Private higher education: historical trends and its current state

Overview

In this seminar Dr Hunt traces some historical trends in the provision of private higher and professional education, and look at its current state and the forces that have, and continue, to shape it.

To do this he examines the historical interaction between public and private provision. He looks at the selective effect of an absence of vocational training in universities, and attempt to explain how some subject areas, such as law, accountancy and acting became specialities of private providers, and others, such as journalism and business studies, were offered by neither public or private providers, despite there being an obvious gap in the market.

Dr Hunt also looks at the role qualifying associations, gatekeepers to professional careers, had in sustaining the private sector. Additionally, he looks at incidents of integration between public and private provision, particularly in terms of correspondence education.

He concludes by providing an overview of the contemporary private higher education sector, and examines recent legislation and the role private providers are expected to play to meet government ambitions for the higher sector in general.