FRANCHISED HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE CONTEXT OF “FREE AND PUBLIC EDUCATION” COUNTRIES: THE GREEK EXAMPLE

Ongoing developments in information and communication technologies, coupled with an emphasis put on the value of knowledge-driven societies, have been vehicles of a worldwide dramatic expansion of the social demand for higher education services, including the emergence of new variables of provision, alternative curricular forms and course contents and also changing qualifications. At the same time, budgetary constraints and infrastructure shortages of the public sector lay down fertile ground for the flourishing of internationalized facets of higher education, questioning traditional “free and public” perceptions and transforming education into a tradable service within the context of a million dollar global market. The establishment of local branch campuses or subsidiaries by foreign universities on the ground of other countries, as well as course offerings by domestic private colleges leading to degrees from foreign universities, appears progressively as an alternative type of higher education provision, which has gained considerable ground in many countries the past few years. The present article will report the situation in Greece, where the growing presence of foreign universities through franchise or validated partnerships with local private organizations seems to play an influential and critical role on the future shaping of the domestic higher education system and is further associated with essential aspects of an administrative and academic nature.