Private Higher Education and Public Policy in Africa (PDF)

Private higher education and public policy are recurring themes in international higher education
discourse. In Africa, the field of private higher education is still in its infancy in relation
to development in other regions of the world. This in turn, calls for an understanding of
its evolution and dynamics both for the benefit of African research community and international
stakeholders. Many country-case studies in Africa are still required. This book is a
response to this need by focusing on two African countries namely Nigeria (in West Africa)
and Botswana (in Southern Africa). The book contributes to the growing stock of knowledge
on private higher education in Africa, and thereby, provides a useful basis for validating
global generalizations on private higher education. Among the issues discussed are the
nature, growth and types of private higher education institutions; state of private higher
education in the five sub-regions of Africa; the emergence of private higher education in
Nigeria and Botswana; the debate over the desirability of private higher education institutions
amidst widespread poverty; ownership profile of private higher education institutions in
Nigeria and Botswana; their enrollment capacity and potentials; sustainability questions;
effectiveness of quality assurance agencies; and lastly the issue of public policy and the
future of private higher education in Africa.