Reflections on Private Higher Education Tendencies in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

An intriguing and broad question that one can pose while reflecting on material in this book is how much the strong development of private higher education in the countries in Central and Eastern Europe is an exceptional phenomenon or the part of the general evolution of higher education systems toward greater diversity, pluralism, and differentiation (of which the growth of private institutions may simply be one aspect). Is the development of private higher education in the post-communist world better explained in historical or structural terms—in other words as a response to a particular set of historical circumstances (and, by implication, limited by these historical origins); or as a set of structural and organizational adjustments to the demands of contemporary society (which is typically characterized as a “knowledge society” shaped by the forces of globalization?) These are large matters that do not lend themselves to easy or provable answers but the exploration can be illuminating.