Private Companies in Higher Education

As thousands of students march through London today and impose themselves, as we have, on unscrupulous corporations, the real reason we are here is brought back to us.

The issue concerning Higher Education is not one of privatisation (most universities are in fact already private, though run as charities) but that the government hopes to deregulate the market in such a way that companies currently operating mere minutes from our occupation would be able to enter the Higher Education sector with a view to competing with the existing University institutions. Even worse, it is expected that quality education will be provided by virtue of ‘market forces’ and a profit motive.

In short, a sector which has thus far been free from the greed of the 1% is to be opened up to companies that care for little more than profit – regardless of the quality of teaching and whether their students gain degrees at all.

One such company is Apollo Global, an owner of for-profit education institutions such as the University of Phoenix in Arizona which currently has an incredibly poor completion rate of 9% in the past six years and often leaves students with double the debt of ‘non-profit’ institutions. Apollo Global already operates in the UK and owns the for-profit education provider BPP. Under the government’s current plans they would be given the opportunity to open a ‘university’ institution with full degree awarding powers and the ability to vastly undercut current universities.

The creation of a for-profit market within the Higher Education sector is the most fundamental attack on what education really means. As lessons are shared and swapped in our very own TentCity University, these companies threaten to drive universities even further away from what they are meant to be about: the sharing of skills, knowledge and understanding – without regard for profitability.

By Wail Qasim