The primacy of the student in the age of consumer driven higher education

Abstract

Higher Education (HE) is a force for good and graduating students can expect to receive higher life time earnings as well as a range of other positive outcomes. Due to this the global HE sector is rapidly expanding and university administrators are starting to explore the benefits of aligning organisational practice with market principles. The embrace of such a consumer philosophy has many advantages as well as several significant disadvantages. Here, we consider the cause and effects of large scale marketisation of HE as well as effective frameworks for the application of a consumer-based narrative on the day to day running of a university. Using the United Kingdom’s HE sector as a case example we then consider the effects of performance based funding mechanisms such as the Research Excellence Framework (REF) as well as its younger cousin the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) and how excellence in both performance measures can provide a competitive based sector as well as ensure that students are placed front and centre of the culture of a thriving university. We conclude by suggesting a possible model for organisational practice that borrows from both market and non-market practice. This hybrid model for HE ensures that a university can benefit from the significant benefits of a competitive market environment as well as enjoy the protections of regulatory oversight.