The growing importance of education at all levels and the inclusion of more stakeholders in the educational enterprise has sparked debate about the fundamental nature and purpose of higher education (that is, what type of good is education?). Traditionally, viewed from an economic perspective, higher education has been treated largely as a public good.
Since the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rightswas adopted in 1948, this public good view has been reinforced by the view that education is also a human right. These factors, together with the increased demand for higher education to meet the economic development needs of the post-World War II economies, resulted in a huge increase in government support for higher education. This factor further solidified the notion of higher education as a public good.
However, since the 1980s with the introduction of new business models (for example, for-profit universities) and new delivery modes (for example, online), together with increased demand for higher education and decreased government funding for public universities due to competing priorities in government budgets, categorising higher education has become more convoluted.
As a result, more people, including some educational leaders and policy-makers, are increasingly inclined to treat higher education more like a private good than a public good.
Since the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rightswas adopted in 1948, this public good view has been reinforced by the view that education is also a human right. These factors, together with the increased demand for higher education to meet the economic development needs of the post-World War II economies, resulted in a huge increase in government support for higher education. This factor further solidified the notion of higher education as a public good.
However, since the 1980s with the introduction of new business models (for example, for-profit universities) and new delivery modes (for example, online), together with increased demand for higher education and decreased government funding for public universities due to competing priorities in government budgets, categorising higher education has become more convoluted.
As a result, more people, including some educational leaders and policy-makers, are increasingly inclined to treat higher education more like a private good than a public good.
