For-Profit Higher Education: U.S. Tendencies, International Echoes

In most of the world, higher education has long been understood overwhelmingly or even exclusively as public. Today, in most regions and countries, surging private higher education compels increased consideration of two separate sectors, public and private. Yet fast-paced developments show that even dual-sector analysis is often too limited: for-profit higher education is on the rise. In the United States, where not-for-profit private higher education is extensive and often prestigious, the for-profit sector has grown dramatically in recent years, fueling discussion about markets and competition across all sectors. Meanwhile, in some countries with traditional public dominance, for-profit higher education adds a fresh dimension—sometimes encouraged, sometimes legally or otherwise suspect—to the global expansion of private higher education.