Private Higher Education Institutions in Ethiopia: Opportunities, Challenges, and Ways Forward

Abstract

The economic prosperity of a country is dependent on its physical and human capital stock Higher education is one of the means in the creation of this essential human capital. Recognizing this fact, the Ethiopian government created suitable environment for private investors to participate in the area. As a result, relatively within a short period, a number of private investors began to offer education at tertiary level. As the Ministry of Education put it, in 2007/2008 alone almost one fifth of the total enrollment (18.1%) goes to the private higher education institution. Recently however there are some concerns that private higher education institutions are not smoothly operating as they used to. This paper therefore has focused on answering pertinent questions related to the expansion and consolidation of private providers. The current context under which the private providers are working, opportunities that are available and challenges faced by the sector are identified and the way forward recommended.