The limits of market reform in higher education

In the last two decades the dominant policy model in higher education has been the NPM market model. Most national governments have introduced reforms such as corporatization of institutions, intra-system competition, entrepreneurship, private income raising, contractual planning, output formats, performance reporting, accountability and audit mechanisms. Some features of the model such as competition, output formats and increased private funding have been widely adopted. But functioning capitalist markets have not and will not be created. Commercial tuition markets have been created only in marginal vocational training, and international education. WTO-GATS driven trade liberalization has stalled. Research remains largely in the public domain. The NPM market model is a cul-de-sac. It is blocked by the economic social character of higher education and research: the public good nature of knowledge, the indirect character of most of the economic effects of education, and the character of status competition.