Private Provision of Higher Education in Ethiopia: Emergence, Scope and Status

This chapter explores the nature, profile and trajectory of Ethiopian PHEIs in light of the various dimensions identified in the available global literature on private higher education (PHE). The chapter in particular examines the salient features of Ethiopian private higher education institutions (PHEIs), the significant benefits they have yielded in the last two decades and the substantial challenges they are enmeshed with. The findings provide substantial information about how PHEIs are increasingly fulfilling a role that was exclusively reserved to public institutions, and how the dilemma of meeting public demands for higher education can be met without necessarily expanding public budgets. Given the fact that the majority of PHEIs established in the past two decades are of the demand absorbing, family-owned and for-profit type, Ethiopian PHEIs rely on their own income, have limited financial capacity, engage in little research and are often influenced by the whims and decisions of their individual proprietors. On top of these limitations, societal and regulatory expectations demand that these institutions abide by defined sets of behavior and regulatory frameworks at par with public institutions. However, the extent to which PHEIs follow the dictates of the law and societal expectations is often questionable. It is hence suggested that while the government should enhance the growth of the sector PHEIs themselves should work toward meeting regulatory and societal expectations that have meaningful bearing on their sustainability.