Edupreneurs

The for-profit sector is an active, viable and financially
successful piece of the landscape of education and assumed to
continue growing (Breneman, 2005). “Edupreneurs” or private,
for-profit education companies provide desirable and affordable
educational products and services for students, or better,
customers. At the tertiary level, for-profit higher education is
defined “private institution[s] in which the individual(s) or
agency in control receives compensation other than wages, rent, or
other expenses for the assumption of risk” (NCES, 2003). In other
words, public higher education and private not-for-profit colleges
and universities on the one hand are not entitled to benefit
private interests and net earnings cannot be distributed to owners
or shareholders (IRS, 2003; Quoted after Kinser, K. & Levy,
D.C., 2005, p.6). On the other hand, for-profit institutions set
their goal to make a profit for their owners or shareholders
(Kinser, 2005). According to John Sperling (1997), For-profit
universities offer several advantages over non-profit institutions,
among which are the for-profit’s accountability for educational
effectiveness, operational efficiency, cost benefits, and the time
it takes them to respond to changes in the education needs. Fueled
by the trends of internationalization, globalization,
commercialization, and privatization in the education sector,
for-profit education expands worldwide. This research intends to
feature the Chinese echoes to the trend of For-profit education.
The purpose of the study is three-fold. To begin with, the author
aims to portray the scope and size of Chinese for-profit education
sector, and make a tentative classification for “Edupreneurs”
operating in Chinese education and training market. Next, the
author aims to show the panorama of Chinese for-profit education,
looking into the yesterday (causes of the emergence), today
(strengths and weaknesses of the operation), and tomorrow
(conceptualization of the optimal “Edupreneur”) of Chinese
“Edupreneurs”. Last but not least, the researcher proposes to
promote educational cooperation between Germany and China. Germany
is blessed with excellent educational resources and services, and
among one of the most popular destinations for international
student mobility. Nevertheless, Germany has been avoiding the
private surge, and thus a for-profit surge so far, even when faced
with severe budget cuts and funding problems. Is this a voluntary
or reluctant rejection, under the current educational system
lacking self-management and autonomy? A quest for combining
educational provision and consumption between Germany and China
will then be incorporated in this study. Qualitative research
methods are used to collect data. The primary source of data comes
from semi-structured interviews with middle or senior
administrators of selected for-profit educational companies. Other
sources include direct observation made by the researcher during
the periods of visiting the interviewees and companies; official
documents (archival records, legislation, ministerial
publications); internal documents; company fact book; company
website; journalism (newspapers, periodicals), and others.