Competition kills off private universities

Competition kills off private universities

SURAKARTA, Central Java: Stiff competition has forced about 50
percent of the country's 2,300 private universities to close
their doors, a rector says.

Sultan Agung University rector Rofiq Anwar said many private
universities had closed down now that the government allowed
state universities to offer new programs and raise funds so as to
become self-sufficient.

The fact that government decisionmakers are mostly state
university graduates led to policies beneficial to state
universities, he said.

"But private university graduates are lucky, as many
government officials have been implicated in corruption cases,"
Rofiq, who also heads region IV of the Association of Indonesian
Private Universities, said. -- Antara