The market for corporate embedded colleges in England: a history in three stages

Abstract

ABSTRACT The corporate and global sector for university preparatory programmes, also known as international foundation programmes or embedded colleges, have been identified as examples of the commodification and marketisation of higher education. In this paper, I draw on an extensive set of interviews and documents to provide a more complete history of the market for corporate embedded colleges in England. I identify three distinct market stages that highlight key breaks in market structures, norms, and practices. The first market stage, spearheaded by American and Australian companies, is characterised by substantial growth and low recruitment costs. The second market stage spreads across all the major regions in England and is characterised by clearly recognised market players, regulation, and more direct forms of competition. The third market stage is characterised by higher recruitment costs and lower growth rates exposing the internal contradictions of the market. Taken together, I show how markets are distributed systems that vary across time and localities. Such a long-term perspective on education markets, I argue, can provide higher education stakeholders important counterpoints to short-termism and economisation.