Why not privatize higher education?
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 19:52A student in public higher education costs more than 4300 Euros per year to the Portuguese State, during a whole year I do not pay over 3500 Euros in a private university, the state certainly has the capacity to negotiate to reach to achieve a much lower value.
If we consider that there are 250 000 students in public higher education, and that the state could save 1.000 Euros per student, we are talking about a savings of 250 million Euros a year! Part of this money could be invested in monitoring mechanisms that would ensure that the quality of teaching was ensured.
Is more than that since the management in public higher education is bad, very very bad in some cases and in some reasonable exceptions. In the private education are examples of good management, there are also bad management, but then the market would try to separate the wheat from the chaff, the "good of bad money."
VV says:
February 14th, 2008 at 24:22
Therefore proposes an appropriate management for institutions of public higher education? Completely agree.
But ending the public in favor of the almighty market? Everyone knows that the market works so well (or badly) as Democracy ... It is not a panacea for all ills and public affairs is always right to exist, if well managed.
Nuno Ferro says:
February 14th, 2008 at 13:19
It is the second point I disagree completely, I do not think universities have reason to exist (or higher institutes, schools or even lower grades) Public. The state must guarantee access to education and that this is quality, not have to know or teach.
Ana says:
February 14th, 2008 at 22:12
Well if so ... is a matter of arithmetic, it was appropriate included here that the € 1,000 spent annually on public higher education ... That is a good boring and actually admit that both my thousand as your three thousand and something is too . Access to education or training should not cost much. Unfortunately, there are too many good heads out there who does not consent to the University or Polytechnic because investment is a little bearable for the short and medium term. Besides that, unfortunately, the scholarships are not as evenly as they should be granted.
So I think yes sir, should establish an effective supervision of the quality of higher education, private and public, but this does not pass through choke even more who walk there ... It's like you say, the state must guarantee access to education. Not anymore!
VV says:
February 15th, 2008 at 11:53
We fully agree on how the state must guarantee access to education regardless of race, creed and social status of the student.
We disagree only on how ...
Having said that, for the State to guarantee access to education in a landscape where there are no public institutions, would have to subsidize the students to allow Anna to continue to pay € 1,000 instead of your € 3500 ... Because the objective of Private Universities (and Market) is not the Saber, but the profit. And it is highly unlikely to accept students from the price balance by love of country ...
Well, between submitting to the rules of the trading market subsidies, quotas, etc.. and manage their own institutions, which theoretically could and should have different objectives (such as research), I am of the opinion that the latter is preferable.
Provided, of course, well run.
Nuno Ferro says:
February 15th, 2008 at 13:29
Vasco,
We could stay here last forever, and we were going to keep hitting the same keys. Still a few clarifications:
- If there was quality in teaching these institutions would not be profitable because there had to be severe penalties, so the qualidaede not an end but a means;
- Never talked about price balance, much less love of country, where there are now more competitive price tends to be lower and when buying in quantity or have good discounts or are very bad negotiator.
For research, this is a different matter and may give rise to much more discussion outside the scope of the idea that here presented. I can only tell you that I do not agree that money to throw rubbish, much research paid by the State which is a complete waste and that is stealing resources further investigation, perhaps the most interesting and worthy of money from my taxes.
And to think that there are countries where the research pays for itself ...
VV says:
February 18th, 2008 at 15:05
OK, we agree to disagree. Not in content but in form.
Also just like to clarify that in a perfect world both options would work flawlessly and without waste, making this discussion irrelevant. In practice, differ only in the way of looking at the intervention of the state as guarantor of education of its citizens. And it is this latter aspect that we disagree.
A big hug.