A critical exploration of changing definitions of public good in relation to higher education

Discussion of the relationship between higher education (HE) and public good can be traced to Kant's argument that universities critically held society to account. Mill, Newman and Arnold suggested knowledge itself was a public good. In the twentieth century, economists argued education could drive national technological progress. More recently the public good of HE has been linked to social justice through increasing social mobility. In this paper I explore how the definition of public good has shifted over time and how UK government HE policies have incorporated these changes. I argue policy shifts have had an impact in altering the social contract between universities and the state. I suggest that current policy and practice is moving universities away from Arendt's notion that educators have a moral and social responsibility to inculcate new generations into the pre-existing knowledge of society and onto more individualised outcomes.