher education in many European countries. This has been associated with the waves of significant expansion of the higher education system and with changes in regulation patterns, which have promoted a growing private-like behavior of public higher education institutions and the development of private provision in several European countries. The aim of this text is to discuss the relevance of the various dimensions of privatization in European higher education and to explore the relationship between public and private sectors in several European countries. This analysis points out some major patterns of the private higher education sector in Europe and reflects about the major issues faced by those systems regarding the potential contribution of private higher education.