International Higher Education the Boston College Center for International Higher Education Number 51 Spring 2008
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international higher education the boston college center for international higher education number 51 spring 2008 International Issues 2 The “Subprime” Market and International Higher Education Philip G. Altbach 3 Foreign-Backed Universities: A New Trend Ute Lanzendorf 5 Academic Freedom in Muslim Societies Richard Kraince Private Developments 6 China’s Private Universities Ruth Hayhoe and Jing Lin 8 Demand-Absorbing Private Institutions in Mexico Juan Carlos Silas African Perspectives 9 African Higher Education: Projecting the Future Damtew Teferra 11 International Providers in Nigeria Isaac N. Obasi, Olamide E. Adesina, and Susan N. Obasi 12 Trends in Eritrea Ravinder Rena India 14 India at a Crossroads Pawan Agarwal 15 Vedanta University: A Flawed Pipe Dream Philip G. Altbach Israel 17 Crisis in Israel: Payback Time for the Original Sin Roxana Reichman 18 Israel’s New Private College Daniel C. Levy European Trends 19 Rankings, Diversity, and Excellence: A European Policy Challenge? Ellen Hazelkorn 21 Performance Funding in Italy Tommaso Agasisti Countries and Regions 22 Entance Exam Crisis in Iran Shahrzad Kamyab Departments 24 New Publications 27 News of the Center international higher education 2 international issues The “Subprime” Market and ness—such as, branch campuses, collaborative linkages, and joint-degree arrangements. International Higher Education The Landscape Philip G. Altbach We know a few things about the international higher education Philip G. Altbach is Monan professor of higher education and director of landscape. There are perhaps 3 million students studying out- the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College side their own countries—with the most from from Asia— with the largest number matriculating in the major English- speaking academic powers. An Australian study estimated that t may be illuminating to compare the current subprime there will be 8 million international students by 2025, since Imortgage and housing-sector crisis in the United States and cross-border study continues to be big business. No one knows developments in international higher education. First, buyers how many branch campuses exist, but estimates are in the and the housing and financial industries wanted to participate many hundreds—almost all of them located in developing or in a growing and lucrative housing market, just as many middle-income countries. The growth of “American University groups in the higher education industry now want to be play- of . (fill in the blank)” is rapid as well. In addition to old and ers in international higher education. Housing prices were ris- respected American-linked universities in Cairo and Beirut, ing fast, and not many questions were asked about products, institutions using the term “American” and often teaching in sellers, or buyers. This market was allowed to function without English are proliferating throughout the developing world, constraint. Then, a certain “irrational exuberance” set in, with joined recently by institutions with “German,” “French,” or the market becoming saturated and many speculators enter- “Canadian” in their names. The expansion of academic offer- ing—in a way, a “bubble” mentality. Some buyers wanted to ings in English worldwide has created a new market for pro- make a quick profit while others failed to recognize the risks of grams and for professorial mobility. The global higher educa- the new loans. Financial institutions got caught up and invent- tion marketplace is large, growing, and basically unregulated. ed ever more complicated loan structures to spread risk global- It is indeed the “Wild West” or, more appropriately, the “Wild ly. There was soon a growing recognition of the problems with East.” the overheated housing and mortgage markets—inadequate supervision, oversupply of products, unsustainable costs, The Problems unfulfillable promises, and other challenges. In the mort- In higher education, one might take the view that “the market gage/housing environment, the bubble has burst and many will sort itself out” and thus leave hands off. Here again the countries face very serious economic and social consequences. subprime mortgage crisis represents a certain analogy regard- It is also noteworthy that the mortgage and housing crisis start- ing higher education. By permitting unscrupulous players to ed in the largest market, the United States, and is spreading perform and by encouraging more respectable banks to buy up worldwide. risky debt without much regulation or restriction, the world International higher education stands somewhere in the has reached today's crisis. The financial instruments being middle of the cycle—somewhere between irrational exuber- used are very complex, and institutions worldwide have pur- ance and a bubble. Now is the time to look at what actions are chased them, reducing whatever accountability might have sustainable and what are not, what policy will serve the inter- previously existed. ests of students and the academic community, and what There is a similar mentality in the world of international actions constitute mistaken policy or simple greed. higher education. Everyone can get into the market for interna- The academic community is committed to internationaliza- tional higher education. Sellers, including academic institu- tion, although motivations differ and some institutions have tions and for-profit education providers, can easily enter the no clear idea why they are involved. A recent survey by the global market by selling educational products and services in a International Association of Universities of academic leaders largely unregulated marketplace. Some of the sellers are pres- worldwide shows a huge variation of motivations, ranging tigious universities hoping to build links overseas, recruit top from more internationally oriented students and staff, curricu- students to their home campuses, and strengthen their name lar improvement, building a “name brand,” global collabora- brands in the world market. Many of the sellers are themselves tion, providing opportunities for research, and many others. Curiously, only a small minority of academic leaders cited Erratum earning income from international initiatives—an especially surprising point of view given that the Australian and British Our last issue, Number 50, was labeled as Winter governments have emphasized earning money as a key goal of 2007. It is actually the Winter 2008 issue. We regret internationalization. University presidents, vice chancellors, any misunderstanding. and rectors from Europe and North America have been troop- ing to China and India prospecting for international busi- international higher education international issues 3 subprime institutions—sleazy recruiters, degree packagers, also help academic institutions themselves think about their low-end private institutions seeking to stave off bankruptcy motivations for entry into the global education market. through the export market and even a few respectable univer- Internationalization, including student mobility, cross-border sities forced by government funding cutbacks to enter foreign educational provision, and involvement in the global knowl- markets for profit making. edge economy of the 21st century is a positive and inevitable Buyers, such as students but also including some academic element of global higher education. What academe needs to institutions in developing countries, are similarly unregulated, avoid is succumbing to subprime practices and the inevitable sometimes ill-informed and often naive. Most tragically, stu- crisis that will ensue. dents and their families buy international educational services (This article was published in Times Higher Education, without much information or understanding. Sometimes London.) recruited to study abroad at subprime schools or motivated more by the desire to seek employment than to study, students may be shortchanged. Uninformed or simply avaricious insti- tutions in developing countries may partner with low-quality colleges and universities in, for example, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and receive substandard teach- Foreign-Backed Universities: A ing or degree courses. Regulatory agencies may be entirely missing or inappropriate, thus making quality assurance New Trend impossible to achieve. There are not enough top-quality uni- Ute Lanzendorf versities in countries like China and India to absorb all of the potential overseas partners. Further, most academic institu- Ute Lanzendorf is researcher and manager at the International Center for tions worldwide lack the infrastructures to successfully engage Higher Education Research, University of Kassel, Germany. E-mail: in sophisticated international programs and initiatives. [email protected]. How to Avoid a Crisis n the last decade, discussions about transnational universi- Transparency is a key step for building a healthy international Ities concentrated on the branch campus model. In recent higher education environment. This approach means obtain- years, another type of transnational institutions has expanded ing accurate information about the scope and extent of interna- rapidly: the foreign-backed university. tional higher education—by governments, international and regional organizations, and by universities. Information about Beyond Branch Campuses motives and policies would also be useful, although now very In contrast to a branch campus, a foreign-backed university is little reliable information is available. The market