Page 61 - EW January 2025

that while the campus is not expected to make money in
the short term, over time “the numbers have to stack up”.
With a large youth population, a growing middle class
and limited higher education capacity, India’s appeal to
Western institutions is clear. Two Australian institutions —
Deakin and Wollongong universities — have already opened
teaching spaces in Gift City, a special economic zone in Gu-
jarat, with others expected to follow.
Despite the financial incentives of setting up in Gift City,
Southampton chose Gurugram for its amenities and infra-
structure, says Prof. Atherton, as well as for its proximity
to Indian companies, start-ups and multinational organ-
isations. “One of the reasons we didn’t go for Gift City is
because it’s more focused on financial services and financial
services support,” he added. “So, our view is that the course European University of Madrid
portfolio would have been narrower.”
Southampton plans to launch its campus this year with plicit bet on private universities, while the regional govern-
six courses and introduce more each year. By the tenth year ment refuses to increase the budget of public universities.”
of operation, about two-thirds of the courses on offer at Spanish private universities are primarily owned by reli-
Southampton’s home campus will be available in India. En- gious institutions or major conglomerates. They can charge
rolment is expected to grow in line with this, with roughly far higher tuition fees than public universities, which have
150 students admitted when the campus opens, growing to their fees set by regional governments, prompting criticism
about 5,000 over the first decade. that private varsities privilege wealthy students and com-
While Southampton will also continue to explore options pound social inequality.
for new campuses in other countries — it currently has a “The comparative advantage of private universities lies in
shortlist of five locations, with a plan to open two addition- offering postgraduate programmes with clear professional
al campuses by 2030 — for now, the focus will remain on profiles, aimed at the labour market — doctors, managers,
launching smoothly in India. dentists, architects, psychologists and so on,” says Prof.
It’s not just about getting the approval, says Atherton. Sanchez-Cuenca. “There is a sort of bottleneck regarding
“Now the real work starts.” postgrad programmes in the public university system and
private universities fill this gap.”
SPAIN With the quality of private universities coming under
Private varsities boom scrutiny, a 2023 law introduced stricter conditions for the
establishment of new institutions, while the national gov-
SPAIN COULD SOON HAVE MORE PRIVATE ernment formed a working group earlier this year (2024)
universities than public ones if current trends con- to “reinforce the academic, economic, equipment and
tinue. However experts are raising concerns about teaching-level requirements to create a new university in-
quality, equity and an adverse impact on public institutions. stitution”. Some new universities, however, have “(found)
Currently, there are 91 active universities in Spain, of ways of circumventing requisites with the help of regional
which 50 are public and 41 are private. Five more private governments,” says Prof. Sanchez-Cuenca.
institutions have already been approved by the government,
with more in the pipeline; their numbers have almost tri- GULF
pled in the past three decades. The newest public univer- THE Arab University Rankings 2024
sity, meanwhile, is the Polytechnic University of Cartagena,
which opened in 1998. HEN TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION launched
While private universities’ share of Spain’s student popu- the Arab University Rankings three years ago,
lation is only about a fifth, 2023-24 saw them claim just Wuniversities in the prosperous Gulf states were
over half of Masters enrolments for the first time. As a de- the leading lights. But this year, institutions outside that
centralised country, Spain’s autonomous communities have region are showing strong signs of progress, proving that
the power to approve new universities; the proliferation of they can shine just as brightly as their Saudi and Emirati
private institutions, therefore, varies in intensity across the counterparts, despite facing tough economic, social and
country. political challenges.
“The biggest expansion is, by far, in the Madrid region,” This year’s edition of the THE Arab University Rankings
says sociologist Ignacio Sanchez-Cuenca Rodriguez, a pro- features Egypt and Jordan in the Top 10, with both coun-
fessor at Carlos III University of Madrid. “There is an ex- tries achieving their highest positions yet, as explored in

JANUARY 2025 EDUCATIONWORLD 61