"Globalization and the emergence of for-profit higher education" (Morey)

So, this is the first posting in the inquiry area I am calling Institutions. The question is, how have institutions of higher education changed over the past 20 years and how was/is that reflected in the institutional site of my research, GSC?

Morey, Ann. "Globalization and the emergence of for-profit higher education." Higher Education 48 (2004): 131-150.

This article focuses on the ascendence of for-profit higher education, but there is a good deal here that is of interest. For example, she poses the question: What are forces of change in higher education in general and which have lead to the emergence of for-profit institutions?

1. globalization of economic, cultural, political, and intellectual institutions
2. revolutions in communications technologies
3. entrance and needs of adult learners
4. rising tuition at traditional colleges and universities (131)

Morey points to an important shift when for-profit schools were able to lobby, successfully, to receive state and federal financial aid (1970s and 1980s, but she doesn't pinpoint exact dates). She argues that throughout the 1970s and 1980s, for-profit or proprietary schools did not compete with traditional, non-profit colleges and universities and remained on the periphery of higher education" (133). But, she claims, during the final decade of the 20th century, this had begun to change as the number of proprietary schools grew and began "offering programs traditionally under the purview of non-profit higher education" (133).

Under the heading of what has driven changes that have allowed non-profits into the market, Morey points to the way in which " Distance education and distributed instruction have freed education from being time and place bound, making it more flexible and attractive to adult learners" and suggests that "This evolution is slower at higher education's traditional center and faster on the perimeter" (135).

Morey suggests that an "important factor in the growth of for-profit institutions is their ability to cater to adult students" (135) who, according to a study by Levine (1997) who conducted a study of undergraduate attitudes and experiences between1992 and 1997 and found that

older, part-time, and working students, especially those with children, wanted a different type of relationship with their college-a relationship that is more like those they have with their bank, supermarket or gas company. They want their colleges to be convenient, accessible, high quality for low cost, open during the evenings and on weekends, and have helpful staff,

available parking, and no waiting in long lines. Many are likely to prefer distance education so they can study at home or in the office [and] do not want to pay for services they do not use, such as recreational facilities and student extracurricular activities. For these students, higher education is just one of many activities in which they engage everyday and they value convenience, quality, service and cost. (135)