FORMATION OF THE GLOBAL MARKET OF HIGHER EDUCATION SERVICES: COMPETITION OR COOPERATION

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of issues of contemporary processes related to global higher education dynamics. The paper is based on the analysis of research results of well-known researchers of global higher education reality, as well as on the author’s own research results within the Erasmus program. It states that new aspects of the mission of a university as an institution were added to such aspects as research, teaching and service, in accordance with social requirements. It also reveals that the concept of the world-class research university of the XXI century of Prof. P. Altbach and the model of the entrepreneurial university of Prof. B. Clark, which work in the conditions of growing competition between higher education, represent a new world higher education reality in the early XXI century. The paper reveals that the global market of higher education services has been established as an instrument of higher education changes. In this context, the traditional providers of educational services and the “new providers” compete for or complement the supply. The paper shows that the traditional providers of educational services are public and private universities. It emphasizes that University has become only one of the actors in the new “knowledge business” nowadays and discusses that recently we have witnessed the emergence of new types of higher education providers. The paper considers the emergence of new providers of higher education as indicators of the direction of higher education dynamics in the immediate future. These “new providers” include corporate universities, virtual universities and online courses, a certification system of competence in computer technology, commercial IT and media companies, networks of professional associations, national or international research networks, international conglomerates and consortia, and publishers, who are designing and delivering course materials, sometimes in partnership with universities. It is highlighted that to operate and develop in current higher education dynamics, universities should simultaneously compete, positioning themselves, and cooperate, overcoming obstacles by joint efforts with partners.
 Keywords: higher education; higher education dynamics; market of higher education services; internationalization; World-class research university; entrepreneurial university; corporate university; virtual university; mixed mode training called Hybrid; providers of educational services.