UCU warns against privatisation push in higher education white paper

On the eve of the expected publication of the long-awaited higher education white paper, UCU said the government had to look properly at recent warnings against a push to allow for-profit companies greater access to higher education and taxpayers' money.

Last month a report from the government-funded Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) came to light that warned of the damage for-profit companies could do to the UK's global reputation for excellence.

The report said that:

• for-profits' short and long-term goals may not match the national interest and could lead, as in the case of Australia, to international reputational damage       
• for-profits are subject to much lighter regulation than mainstream universities and provide less public information about the service they provide to students
• for-profits and private providers offer qualifications which may not be widely recognised
• for-profits may cherry pick profitable courses and put public universities in financial danger.

The union says the report's warnings are backed up by the experience of for-profits in America. Scandals around the selling of courses to students have prompted an investigation by the US Senate into companies such as Apollo and have seen for-profits described as 'sub-prime education'. Apollo, which is subject to numerous US complaints about its course quality and unethical marketing, already owns the UK-based for-profit institution BPP.

UCU also pointed to a survey of 500 professors earlier this month which revealed that over four-fifths (85%) thought for-profit providers would offer lower quality courses than public universities, if they are given the green light to expand in the white paper.

The survey also revealed that:

• 81% of the professors questioned said they believed an expansion of for-profit providers would lead to a decline in the UK's global reputation
• 79% warned that qualifications offered by for-profits would be viewed as inferior by employers
• 80% said companies with a primary obligation to shareholders should not have access to loans funded by taxpayers' money
• 66% said there needed to be tighter regulatory checks on for-profit companies than public universities.

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'The government needs to look hard at the warnings coming in from its funding council, esteemed academics and America before pushing ahead with any rash plans to allow private companies greater access to our higher education system and taxpayers' money.

'The government's higher education policy is already in complete disarray after it got its sums wrong on fees. However, bringing in for-profit providers is not the answer to the current funding crisis in higher education. If the government ignores these warnings, millions of students face being ripped off by private operators whose main interest is their own profits, not education.'