Beware cherry-pickers

The granting of degree-awarding powers to the (private) College of Law may be the thin end of a very significant wedge. The failure of Buckingham University to grow into an institution on the scale of its publicly funded rivals has led to an assumption that private enterprise cannot thrive in UK higher education. Most other parts of the world suggest otherwise. The College of Law may be the model for more successful competitors: specialist providers cherry-picking popular areas and leaving the state to fill in the less lucrative gaps. The private sector will not develop overnight, but new technologies provide opportunities that educational entrepreneurs will soon be in a position to exploit.