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For-Profit Higher Education

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of International Higher Education Systems and Institutions

Synonyms

Proprietary higher education

Definition

For-profit higher education includes private institutions that are controlled by individuals, companies, venture capitalists or publicly-traded corporations. This is in contrast to private nonprofit higher education where ownership is invested in a charitable foundation, board, or religious entity. Excess revenue generated by for-profit institutions can be distributed to owners and shareholders, or invested in activities outside of the education sphere.

Introduction

For-profit higher education is a relatively new form of private higher education worldwide. Its introduction to higher education systems has generated controversies, in many cases resembling the debates over nonprofit higher education caused when the private sector was introduced in countries where public higher education dominated the scene. Although many countries have moved toward legally allowing for-profits, they are still a minority, and there is a lack of information...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Education Policy Studies, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Kevin Kinser

  2. Instituto de Humanidades (IDH) – Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas / Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Cordoba, Argentina

    Dante J. Salto

Authors
  1. Kevin Kinser
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  2. Dante J. Salto
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kevin Kinser .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea (Republic of)

    Jung Cheol Shin

  2. CIPES, Faculty of Economics, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Pedro Teixeira

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Kinser, K., Salto, D.J. (2017). For-Profit Higher Education. In: Shin, J., Teixeira, P. (eds) Encyclopedia of International Higher Education Systems and Institutions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9553-1_105-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9553-1_105-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-017-9553-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-9553-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education

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