Private universities are not operated by governments though many receive public subsidies, especially in the form of tax breaks and public student loans and grants. Depending on the region, private universities may be subject to government regulation. Private universities compare to
public universities and
national universities.
Australia
Bond University is
Australia's first private university, founded in 1987. It runs three semesters per year (correlating exactly with the Northern and Southern Hemispheres' schedules), which allows a student to complete a six semester degree in two years and an eight semester degree (e.g. Law) in under three years.
Since Bond University's foundation, the
University of Notre Dame Australia has also been founded as a private university, in 1989. They remain Australia's only private universities.
Melbourne University, a public university, owned a private university called
Melbourne University Private from 1998 to 2005. The private university was not successful, losing
$A 20 000 000 over its life.
Austria
In
Austria, educational institutions must be authorised by the State to legally grant
academic degrees. As of today, all universities in Austria are governed by the 2002 Austrian Universities' & University Degree Programmes' Organisation Act (Federal Law Gazette No. 120/2002). In 1999, a federal law (
Universitäts-Akkreditierungsgesetz) was passed to allow the
accreditation of private universities. The
Akkreditierungsrat (Accreditation Council, ) evaluates applicants and issues recommendations to the responsible Austrian accreditation authority (the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science & Research).
Accreditations must be renewed regularly and can be withdrawn, e.g. in the case of repeated academic misconduct as happened in 2003 where the accreditation of
International University Vienna, was withdrawn. In 2006, when the accreditation of
IMADEC University expired, the Accreditation Council rejected requests for renewal.
Austrian law provides that private universities in Austria must use the term
Privatuniversität (literally, "private university") in their
German names, although their formal names in other languages, e.g. in
English, are not regulated. Thus, there is the possibility of private institutions employing the term "university" as opposed to "private university" in their advertisements in all languages except German while still complying with Austrian law.
While the legal definition of "private university" prohibits funding by the federal Republic of Austria, funding by other public bodies is not prohibited. Consequently, some of Austria's private universities are funded by provincial governments.
Accreditation of private universities started in 2001. Today, there are 12 private universities in Austria. Most of them are small (fewer than 1000 students) and specialise in only one or two fields of study:
- Paracelsus Medizinische Privatuniversität in Salzburg
- Privatuniversität Schloss Seeburgin Seekirchen (near Salzburg)
- University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology in Hall in Tirol
Three former private universities are
not accredited any more:
- IMADEC University: First accreditation period ended in January 2006 and was not renewed.
- TCM Privatuniversität Li Shi Zhen in Vienna: Accreditation period ended 2009; TCM did not call for renewal. All students could finish their studies.
Bangladesh
A number of private universities sprouted in Bangladesh after the Private University Act, 1992 was instituted. The biggest private universities of Bangladesh include
North South University (NSU),
BRAC University (BRACU),
Shanto Mariam University Of Creative Technology (SMUCT),
East West University (EWU),
United International University (UIU),
American International University-Bangladesh(AIUB) and
Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST). All private universities must be approved by
University Grants Commission (UGC) before they get Sanad (permit) to operate.
Greece
In
Greece private universities are prohibited by
the constitution (Article 16). However,
laboratories of liberal studies (Εργαστήρια ελευθέρων σπουδών, ergastiria eleftheron spoudon) operate freely in the country and based on a law from the 1930s they are registered as private for-profit businesses and regulated by the
Greek Ministry of Commerce. Their academic degrees, which are not recognised in Greece, are directly provided to successful students by foreign universities in the
United Kingdom,
United States of America, or other countries, usually through
franchise or
validation agreements (the franchise agreement usually being considered better). This has limited access to the laboratories, which usually teach in English, to high-income Greeks who for various reasons (usually family matters) did not want to go abroad.
In 2008 the
Nea Demokratia-led
government of Greece voted a law that will force all laboratories of liberal studies to register with the
Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs as
colleges (κολλέγια, kollegia) by August 2009. It is expected that this will help to widen the participation of Greek students in private
colleges, thus allowing the expertise and efficiency of the private educational sector to benefit the Greek students and society.
Hungary
Hong Kong
India
In
India, privately funded institutions are in existence since independence, but they were not recognised as private universities. Many private universities (or institutions classified as universities by the
University Grants Commission or those that define themselves as university) have come up only recently. Many of these universities offer multidisciplinary professional courses similar to state funded universities, however institutions offering single stream specialization programs are also in existence.
Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), in
Pilani,
Rajasthan and
Birla Institute of Technology,
Ranchi,
Jharkhand are two well respected private universities in India that are considered as being competitive with the
Indian Institutes of Technology.
Thapar University in
Patiala,
Punjab is a well known private engineering college of north India. Similarly
VIT University in Vellore (South India) has also been ranked among the top technical universities in India.
BITS Pilani has been awarded with the highest 5 star ranking by NAAC.
Manipal University in another famous private university in
Manipal,
Karnataka. It has over 20 constituent colleges that offer over 180 programs in 14 disciplines.
Manipal University is the preferred destination of students from over 55 countries.
KIIT University,
Bhubaneswar became the youngest institute to get university status in India and entered the Limca Book of Records. It is one of the best private university in eastern India.
Many institutes specializing in management education (like
Xavier Labour Relations Institute, and
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management) have been around since the 1940s and the 1970s respectively. Some of the noted private universities in western India are the
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and D. Y Patil University, Navi Mumbai and
Dnyaneshwar Vidyapeeth, Pune has been awarding engineering degree and diplomas for 30 years.
Vedanta University, near
Bhubaneswar,
Orissa is India's first large multidisciplinary private university.. The government of Orissa passed a landmark bill to allow the massive university to be set up and function with autonomy in July 2009.
Symbiosis University, a top management and law university of India, is another private university. It started its Engineering faculty in 2008.
Ireland
In
Ireland, a private university (more commonly known as a
private college) is one that is not funded by the state, and therefore not covered by the
initiative. All
universities,
Institutes of Technology,
Colleges of Education, as well as the
National College of Ireland and some religious institutions are publicly funded and therefore covered by
free-fees. There are few private colleges, and they are highly specialised, such as
Griffith College Dublin,
Dorset College and
Dublin Business School. The major representative body for private colleges in Ireland is the Higher Education Colleges Association http://www.HECA.ie. Private colleges in Ireland can seek to have their programmes validated/accredited by the
Higher Education and Training Awards Council.
Iraq
See
Private Universities in IraqJapan
As of 2007, there are 568 private universities, while there are 87
national universities and 89
public universities. Private universities thus account for about 3/4 of all universities in Japan. Many, but not all, junior colleges in Japan are private. Like public and national universities, many private universities use
National Center Test for University Admissions as an
entrance exam.
Lebanon
There are 19 private universities in Lebanon. Among theses universities, two are internationally acknowledged, namely, the
American University of Beirut and the
Lebanese American University. The languages of teaching in private universities are mainly
French and
English, while
Arabic is widely used in religious universities and
Armenian in the
Armenian university. The first university opened in Lebanon was the Syrian Protestant College in 1866 (Became the American University of Beirut in 1921). It was founded by Daniel Bliss a Protestant missionary. The second university opened in Lebanon was the,
Université Saint-Joseph, founded by the
Jesuits in 1875.
Netherlands
In the Netherlands there is one private university named
Nyenrode. This University has been founded in 1946 and is still active as a Graduate School for Business. You can get your master degree in Management and do an MBA. Both programmes are taught in English. Recently, Nyenrode merged with the institute for CPA education and both institutions share their facilities. The Nyenrode Business University also contains a campus and highly active student life.
The Dutch HBOs (universities of applied science) count more private institutes like the Nootenboom University for Business and the
IVA for the Automotive industry.
Pakistan
The Higher Education Commission (HEC), formerly the University Grant Commission, is the primary regulator of higher education in Pakistan. It also facilitates the development of higher educational system in Pakistan[1]. Its main purpose is to upgrade the
List of universities in Pakistan to be world-class centres of education, research and development.
The HEC is also playing a leading role towards building a knowledge based economy in Pakistan by giving out hundreds of doctoral scholarships for education abroad every year.
In spite of the criticism of HEC, its creation has also had a positive impact on higher education in Pakistan. In their two year report for 2004 to 2006 it is mentioned that according to the Institute of Scientific Information, the total number of publications appearing in the 8,000 leading journals indexed in the web of Science arising out of Pakistan in 2005 was 1,259 articles, representing a 41% increase over the past two years and a 60% increase since the establishment of HEC in 2002. In addition the HEC digital library now provides access to over 20,000 leading research journals, covering about 75% of the world's peer reviewed scientific journals.
Until 1991, there were only two recognized private universities in Pakistan:
Aga Khan University established in 1983; and
Lahore University of Management Sciences established in 1985. By 1997, however, there were 10 private universities and in 2001-2002, this number had doubled to 20; among the first to gain degree awarding status was
Hajvery University, Lahore(HU), established in 1990. In 2003-2004 Pakistan had a total of 83 private degree granting institutions.
The rapid expansion of private higher education is even more remarkable if we look at the number of institutions established on a year-by-year basis. In 1997, for instance, three private institutions were established; in 2001 eleven new private institutions were opened; and in 2002 a total of 29 private sector institutions sprung up.
The HEC website also points to a 40% increase in enrollment in universities in Pakistan over the last two years, which it attributes to efforts on its part to encourage higher education in the country.
Portugal
The oldest non-state-run university, the
Universidade Católica Portuguesa - UCP (Catholic University of Portugal), a
catholic private university (
concordatory status) with branches in the cities of
Lisbon,
Porto,
Braga,
Viseu, and
Figueira da Foz, was founded before the others, in 1967, and officially recognized in 1971. UCP offers some well-recognized degrees and is reputed for law and business management degrees it awards at its Lisbon and Porto branches. After the
Carnation Revolution of 1974, in the 1980s and 1990s, a boom of educational private institutions was experienced in Portugal and many private universities started to open. Most private universities had a poor reputation and were known for making it easy for students to enter and also to get high grades. In 2007, several of those private universities or their heirs, were investigated and faced compulsory closing (for example, the infamous
Independente University closing and the
Moderna University scandals) or official criticism with recommendations that the state-managed investigation proposed for improving their quality and avoid termination. In the mid-2000s, within the
Bologna process, a reorganization of higher education was started which included more stringent regulations for private education and expanded state policies with regard to private education quality assurance and
educational accreditation. In general, the private higher education institutions were often considered the schools of last resort for underachieving applicants who didn't score enough points in the admission examinations to enter the main public institutions. Nearly open-admission policies have hurt private universities' reputation and the actual quality of their alumni. Without large endowments like those received, for example, by many US private universities and colleges which are attractive to the best scholars, researchers and students, the private
higher education institutions of Portugal, with a few exceptions, do not have neither the financial support nor the academic profile to reach the highest teaching and research standards of the top Portuguese
public universities. In addition, the private universities have faced a restrictive lack of collaboration with the major enterprises which, however, have developed fruitful relationships with many public higher education institutions. Most Portuguese private universities specialise in a limited number of fields, most often in the
social sciences and
humanities.
Taiwan
The famous private university is
Fu Jen Catholic University, and the earliest is
Tunghai University.
Turkey
In Turkey there are 29 private universities. The well known private universities in Turkey are
Koc University ,
Sabanci University ,
Bilkent University.
United Kingdom
The private university/public university split does not fit the United Kingdom university system very well. British universities have institutional autonomy, which is well respected as it has developed over centuries, but in the first half of the 20th century they came to rely on the government for most of their funding. The only two universities which are wholly privately financed are
University of Buckingham, and
Richmond University. Richmond University does not itself have the power to award UK degrees: for this purpose its degrees are validated by the
Open University.
Regent's College in Central London is now also known as a private university, its degrees are validated through the American system as it is a subsidiary of an international university.
United States
In the U.S., most prestigious universities and colleges are private, operated as educational and research
nonprofit organizations. While most
liberal arts colleges are likewise private, there are also some
public liberal arts colleges. Some private universities are closely affiliated with religious organizations (e.g., the
University of Notre Dame) and some are directly operated by religious organizations (e.g.,
Brigham Young University).
Proprietary colleges are also private though they are most often referred to as proprietary colleges to prevent confusion with
non-profit private institutions.
Like government-operated institutions, private universities are eligible for
educational accreditation, but some private universities (primarily proprietary colleges) are not accredited (see
list of unaccredited institutions of higher learning), and their degrees are not formally recognized.
Legally private universities may not discriminate but generally have a somewhat free hand in setting admissions policies. E.g., universities in the
Ivy League historically based their selections on many secondary factors other than academic performance. In recent years, however, many private universities have been making an effort to appeal to and recruit academically talented students from underprivileged backgrounds.
The U.S. system of education has also been transplanted to other countries. Private universities such as the
American University in Cairo and the
American University of Afghanistan typically offer a liberal arts curriculum to their students.
Tuition fees at private universities tend to be higher than at
public universities though many private universities offer financial aid as well.
