A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE ON FOR-PROFIT HIGHER EDUCATION

This chapter highlights the status of for-profit higher education outside the United States. With its history of religious private higher education and new private expansion, Latin America represents an important case for investigating the role of for-profit provision within the private sector. There are at least six different ways in which for-profit higher education participates in cross-border activities. Foreign ownership of local institutions likely has engaged the strongest involvement of for-profit entities. A second model involves establishing branch campuses, exemplified by Raffles Education Corporation. A third form of cross-border provision comes from institutions that have developed an international identity, with branch campuses serving as opportunities for students to study abroad more than they cater to host country populations. A fourth model involves the sale of curricular materials to a partner institution in the host country. Fifth is a model that involves formal partnership arrangements. The final model for for-profit cross-border education is distance delivery.