Trends in private higher education in Australia

ABSTRACT

The last decade has witnessed a significant growth of private higher education around the world. The growth included the number of private education providers, and also the growing number of students. While some countries are experiencing trend growth, others are witnessing decline. Some of the reasons for the decline include increased regulation and stringent accreditation and reaccreditation of higher education institutions and courses, government policies to encourage the growth of public universities, and acquisition of small providers by large private education institutions. The growth of private higher education has increased competition, and it has also established collaboration with public institutions. The growth of private higher education has also raised concerns about ethical governance, maintenance of academic standards, and mechanisms to plan, review, and improve educational outcomes. This paper focuses on Australia where despite growth, there is limited research about private higher education. This paper reviews literature on the global growth and decline of private higher education. It then analyses the trends in Australia and possible scenarios for the future of private higher education in the country.

KEYWORDS:

• Private higher education
• growth
• decline
• Australia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Mahsood Shah is an Associate Professor and Deputy Dean (Learning and Teaching) with the Faculty of Business and Law at Central Queensland University, Australia. Mahsood provides leadership in all aspects of learning and teaching including strategy, governance, course development and reviews, maintenance of standards, improving quality of teaching and student experience, and academic staff professional development. He is also leading the implementation of standards for online delivery of courses.

Hai Yen Vu is currently undertaking her PhD and completed her Master of Research at Macquarie University, Australia. Her research interests are language learning and teaching, language teacher education and professional development.

Sue-Ann Stanford is currently Director of Education for JMC Academy, a national, private higher education provider specialising in the performing and creative arts. She is a member of JMC’s Academic Board and leads the Learning and Teaching Committee. Prior to JMC, Sue-Ann was Academic Director for Kaplan’s higher education and vocational education businesses for four years. Sue-Ann previously worked for Think Education Group.

ORCID

Hai Yen Vu http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4300-6667