Describes attempts to establish at least 20 private universities in Australia between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s, of which only 4 remain viable. Discusses five categories of national higher-education environments. Suggests that most proposed private universities were undermined by their overtly commercial character and the strength and…

Assesses two recent Australian studies of diversity in higher education institutions, both financed by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Training, and Youth Affairs. Study results suggest significant diversity among universities in a number of areas, most of them closely associated with the history of the system. At the same time, state…