Global Realities of Private Higher Education Private Higher Education in Asia Changing the Dynamics of Privateness and Publicness

The public role of higher education is a hot topic. But what about private higher education? Is the distinction between public and private higher education clear, or is it becoming blurred? Fundamentally, can private higher education institutions be treated as single characteristics or as highly diverse entities that require an adequate typology?
 
Private higher education in Asia, including Japan, has the largest student population in the world—actually, over half. Japan, in particular, has a highly developed and diverse private higher education sector ranging from world-class and semi-elite universities to demand-absorbing and product-oriented universities and colleges. Research on private higher education has a long history in Japan but has mainly targeted domestic audiences, including policymakers, private university leaders, staff, students, and alumni. The same is true in other countries in the region. Private higher education is occasionally treated as a minor or peripheral part of national higher education systems.
 
This book is the first comprehensive international study of private higher education in Asia. Seven country case studies—Japan, South Korea, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam—are analyzed based on a common research framework that covers typology, governance, and funding. The book is edited by three researchers: Daniel Levy, who led the Program for Research on Private Higher Education (PROPHE) as a professor at the State University of New York at Albany for a quarter of a century. The other editors are Quang Chau, a doctoral student at SUNY Albany and a faculty member at Vietnam National University Hanoi, and Akiyoshi Yonezawa, a professor at Tohoku University who is also serving as a visiting professor at the University of Tokyo from April 2024 to March 2026. Contributors from around the world contributed to the book through extensive online communication.
 
Universities in Japan and Asia are now deeply involved in global and regional academic networks, engaging in research dialogues through joint projects and publications. This also applies to the social sciences, including comparative higher education research. Through this book project, we discovered diverse perceptions of private higher education in this region. In Japan and South Korea, private higher education institutions are basically understood as nonprofit agencies, though many of them exhibit market-oriented behaviors through their demand-absorption and product-oriented characteristics. In socialist states such as China and Vietnam, private higher education institutions are legally recognized as “non-governmental” and privately funded. In Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia, private higher education institutions are occasionally for-profit and engaged in the education service trade.
 
We stress that Asian private higher education and social science research on the topic are highly dynamic and promising areas of study. We hope that this book stimulates your academic interest and leads you to the next stage of social science studies in Asia, especially private higher education.
 

(Written by YONEZAWA Akiyoshi, Visiting Professor, Graduate School of Education / 2025)