WENR

Free Degrees to Fly

Feb 24th 2005

From The Economist print edition

There used to be three near-certainties about higher education. It was supplied on a national basis, mostly to local students. It was government-regulated. And competition and profit were almost unknown concepts. As most education was publicly funded, the state had a big say in what was taught, to how many and for how long. Insofar as it existed at all, competition was a gentlemanly business; few educators thought much about customers, fewer about profit.

To view this article in its entirety please proceed to The Economist homepage at www.economist.com [1].