Europe’s Private and Public Higher Education Shares (2002-2009)*, **, ***, ****, *****
Country / Private % of Total HE Enrolment / Year / Private % of Total HEIs / Year / Private % of Total Univ. Enrolment / Year / Private % of Total Univ. / YearAlbania[1] / 12.0
(19,800/164,800) / - / 70.0
(28/40) / - / - / - / - / -
Armenia[2] / 26.6
(22,600/85,100) / 2004 / 77.3
(68/88) / 2004 / - / - / - / -
Austria[3] / 4.4**** / - / - / - / - / - / 33.3
(11/33) / 2005/06
Azerbaijan[4] / 14.4
(17,500/121,500) / 2003 / 35.7
(15/42) / 2003 / - / - / - / -
Belarus[5] / 15.2
(58,300/383,400) / 2005 / 21.8
(12/55) / 2005 / - / - / - / -
Belgium[6] / 55.4 ****
(218,373/394,427) / 2006 / - / - / - / - / - / -
Bosnia & Hercegovina[7] / (-/12,200) / 2006/07 / 73.3
(22/30) / 2006 / - / - / - / -
Bulgaria[8] / 17.6
(58,380/332,654) / 2008/09 / 30.2
(16/53) / 2008/09 / 15.9
(39,107/246,523) / 2008/09 / 16.3
(7/43) / 2008/09
Croatia[9] / 11.3
(16,000/141,000) / 2008 / 57.1
(28/49) / 2008 / - / - / - / -
Cyprus[10] / 66.6
(13,712/20,587) / 2005/06 / 80.6
(29/36) / 2005/06 / 0.0
(0/4,861) / 2005/06 / 0.0
(0/1) / 2005/06
Czech Republic[11] / 8.9
(29,201/327,955) / 2004 / 40.1
(95/237) / 2004 / 11.9
(40,939/344,180) / 2007 / 60.0
(42/70) / 2007
Denmark[12] / 1.9 ****
(4,367/228,893) / 2006 / - / - / 0.0 / 2007/08 / 0.0 / 2007/08
Estonia[13] / 18.0
(12,315/68,399) / 2008/09 / 53.2
(24/46) / 2004 / - / - / - / -
Finland[14] / 10.5 ****
(32,393/308,966) / 2006 / 0.0 / 2006 / 0.0
(0/176,555) / 2006 / 0.0
(0/20) / 2006
France[15] / 16.6 ****
(364,783/2,201,201) / 2006 / 4.2
(147/3,500) / 2005/06 / - / - / 15.5
(13/84) / 2007/08
Georgia[16] / 19.2
(29,400/153,300) / 2003 / 85.2
(150/176) / 2003 / - / - / - / -
Germany[17] / 4.9
(94,285/1,920,102) / 2008/09 / 34.3
(122/356 ) / 2008/09 / 1.2
(15,760/1,339,274) / 2008/09 / 23.9
(21/109) / 2008/09
Greece[18] / 0.0 / 2005/06 / 0.0 / 2005/06 / 0.0 / 2005/06 / 0.0 / 2005/06
Hungary[19] / 13.6
(56,590/416,348) / 2006/07 / 56.3
(40/71) / 2006/07 / - / - / - / -
Iceland[20] / 22.9 ****
(3853/16,853) / 2005 / 37.5
(3/8) / 2006/07 / - / - / - / -
Ireland[21] / 7.0 **** / 2004 / 0.0
(0/20) / 2005/06 / - / - / - / -
Israel [22] / 13.1
(26,860/205,149) / 2005/06 / 13.1
(8/61) / 2005/06 / 0.0
(0/123,010) / 2005/06 / 0.0
(0/7) / 2005/06
Italy[23] / 7.2
(146,796/2,029,023) / 2006 / 20.5
(17/83) / 2006/07 / 6.2
(110,624/1,780,743) / 2006/07 / 23.0
(17/74) / 2006/07
Kosovo[24] / 50.7
(38,000/75,000) / - / 96.7
(32/33) / - / - / - / - / -
Latvia[25] / 31.9
(40,713/127,760) / 2007/08 / 36.7
(22/60) / 2007/08 / 29.7
(34,172/114,965) / 2007/08 / - / -
Lithuania[26] / 8.5
(16,438/193,928) / 2005/06 / 38.8
(19/49) / 2005/06 / 3.5
(4,992/141,771) / 2005/06 / 33.3
(7/21) / 2005/06
The FYR of Macedonia[27] / 17.9
(11,509/64,254) / 2007/08 / 62.5
(5/8) / 2004 / - / - / - / -
Moldova[28] / 20.0
(26,500/110,200) / 2003 / 44.5
(48/108) / 2003 / - / - / - / -
Montenegro[29] / (-/20,000) / - / 80.0
(4/5) / - / - / - / - / -
Netherlands[30] / 69.9 ****
(361177/516769) / 2002 / 0.0 / 2006/07 / - / - / - / -
Norway[31] / 13.4 ****
(28,434/211,559) / 2006/07 / 45.7
(32/70) / 2006/07 / 1.0
(883/87,562) / 2006/07 / 8.3
(1/12) / 2006/07
Poland[32] / 34.1
(660464/1,937,401) / 2007 / 70.8
(315/445) / 2005/06 / 3.7
(20,654/563,062) / 2005/06 / 25.0
(6/24) / 2005/06
Portugal [33] / 25.9
(98,664/380,937) / 2004/05 / 66.7
(110/165) / 2004/5 / 27.9 (67,157/241,054) / 2004/05 / 69.2 (46/65) / 2004/05
Romania[34] / 33.8
(265,243/785,506) / 2007 / 55.0
(37/67) / 2003 / 23.1
(50,576/218,860) / 2005/06 / 49.0
(52/107) / 2005/06
Russia[35] / 14.9
(1,024,000/ 6,884,000) / 2004 / 38.2
(409/1,071) / 2004 / 9.9 / 2000 / 37.1 / 2000
Serbia[36] / (-/239,000) / - / 49.3
(33/67) / - / - / - / - / -
Slovak Republic[37] / 9.8
(20,098/ 204,082) / 2006 / 45.0
(9/20) / 2006 / - / - / - / -
Slovenia[38] / 2.6
(3,552/136,990) / 2007/08 / 27.6
(8/29) / 2007/8 / - / - / - / -
Spain[39] / 9.6 / 2001 / 30.0 / 2003 / 9.0
(132,000/1,463,000) / 2004/05 / 32.4
(24/74) / 2006/07
Sweden[40] / 7.3****
(30,476/414,657) / 2003 / 40.0
(24/60) / 2005 / - / - / 17.6
(3/17) / 2006/07
Switzerland[41] / - / - / - / - / - / - / - / -
Turkey[42] / 5.8 / 2005/06 / 26.1
(30/115) / 2005/06 / 5.8 / 2005/06 / 26.1
(30/115) / 2005/06
Ukraine[43] / 12.0
(237,100/2,264,767) / 2003 / 17.6
(175/997) / 2003 / - / - / - / -
United Kingdom[44] / 0.0
(0/2,336,111) / 2006 / - / - / - / - / 0.7
(1/139) / 2006
* Azerbaijanand Kazakhstan are listed in the Asia table, though they could also be listed in the Europe table.
** We use year 2002 in the title but as of now the only available data we could retrieve forSpainwas in 2001.
*** Caution: Although the data come from the most reliable sources we could find—usually official sources—criteria and inclusiveness both vary greatly across countries, so comparisons should be drawn only with caution. For example, the meaning of higher education, university, and tertiary education varies. In some databases, only accredited or at least licensed institutions are counted; in others, the figures are more broadly inclusive. There are also differences in how to count enrolments and in many other respects. Attention to such matters is keener in PROPHE’s in-depth data work on individual countries. See http://www.albany.edu/dept/eaps/prophe/data/national.html
**** For several West European countries, there is great ambiguity on what is private. The OECD and Eurydice databases refer to public institutions and to independent private and also to government-dependent private institutions. The latter two types may be legally private, administered by non-government agencies such as churches, businesses, trade unions, or other bodies. Yet only the independent privates normally are seen as functionally private within the country. According to both databases, the difference between independent private institutions and government-dependent private institutions lies in the degree of core funding a private institution gets from government. If an institution receives 50% or more of its core funding from the government, it is considered government-dependent; in turn, if an institution receives less than 50% of its core funding from the government, it is counted as independent private institution. In each case we put the inclusive private figure into the table and then give the independent private figure in the note to that country. PROPHE’s general preference is to list and count as private whatever is legally private and to count as public whatever is legally public—and then explore empirically what these institutions are like in practice. Additionally, many government-dependent institutions are more autonomous (or “private”) in government than are public institutions, and, in any event, the 50% core funding mark is somewhat arbitrary. Still, in the interest of full information, we show separately both the total private figure (in the table) and the independent private share (in the notes).
***** The main preparers of this table are Daniel Levy, Prachayani Praphamontripong, Snejana Slantcheva, and Chunyue Zhang.
[1]Endnotes
Bozo, Dhurata. (2009) “Balkan Region: The Turbo-Style Experience”: Albania. Paper presented at the OAR-NVAO Conference “Business as unusual--Private Higher Education in Europe: Fact-Finding, Experiences, Pathways,” Vienna, May 7-8, 2009, available at http://www.akkreditierungsrat.at/files/Seminar2009/Presentations_Vienna_7_8May2009/08_Bozo.pdf.
[2] National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia at http://www.armstat.am/ and its annual statistical reports at: http://www.armstat.am/StatData/taregirq_05/taregirq_05_7.pdf; http://www.armstat.am/Publications/2004/soc_book/soc_book_3.pdf;
http://www.armstat.am/Publications/2001/Armenia2001-eng/Armenia-3.pdf;
http://www.armstat.am/Publications/2003/Armenia-2002/Armenia-02-III.3.1.3.pdf
[3] Data on enrolments of higher education institutions from Austrian accreditation agency. Here the private higher education institutions refer to government-dependent private institutions. But private universities were established following the 1999 University Accreditation Act and privately maintained educational institutions may be officially recognized as private universities by the state and acquire the right to confer academic degrees. Source: the Eurydice: http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home. Not counting government-dependent institutions but counting university colleges yields a private higher education share of 4.4%.
[4] The State Statistical Committee of the Azerbaijan Republic (at http://www.azstat.org/); Statistical Yearbook of Azerbaijan 2004 at http://www.azstat.org/publications/yearbook/SYA2004/Pdf/08en.pdf
[5] Data from the General Information Analytical Centre for the Ministry of Education Republic of Belarus. “Higher Educational Institutions in Belarus” Statistical reference book, Minsk, 2005.
[6] Belgian data from OECD Complete databases: http://stats.oecd.org. Here the private higher education institutions refer to government-dependent private institutions. But see note 32.
[7] See Bozo, note #1.
[8] Data for 2008/9 from the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria, available at http://www.nsi.bg/SocialActivities_e/Education_e.htm
[9] See Bozo, note #1.
[10] For the academic year 2005/06, the only university is the University of Cyprus. For academic year 2007/08 24 private institutions of tertiary education were registered with the Ministry of Education and Culture. By decision of the Council of Ministers in September 2007, the first three private universities were allowed to operate in October 2007.
Eurydice: http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home.
[11] Czech Statistical Office. (2004) Statistical Yearbook of the Czech Republic 2003 (in the Czech language). Retrieved from http://www.czso.cz/csu/edicniplan.nsf/p/10n1-03 on March 23, 2006. Private university data is also from the Czech Statistical Office, 2007. http://www.czso.cz/csu/2008edicniplan.nsf/engkapitola/10n1-08-2008-2100
[12] Danish Data from OECD Complete databases: http://stats.oecd.org. Here the private higher education institutions refer to government-dependent private institutions. On the other hand, Eurydice reports there are no private institutions as such at this level. Eurydice: http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home and the European Accreditation Council reports that Denmark does not allow private higher education.
[13] Statistical Office of Estonia, Statistical Database, available at http://www.stat.ee. Note: includes also private vocational education institutions that offer higher education. Data for 2008/09 from the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, http://www.hm.ee.
[14] Finish data from OECD Complete databases: http://stats.oecd.org. Here the private higher education institutions refer to government-dependent private institutions. On the other hand, Eurydice reports there are no private institutions at this level. It notes there are two sectors in tertiary education, universities and polytechnics (professionally-oriented), with all universities state-owned, but polytechnics either municipal or private and its higher education data here omits polytechnics. Eurydice:http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home. Until the 1990s, the university system in Finland was synonymous with the higher education system.
[15] Eurydice: http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home. France has 134 private technical and consular institutes of higher education, with 44 private engineering schools and 90 private and consular superior institutes of business and Management. There are 13 private universities (including 5 Catholic ones), which offer general university education programs. Data on enrolments from OECD Complete databases: http://stats.oecd.org. Here private higher education institutions refer to both government-dependent and independent private institutions. If including only independent private institutions, the private % to total HE enrolment in France is 14.0%.
[16] Ministry of Economic Development of Georgia, State Department for Statistics Statistical Abstract, Tbilisi,2003
[17] The overwhelming majority of higher education institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany are public, maintained by the Länder (“states”). Data on HEI comes from Higher Education Compass, the German Rectors Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz - HRK), available online at http://www.hrk.de/index_eng.php. Private HEIs include State approved private HEIs and Church approved private HEIs. Data on universities from Eurydice. http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home
[18] Pursuant to the Constitution of Greece, higher education is public and is provided solely by the State free of charge.
Eurydice: http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home. De facto, private institutions exist, without State recognition of degrees. Bozo shows for 2008 total higher education enrolment at 587,000, with no private figure, but also that 9 of Greece’s 70 institutions are private, 12.9%. See Bozo, note #1.
[19] Statistical Guide, Higher Education 2005/06. The Ministry of Education and Culture, 2006. Preliminary data from the Ministry in Berde and Vanyolos 2008. Hungarian enrolment figures do not include enrolments in church-run institutions, which are officially considered non-state institutions. Institutional numbers give the percentage of private institutions of all other institutions (state and church-run combined).
[20] Iceland has three private higher education institutions but “government-dependent” as they get more than 50% of their core funding for teaching and facilities from the central government, according to the same funding formula as the public institutions. The institutions are subject to the provisions of the Universities Act but they also operate according to their individual charters, which are confirmed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. Eurydice: http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home.
[21] Eurydice http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home. Ireland’s private higher education institutions are either private aided or government-aided institutions.
[22] Israeli data contributed by Gury Zilkha, PROPHE Associate Colleague. The figures for 2005/06 derive from the PBC; there were 26,860 enrolments in private institutions in 2005/6, with estimates for 2006/7 around 30,000.
[23] Italian data on private institutions, private universities and their enrolments from Rising Role and Relevance of Private Higher Education in Europe, THE CEPES-UNESCO. Data on enrolments of higher education institutions from OECD Complete databases: http://stats.oecd.org. Here the private higher education institutions refer to independent private institutions.
[24] See Bozo, note #1.
[25] Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, 2007/08 available at : http://data.csb.gov.lv/Dialog/Saveshow.asp
[26] 2006/07 Lithuanian data calculated from the State Department of Statistics Data. 2008, 2005/06 data is from Eurydice, available at http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home.