Concern over Mexico's Demand-Absorbing
Private Higher Education
(Entry by Juan
Carlos Silas Casillas)
PROPHE SUMMARY
According to this news article published by La Jornada
based on an OECD report on Mexican tertiary education, the lack of adequate
regulation for private institutions promotes the proliferation of low-quality
institutions known in the Mexican jargon as "escuelas patito"
which make education into a low-quality commercial good.
The article highlights that the higher education system
in Mexico consists of 1892 institutions, 1179 private ad 713 public.
The explosive increase in the number of higher education institutions
and their enrolment in the recent years seems to have overwhelmed both
the policy framework and the existing regulatory scheme.
The article further suggests that private institutions,
in order to obtain the license for operation should comply with evaluations
from: a) the State Commission for the Planning of Higher Education on
each state (COEPES) or the Interinstitutional Committees for the Evaluation
of Higher Education (CIEEES) and become accredited members of the Federation
of Mexican Private Institutions of Higher Education (FIMPES). Accredited
members of FIMPES can adhere to a Program for Administrative Simplification
and be included in the List of Academic Excellence, which frees them
of frequent reports and "strict" supervision. Only 14 institutions
are in the list.
For the full story, see La Jornada, January 8,
2007, "Alarmante, la cantidad de escuelas patito que existen en
México: OECD." By Karina Aviles
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2007/01/08/index.php?section=sociedad&article=035n1soc
PROPHE Observation
For all the consideration of the leading private institutions, most
private institutions are not trying to gain accreditation or join FIMPES
or ANUIES. They are demand-absorbing/low-profile institutions. They
are often lacking in basic academic standing. It is unclear whether
new regulations would apply only to new institutions are all institutions.
In any event, the existence of demand-absorbing institutions and the
difficulty of regulating them, without limiting higher education access
and diversification, is a central challenge in country after country.
