Europe’s Private and Public Higher Education Shares (2002-2009)*, **, ***, ****,
*****
Country
Private % of Total HE
Enrolment
Armenia2
12.0
(19,800/164,800)
26.6
(22,600/85,100)
Austria3
4.4****
Albania1
Azerbaijan4
Belarus5
Belgium6
Bosnia &
Hercegovina7
Bulgaria
8
Croatia9
Cyprus10
Czech
Republic11
14.4
(17,500/121,500)
15.2
(58,300/383,400)
55.4 ****
(218,373/394,427)
Year
2004
2003
2005
Private % of
Total HEIs
70.0
(28/40)
77.3
(68/88)
35.7
(15/42)
21.8
(12/55)
Year
Private % of Total
Univ. Enrolment
Year
Private %
of Total
Univ.
Year
-
-
-
-
-
2004
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
33.3
(11/33)
2005/06
2003
-
-
-
-
2005
-
-
-
-
2006
-
-
-
-
-
-
(-/12,200)
2006/07
73.3
(22/30)
2006
-
-
-
-
17.6
(58,380/332,654)
2008/09
30.2
(16/53)
2008/09
15.9
(39,107/246,523)
2008/09
16.3
(7/43)
2008/09
2008
-
-
-
-
11.3
(16,000/141,000)
66.6
(13,712/20,587)
8.9
(29,201/327,955)
2008
2005/06
2004
57.1
(28/49)
80.6
(29/36)
40.1
(95/237)
2005/06
2004
0.0
(0/4,861)
11.9
(40,939/344,180)
2005/06
2007
0.0
(0/1)
60.0
(42/70)
2005/06
2007
Denmark12
Estonia13
Finland14
France15
Georgia16
Germany17
Greece18
1.9 ****
(4,367/228,893)
18.0
(12,315/68,399)
10.5 ****
(32,393/308,966)
16.6 ****
(364,783/2,201,201)
19.2
(29,400/153,300)
4.9
(94,285/1,920,102)
0.0
Iceland20
13.6
(56,590/416,348)
22.9 ****
(3853/16,853)
Ireland21
7.0 ****
Israel 22
13.1
(26,860/205,149)
7.2
(146,796/2,029,023)
50.7
(38,000/75,000)
31.9
(40,713/127,760)
8.5
(16,438/193,928)
17.9
(11,509/64,254)
Hungary19
Italy23
Kosovo24
Latvia25
Lithuania26
The FYR of
Macedonia27
2006
-
-
0.0
2007/08
0.0
2007/08
2008/09
53.2
(24/46)
2004
-
-
-
-
2006
0.0
2006
0.0
(0/176,555)
2006
2005/06
-
-
2003
-
-
-
-
2008/09
1.2
(15,760/1,339,274)
2008/09
23.9
(21/109)
2008/09
2005/06
0.0
2005/06
0.0
2005/06
2006/07
-
-
-
-
2006/07
-
-
-
-
2005/06
-
-
-
-
2006
2003
2008/09
2005/06
2006/07
2005
2004
2005/06
2006
2007/08
2005/06
2007/08
4.2
(147/3,500)
85.2
(150/176)
34.3
(122/356 )
0.0
56.3
(40/71)
37.5
(3/8)
0.0
(0/20)
13.1
(8/61)
20.5
(17/83)
96.7
(32/33)
36.7
(22/60)
38.8
(19/49)
62.5
(5/8)
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2005/06
2004
0.0
2005/06
(0/123,010)
6.2
2006/07
(110,624/1,780,743)
29.7
(34,172/114,965)
3.5
(4,992/141,771)
-
0.0
(0/20)
15.5
(13/84)
0.0
(0/7)
23.0
(17/74)
2006
2007/08
2005/06
2006/07
-
-
-
2007/08
-
-
2005/06
33.3
(7/21)
2005/06
-
-
-
Moldova28
Montenegro29
Netherlands30
Norway31
Poland32
Portugal 33
Romania34
Russia35
Serbia36
Slovak
Republic37
Slovenia38
20.0
(26,500/110,200)
2003
(-/20,000)
-
69.9 ****
(361 177/516 769)
13.4 ****
(28,434/211,559)
34.1
(660464/1,937,401)
25.9
(98,664/380,937)
33.8
(265,243/785,506)
14.9
(1,024,000/ 6,884,000)
(-/239,000)
9.8
(20,098/ 204,082)
2.6
(3,552/136,990)
2002
2006/07
2007
2004/05
2007
2004
2006
2007/08
44.5
(48/108)
80.0
(4/5)
0.0
45.7
(32/70)
70.8
(315/445)
66.7
(110/165)
55.0
(37/67)
38.2
(409/1,071)
49.3
(33/67)
45.0
(9/20)
27.6
(8/29)
2003
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2006/07
-
-
-
-
2006/07
2005/06
2004/5
2003
1.0
(883/87,562)
3.7
(20,654/563,062)
27.9
(67,157/241,054)
23.1
(50,576/218,860)
2006/07
2005/06
2004/05
2005/06
8.3
(1/12)
25.0
(6/24)
69.2
(46/65)
49.0
(52/107)
2006/07
2005/06
2004/05
2005/06
2004
9.9
2000
37.1
2000
-
-
-
-
-
2006
-
-
-
-
2007/8
-
-
-
-
9.6
2001
30.0
2003
9.0
(132,000/1,463,000)
2004/05
7.3****
(30,476/414,657)
2003
40.0
(24/60)
2005
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Turkey42
5.8
2005/06
2005/06
5.8
2005/06
26.1
(30/115)
2005/06
Ukraine43
12.0
(237,100/2,264,767)
2003
2003
-
-
-
-
Spain39
Sweden40
Switzerland41
26.1
(30/115)
17.6
(175/997)
32.4
(24/74)
17.6
(3/17)
2006/07
2006/07
United
Kingdom44
0.0
(0/2,336,111)
2006
-
-
-
-
0.7
(1/139)
* Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are listed in the Asia table, though they could also be listed in the Europe table.
** We use year 2002 in the title but as of now the only available data we could retrieve for Spain was in 2001.
*** Caution: Although the data come from the most reliable sources we could find—usually official sources—criteria and
inclusiveness both vary greatly across countries, so comparisons should be drawn only with caution. For example, the meaning of
higher education, university, and tertiary education varies. In some databases, only accredited or at least licensed institutions are
counted; in others, the figures are more broadly inclusive. There are also differences in how to count enrolments and in many other
respects. Attention to such matters is keener in PROPHE’s in-depth data work on individual countries. See
http://www.albany.edu/dept/eaps/prophe/data/national.html
**** For several West European countries, there is great ambiguity on what is private. The OECD and Eurydice databases refer to
public institutions and to independent private and also to government-dependent private institutions. The latter two types may be
legally private, administered by non-government agencies such as churches, businesses, trade unions, or other bodies. Yet only the
independent privates normally are seen as functionally private within the country. According to both databases, the difference
between independent private institutions and government-dependent private institutions lies in the degree of core funding a private
institution gets from government. If an institution receives 50% or more of its core funding from the government, it is considered
government-dependent; in turn, if an institution receives less than 50% of its core funding from the government, it is counted as
independent private institution. In each case we put the inclusive private figure into the table and then give the independent private
figure in the note to that country. PROPHE’s general preference is to list and count as private whatever is legally private and to
count as public whatever is legally public—and then explore empirically what these institutions are like in practice. Additionally,
many government-dependent institutions are more autonomous (or “private”) in government than are public institutions, and, in
any event, the 50% core funding mark is somewhat arbitrary. Still, in the interest of full information, we show separately both the
total private figure (in the table) and the independent private share (in the notes).
***** The main preparers of this table are Daniel Levy, Prachayani Praphamontripong, Snejana Slantcheva, and Chunyue Zhang.
2006
Endnotes
Bozo, Dhurata. (2009) “Balkan Region: The Turbo-Style Experience”: Albania. Paper presented at the OAR-NVAO Conference
“Business as unusual--Private Higher Education in Europe: Fact-Finding, Experiences, Pathways,” Vienna, May 7-8, 2009, available
at http://www.akkreditierungsrat.at/files/Seminar2009/Presentations_Vienna_7_8May2009/08_Bozo.pdf.
1
2
National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia at http://www.armstat.am/ and its annual statistical reports at:
http://www.armstat.am/StatData/taregirq_05/taregirq_05_7.pdf; http://www.armstat.am/Publications/2004/soc_book/soc_book_3.pdf;
http://www.armstat.am/Publications/2001/Armenia2001-eng/Armenia-3.pdf;
http://www.armstat.am/Publications/2003/Armenia-2002/Armenia-02-III.3.1.3.pdf
3
Data on enrolments of higher education institutions from Austrian accreditation agency. Here the private higher education
institutions refer to government-dependent private institutions. But private universities were established following the 1999 University
Accreditation Act and privately maintained educational institutions may be officially recognized as private universities by the state
and acquire the right to confer academic degrees. Source: the Eurydice:
http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home. Not counting government-dependent institutions but
counting university colleges yields a private higher education share of 4.4%.
4
The State Statistical Committee of the Azerbaijan Republic (at http://www.azstat.org/); Statistical Yearbook of Azerbaijan 2004 at
http://www.azstat.org/publications/yearbook/SYA2004/Pdf/08en.pdf
Data from the General Information Analytical Centre for the Ministry of Education Republic of Belarus. “Higher Educational
Institutions in Belarus” Statistical reference book, Minsk, 2005.
5
6
Belgian data from OECD Complete databases: http://stats.oecd.org. Here the private higher education institutions refer to
government-dependent private institutions. But see note 32.
7
8
See Bozo, note #1.
Data for 2008/9 from the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria, available at
http://www.nsi.bg/SocialActivities_e/Education_e.htm
9
See Bozo, note #1.
10
For the academic year 2005/06, the only university is the University of Cyprus. For academic year 2007/08 24 private institutions of
tertiary education were registered with the Ministry of Education and Culture. By decision of the Council of Ministers in September
2007, the first three private universities were allowed to operate in October 2007.
Eurydice: http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home.
11
Czech Statistical Office. (2004) Statistical Yearbook of the Czech Republic 2003 (in the Czech language). Retrieved from
http://www.czso.cz/csu/edicniplan.nsf/p/10n1-03 on March 23, 2006. Private university data is also from the Czech Statistical Office,
2007. http://www.czso.cz/csu/2008edicniplan.nsf/engkapitola/10n1-08-2008-2100
12
Danish Data from OECD Complete databases: http://stats.oecd.org. Here the private higher education institutions refer to
government-dependent private institutions. On the other hand, Eurydice reports there are no private institutions as such at this level.
Eurydice: http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home and the European Accreditation Council reports
that Denmark does not allow private higher education.
13
Statistical Office of Estonia, Statistical Database, available at http://www.stat.ee. Note: includes also private vocational education
institutions that offer higher education. Data for 2008/09 from the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, http://www.hm.ee.
14
Finish data from OECD Complete databases: http://stats.oecd.org. Here the private higher education institutions refer to governmentdependent private institutions. On the other hand, Eurydice reports there are no private institutions at this level. It notes there are two
sectors in tertiary education, universities and polytechnics (professionally-oriented), with all universities state-owned, but polytechnics
either municipal or private and its higher education data here omits polytechnics.
Eurydice:http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home. Until the 1990s, the university system in Finland
was synonymous with the higher education system.
15
Eurydice: http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home. France has 134 private technical and
consular institutes of higher education, with 44 private engineering schools and 90 private and consular superior institutes of business
and Management. There are 13 private universities (including 5 Catholic ones), which offer general university education programs.
Data on enrolments from OECD Complete databases: http://stats.oecd.org. Here private higher education institutions refer to both
government-dependent and independent private institutions. If including only independent private institutions, the private % to total
HE enrolment in France is 14.0%.
16
Ministry of Economic Development of Georgia, State Department for Statistics Statistical Abstract, Tbilisi,2003
17
The overwhelming majority of higher education institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany are public, maintained by the
Länder (“states”). Data on HEI comes from Higher Education Compass, the German Rectors Conference
(Hochschulrektorenkonferenz - HRK), available online at http://www.hrk.de/index_eng.php. Private HEIs include State approved
private HEIs and Church approved private HEIs. Data on universities from Eurydice.
http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home
18
Pursuant to the Constitution of Greece, higher education is public and is provided solely by the State free of charge.
Eurydice: http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home. De facto, private institutions exist, without State
recognition of degrees. Bozo shows for 2008 total higher education enrolment at 587,000, with no private figure, but also that 9 of
Greece’s 70 institutions are private, 12.9%. See Bozo, note #1.
19
Statistical Guide, Higher Education 2005/06. The Ministry of Education and Culture, 2006. Preliminary data from the Ministry in
Berde and Vanyolos 2008. Hungarian enrolment figures do not include enrolments in church-run institutions, which are officially
considered non-state institutions. Institutional numbers give the percentage of private institutions of all other institutions (state and
church-run combined).
Iceland has three private higher education institutions but “government-dependent” as they get more than 50% of their core funding
for teaching and facilities from the central government, according to the same funding formula as the public institutions. The
institutions are subject to the provisions of the Universities Act but they also operate according to their individual charters, which are
confirmed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. Eurydice:
http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home.
20
Eurydice http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home. Ireland’s private higher education institutions
are either private aided or government-aided institutions.
21
22
Israeli data contributed by Gury Zilkha, PROPHE Associate Colleague. The figures for 2005/06 derive from the PBC; there were
26,860 enrolments in private institutions in 2005/6, with estimates for 2006/7 around 30,000.
23
Italian data on private institutions, private universities and their enrolments from Rising Role and Relevance of Private Higher
Education in Europe, THE CEPES-UNESCO. Data on enrolments of higher education institutions from OECD Complete databases:
http://stats.oecd.org. Here the private higher education institutions refer to independent private institutions.
24
See Bozo, note #1.
25
Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, 2007/08 available at : http://data.csb.gov.lv/Dialog/Saveshow.asp
26
2006/07 Lithuanian data calculated from the State Department of Statistics Data. 2008, 2005/06 data is from Eurydice, available at
http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home.
27
2007/08, State Statistical Office of Macedonia, http://www.stat.gov.mk/english/statistiki_eng.asp?ss=06.01&rbs=1. 2004 data from
the Ministry of Education and Science - the Board of Accreditation.
28
See Bozo, note #1.
29
See Bozo, note #1.
30
The Dutch data from OECD Complete databases: http://stats.oecd.org. Here the private higher education institutions refer to
government-dependent private institutions. According to Eurydice, private-sector institutions are not covered by the Higher Education
and Research Act as they only include foreign universities and business schools.
http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home. However, the Netherlands are usually reported with a
private sector. Karl Dittrich of the Dutch accreditation agency (presentation “New Players in a New Game,” May 8, 2009, Vienna)
reports around 10%. This includes the 70 “registered universities” (essentially professional schools), privately funded, while excluding
publicly-funded institutions, including not only research universities but theological ones and universities of applied sciences.
Traditionally, the private % was reported as much higher in the literature, with the Dutch system, like the Belgian, characterized as
having parallel private and public sectors, with similar treatment, especially financial. See Roger Geiger, Private Sectors in Higher
Education, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 1986.
31
The university sector is defined as 2 types of institutions: 1) universities and 2) specialized university institutions. There is no
private institution in university type; however, the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT) has accredited
the Norwegian School of Theology as a specialized university, and thus included that university in the specialized university
institution type. In addition, among the total 32 private higher education institutions, 24 institutions with recognized study programs
receive state funding for part of their activities. Source: The Education System in Norway, 2006/2007, “Eurybase, The Information
Database on Education Systems in Europe,” European Commission, EURYDICE, www.eurydice.org.
Eurydice http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home. Students enrolled in Poland’s private HEIs
may apply for financial support and be granted a state-budget. Data for 2007 is contributed by Marek Kwiek.
32
33
Portugal’s 2001 data from Ministry of Education - DGES (Department of Higher Education). 2004 data from OCES Observatório
da Ciência e Ensino Superior.
34
2007 Romanian data from the National Institute of Statistics, available at: http://www.insse.ro/cms/files/pdf/en/cp8.pdf. 2003
institutional data from The Rising Role and Relevance of Private Higher Education in Europe. UNESCO- CEPES, 2007. 2005/06 data
on university enrolments from Eurydice, available at: http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home
35
Center for the monitoring and statistics of education (CMSE) of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science. [Tsentr
monitoringa i statistiki obrazovaniya, Ministerstvo obrazovania i nauki]. (2004). Retrieved March 5, 2006, from
http://stat.edu.ru/stat/vis.shtml.
36
See Bozo, note #1.
37
Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic, 2006: http://portal.statistics.sk/showdoc.do?docid=11215
38
Eurydice, available at: http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home.
39
Spanish higher education system is composed of 2 broad types of institutions: 1) university tertiary education (private or public);
and 2) non-university tertiary education (also either private or public ownership). The non-university tertiary education sector includes:
1) Advanced vocational training and 2) Enseñanzas de régimen special institutions, specialized in artistic and sports studies. Sources:
The Rising Role and Relevance of Private Higher Education in Europe, CEPES-UNESCO, 2007. Data on % of private universities
comes from the Eurydice, available at: http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home
40
Swedish higher education system is composed of 2 types of higher education institutions, which both provide undergraduate
education: 1) universities; and 2) university colleges, with universities offering a broader range of programs and providing postgraduate programs. Within the university sector three private higher education institutions (though not called “university”) are
included since they offer undergraduate and postgraduate education. Some of the independent institutions get government grants,
others do not. The independent institutions that get governmental grants cannot charge tuition fees, but others can. We classify these
independent institutions as private and count their figures accordingly. Data on % of PHE institutions and data on universities come
from Eurydice, available at: http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home. Data on enrolments of higher
education institutions comes from OECD Complete databases: http://stats.oecd.org. Here the private higher education institutions refer
to both government-dependent and independent private institutions, with the lack from 2004 on, but the percentages from 2003.
41
Switzerland neither defines private nor reports data on it.
42
Turkish figures were obtained from Higher Education Statistics, annually published since 1983 by the SSPC, and the annual reports
submitted by the CHE to the Parliament. These can be accessed at http://www.yok.gov.tr and http://www.osym.gov.tr. Number of
private HEI students excludes open education students.
43
44
See Bozo, note #1.
Data on enrolments of U.K. higher education institutions from OECD Complete databases: http://stats.oecd.org with all their
institutions as government-dependent private institutions. On the other hand, according to Eurydice, without a university title a small
number of private higher education institutions offer their own degrees. Some other private institutions having neither university title
nor degree-awarding powers do provide courses yet receive no direct government subsidy, though their students may be eligible for
government financial aid like that for public students. http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice/DB_Eurybase_Home. The
only non-subsidized private university is the University of Buckingham which, arguably, should itself lead to some private higher
education enrolment figure.