Academic freedom in private higher education

Abstract

The paper examines the evolving status of academic freedom in private higher education. Historically, European scholarship has analysed academic freedom primarily from the perspective of traditionally dominant public institutions. However, the global rise of private providers—which in 2015 enrolled approximately 13.6% of students in Europe—necessitates a robust analytical framework to determine whether academic freedom is a universal right across all sectors or a conditional privilege dependent on ownership. To analyse academic freedom in private institutions, we utilise the ‘Onion Model’, distinguishing core freedoms (teaching, learning, research, dissemination, and self-governance) from supporting institutional conditions (autonomy, employment, and funding). Based on typologies of public policies regarding private higher education, we suggest two distinct approaches to academic freedom: the universalist approach, which mandates uniform standards across all sectors based on the public interest, and the differentiated approach, which allows private owners to limit academic freedom in favour of institutional mission or religious doctrine. Furthermore, we evaluate specific risks associated with identity-based (e.g. doctrinal constraints), elite/semi-elite (e.g. donor and reputational pressure), and demand-absorbing (e.g. market-driven precarity) types of institutions. As the boundary between ‘public’ and ‘private’ increasingly blurs, emerging hybrid configurations—such as ‘government-dependent private’ institutions—face even more complex challenges to academic freedom.