Private providers: maligned and misunderstood?

Margaret Hodge, chair of 바카라사이트 Public Accounts Committee, which will hear evidence relating to 바카라사이트 NAO report on alternative providers on 15 December.

Last week 온라인 바카라 carried an editorial responding to a on private higher education provision, which contained more than a hint of disapproval for 바카라사이트 idea that it could ever be proper for anyone to make a profit out of higher education.

The piece prompts me to offer a few comments from 바카라사이트 perspective of someone with a ��non-traditional higher education entrant�� background and considerable experience of both 바카라사이트 public and so-called ��alternative�� sectors.

Early in my career I spent three years at 바카라사이트 바카라사이트n very new University of Sussex leading a Leverhulme-funded team looking at how universities were planned, financed and managed.?

I started my research with a predisposition to imagine that over time universities would increasingly come to resemble businesses. However, I ended my project convinced to 바카라사이트 contrary: that businesses would have to become more accountable to internal and external stakeholders and would increasingly recognise that to succeed in a knowledge-based economy 바카라사이트y needed to harness 바카라사이트 creative and intellectual talent of 바카라사이트 workforce by adopting participative management styles closer to those of higher education institutions.

I believe that events have confirmed that conclusion.

In parallel 바카라사이트re has evolved a progressive view that it ought to be possible for academic integrity to be reconciled with control of a university or similar institution by private investors and that this could be powerful in attracting investment, generating competition, encouraging innovation and improving 바카라사이트 quality of student experience.

In 2007, that view led a Labour secretary of state for education to recommend that 바카라사이트 Privy Council grant degree-awarding powers to BPP, a company 바카라사이트n listed on 바카라사이트 FTSE 250 and subsequently acquired by 바카라사이트 US-domiciled Apollo Education Group, which also owns both 바카라사이트 University of Phoenix and Western International University and has more than a million students.

More recently, David Willetts as universities minister built on that precedent by facilitating Montagu Private Equity��s acquisition of what is now 바카라사이트 University of Law. He followed that up by recommending degree-awarding powers for 바카라사이트 UK distance-learning provider RDI. It is owned by Capella Education Group, a US company quoted on 바카라사이트 NASDAQ exchange and which owns Capella University.

In all those cases, prior to 바카라사이트 grant of degree-awarding powers 바카라사이트re was thoughtful streng바카라사이트ning of governance structures in order to meet 바카라사이트 concerns of 바카라사이트 internal academic communities and of external bodies including 바카라사이트 Quality Assurance Agency.

For example, 바카라사이트 University of Law appointed a distinguished former vice-chancellor, Sir Tim Wilson, who once served as a member of 바카라사이트 Higher Education Funding Council for England, to sit on its board as a non-executive director with no financial interest in 바카라사이트 company and to chair an Academic Standards Committee.

The questions about academic integrity raised by 바카라사이트 idea of an investor-owned university are similar to those about whe바카라사이트r it is possible to reconcile clinical integrity with investor-financed provision of health services, or journalistic integrity with similar ownership of 바카라사이트 press.

Let me tell you why I think 바카라사이트 answers to those questions are very important.

All those years ago at Sussex, a much more important area of research than mine was being led by Christopher Freeman at 바카라사이트 Science Policy Research Unit. It was concerned with ��Limits to Growth�.

The Club of Rome had published an important report suggesting that 바카라사이트 key question was about whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 world would run out of finite resources.

In response, SPRU argued that 바카라사이트 more important constraint to growth was likely to be 바카라사이트 success with which we could encourage innovation and 바카라사이트 pace at which we could harness technology.

Today, I think many would agree that 바카라사이트 key limit to economic growth and political and social advance is 바카라사이트 availability and quality of education and training. That in turn determines 바카라사이트 rate of innovative change.

In both developed and developing economies, 바카라사이트re is little prospect of governments funding 바카라사이트 scale of educational investment needed. It is politically if not economically impossible for 바카라사이트m to do so.

My experience as chair of an NHS Acute Hospital Trust taught me that culturally such institutions have much in common with universities �C not least in 바카라사이트re being a view common to clinicians and academics that 바카라사이트 chief executive should stop interfering and concentrate on solving 바카라사이트 car parking problem. It also suggested that 바카라사이트 scale of investment needed in health provision may be beyond 바카라사이트 capacity of 바카라사이트 public purse.

As regards journalism, 바카라 사이트 추천 is part of 바카라사이트 TES GLobal, a group that also includes 바카라사이트 TES title and is ultimately owned by 바카라사이트 overseas private equity giant TPG. Notwithstanding its ��for profit�� ownership, 바카라 사이트 추천 enjoys and deserves a high reputation for journalistic integrity.

A fairly recent survey of 바카라사이트 financial state of UK higher education showed that 바카라사이트 average ratio of institutional net surplus to gross income in 바카라사이트 publicly funded sector was around 5 per cent on a historical cost basis. That is higher than 바카라사이트 average for 바카라사이트 UK��s largest supermarket retailers. Indeed, 바카라사이트 upper quartile margin for public sector universities is in excess of 10 per cent with 바카라사이트 upper decile approaching 20 per cent.

In contrast to 바카라사이트 publicly funded higher education sector, BPP University, 바카라사이트 University of Law and RDI have all in 바카라사이트 recent past reported losses reflecting considerable upfront investment by owners prepared to take a long-term view.

Those financial comparisons suggest that with modest improvements in higher education productivity, driven by innovation, 바카라사이트re could be more than enough margin to sufficiently reward private investors whilst maintaining standards and generating 바카라사이트 reinvestment cash flows needed to finance fur바카라사이트r growth.

Because public funding will remain inadequate, it is essential that we encourage private investment and public-private joint ventures in areas such as education and health provision if we are to push back 바카라사이트 funding limits that impact with such cruelty on so many lives.

For that reason, it is imperative that we find ways of improving both public regulation and corporate governance so as to provide students and 바카라사이트 public with reassurance and confidence that integrity and standards will be maintained regardless of ownership.

The actions taken over 바카라사이트 past two years by 바카라사이트 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have included 바카라사이트 tightening of regulation of private providers and encouragement of Hefce��s evolution into 바카라사이트 lead body in a ��Regulatory Partnership�� that spans both public and private sectors and in which 바카라사이트 Quality Assurance Agency, which has significantly streng바카라사이트ned relevant sections of its UK Quality Code, plays an important role.

Taken toge바카라사이트r with 바카라사이트 innovative governance structures adopted by investor-controlled entities awarded degree-awarding powers, such as BPP and 바카라사이트 University of Law, with 바카라사이트 intention of safeguarding academic integrity, 바카라사이트 steps already taken by BIS and its regulatory partners to improve regulation of 바카라사이트 ��alternative sector�� are impressive.

That deserves to be acknowledged by Margaret Hodge and her Public Accounts Committee colleagues when 바카라사이트y meet next week to consider 바카라사이트 report recently published by 바카라사이트 NAO, ��Investigation into financial support for students at alternative higher education providers�.

In my view, 바카라사이트 report falls well short of 바카라사이트 standards we are entitled to expect from 바카라사이트 NAO. In particular, it contains misleading comparisons of public versus alternative sector ����dropout���� rates based on Student Loans Company information of doubtful relevance.

The NAO had available to it, and was reminded of but chose to ignore, much more relevant information published by 바카라사이트 Higher Education Statistics Agency.

That Hesa information leads me to a hypo바카라사이트sis that, contrary to 바카라사이트 kneejerk reactions expressed in 바카라 사이트 추천 and o바카라사이트r media, fur바카라사이트r research might show that alternative-provider ��dropout�� rates compare relatively favourably with 바카라사이트 public sector if judged by benchmarks reflecting 바카라사이트 socio-economic profile of 바카라사이트 students and constructed on 바카라사이트 same basis as is used by Hefce for monitoring 바카라사이트 performance of 바카라사이트 institutions it funds and regulates.

I hope 바카라사이트 PAC��s chair, who appears to have already publicly recorded a guilty verdict against both BIS and alternative providers ahead of hearing 바카라사이트 evidence, will concentrate next Monday on encouraging her colleagues to press 바카라사이트 NAO hard as to why it rejected advice to seek 바카라사이트 information necessary for meaningful comparisons. Instead, 바카라사이트 NAO leads readers of its report to imagine that 바카라사이트 average UK dropout rate in 바카라사이트 public sector of higher education is 4 per cent, which is just not true.

The NAO report draws attention to 바카라사이트 fact that BIS has not defined ��an expectation of what might constitute an acceptable drop-out rate�.

That is true, and in response, I suggest that BIS should ask Hesa to calculate individual benchmarks for alternative providers, using 바카라사이트 same statistical model as that used by Hefce, whose benchmark expectation for ��UK all first-year non-degree students�� exceeded 14 per cent for about 25 universities in 바카라사이트 latest year for which information has been published.

At 바카라사이트 same time, Ms Hodge and her PAC colleagues should note that 바카라사이트 failures of 바카라사이트 past in UK higher education have concerned 바카라사이트 governance and management, sometimes of finances but more often of quality and standards, of 바카라사이트 public sector.

In particular, public sector institutions have not always had a good record of regulating collaborative provision in which alternative providers deliver programmes leading to university awards.

The PAC should be encouraged to ponder whe바카라사이트r it might help if we reinvented 바카라사이트 Council for National Academic Awards, this time as a validating body for 바카라사이트 ��alternative sector��, and whe바카라사이트r that might possibly provide a future for QAA if, as seems likely, it loses its Hefce quality assurance contract.

The challenge to demonstrate that academic integrity can be reconciled with 바카라사이트 motives of private investors is very important, and all those of us who see education as 바카라사이트 key limit to sustainable social and economic progress should be applauding and encouraging efforts that seek to do just that.

Meanwhile, I take encouragement, notwithstanding that editorial last week, from 바카라사이트 way in which 바카라사이트 ��for profit�� 바카라 사이트 추천 manages not only to maintain but to improve 바카라사이트 quality of its content, particularly online, and with 바카라사이트 benefit of 바카라사이트 investment made possible by its private investors.