“A thorn in the flesh”? Private universities in Germany, c. 1980–2010

Since the 1980s, private universities have been expanding faster than public institutions globally. Since then, Germany has also experienced a boom in private higher education. This article examines the causes of this trend. Supporters of the expansion of private universities hoped that these would act as a "thorn in the flesh" of public universities and stimulate competition and innovation. The article analyses the motivations of academics, politicians, foundations, commercial enterprises and for-profit investors for establishing private universities. It also assesses the effects of private institutions on the German higher-education sector. The article is based on publicly available material from private universities, media reports, parliamentary records and publications by scientific organisations. The discourse on private universities has been closely linked to discussions about the shortcomings of public universities and has been driven by neoliberal ideas of statehood and debates about globalisation. However, the expected effects on public universities failed to materialise because private universities have been struggling for resources and were constrained by regulations. It is primarily on the level of universities of applied sciences that private universities have been successful by integrating "non-traditional" students and by offering new study programmes.