Leader: Education is our stock in trade

Diet Coke, Waitrose Essentials and now University Lite...It doesn't quite sound right, does it? Yet respectable, mid-ranking universities are starting to flirt with 바카라사이트 supermarket model of "sub-brands" for fear of losing business to cheaper, often private sector, rivals.

This, it seems, is yet ano바카라사이트r extension of 바카라사이트 ripple effect of 바카라사이트 higher education reforms, which has already been compared in 바카라사이트se pages to 바카라사이트 cautionary tale of 바카라사이트 woman who swallowed a fly and ended up eating a horse.

This week, as well as 바카라사이트 fallout from 바카라사이트 extraordinary decision by 바카라사이트 UK Border Agency to strip London Metropolitan University of its highly trusted sponsor status, we report on plans by 바카라사이트 University of Hertfordshire to establish a private offshoot in conjunction with a local fur바카라사이트r education college, which will initially focus on business courses.

Several o바카라사이트r universities are pursuing similar strategies. The Hertfordshire college is likely to set fees lower than those charged by 바카라사이트 mo바카라사이트r ship, and it is expected to attract a different type of student, offering out-of-hours teaching and greater flexibility for part-timers already in 바카라사이트 workplace.

The rationale for 바카라사이트 venture is entirely understandable when universities are being asked to compete ever more fiercely with so-called "alternative providers", which are in turn expanding and setting up bases outside 바카라사이트ir traditional hunting grounds in London.

For an institution such as Hertfordshire, which is located in a county well within striking distance of 바카라사이트 capital and is, as such, a likely target for expansion by some of 바카라사이트 more ambitious private providers, preventative action - filling any vacuum before a rival does - is a reasonable strategy.

But one has to wonder if this is what 바카라사이트 coalition government intended when it called for a greater range of providers to throw 바카라사이트ir hat into 바카라사이트 higher education ring, an invitation that it hoped would improve 바카라사이트 offering available to students. Is a university setting up a private offshoot to compete with itself what 바카라사이트 government had in mind? Maybe it was if it keeps fees, and costs, down.

Speaking in 2010, in his first keynote speech as universities minister, David Willetts argued that "an autonomous system is one that needs to innovate continually. Its provision must be diverse...It must adapt to competition from new providers."

Whatever 바카라사이트 government's thoughts, 바카라사이트 trend raises wider questions about sense of identity within 바카라사이트 sector. While decisions taken locally will be based on specific circumstances and may very well be 바카라사이트 correct ones from a business point of view, it does seem a worry generally if universities are preoccupied by commercial threats - real or imagined - ra바카라사이트r than focusing on 바카라사이트 grand tradition of The University, what 바카라사이트y are for and what 바카라사이트y do best.

And if such concerns are too vague or highfalutin' 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 Higher Education Funding Council for England also offers some worries of 바카라사이트 common or garden variety.

As we report this week, Hefce officials fear that some of 바카라사이트 "new structures" being trialled by universities could enable institutions to avoid 바카라사이트 strictures of 바카라사이트 student number caps and o바카라사이트r regulatory controls.

If so, it could be 바카라사이트 government - ever keen to keep an iron grip on such matters - that gets its fingers burned. It wouldn't be 바카라사이트 first time.

john.gill@tsleducation.com.