A private university is a university that is run without the control of any government entity.^[1] Private universities are common in Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Chile, India, Japan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Portugal, and the United States but do not exist in some countries. Tuition at private universities tends to be much higher than at public universities,^[2] which might not have tuition fees.

Private universities sometimes run condensed courses with shorter vacations allowing students to complete a three year degree in two years for example. This reduces living costs and allows students to start full time work sooner, but some would argue that it does so at the expense of the overall student experience.

Australia

Bond University is Australia's first private university, founded in 1987.^[3] It runs three semesters per year (correlating exactly with the Northern and Southern Hemispheres' schedules), which allows a student to complete a six semester degree in two years and an eight semester degree (e.g. Law) in under three years.^[4]
Since Bond University's foundation, the University of Notre Dame Australia has also been founded as a private university, in 1989. They remain Australia's only private universities.

Austria

In Austria, institutions must be authorised by the state to legally grant academic degrees. In 1999, a federal law (Universitäts-Akkreditierungsgesetz) was passed to allow the accreditation of private universities. The Akkreditierungsrat (accreditation council, [1]) evaluates applicants and issues recommendations to the responsible accreditation authority, the Federal Ministry of Education, Science, and Cultural Affairs.

Accreditations must be renewed regularly and can be withdrawn, e.g. in case of repeated academic misconduct. In 2003, the accreditation of International University Vienna was withdrawn. In 2006, when the accreditation of IMADEC University expired, the accreditation council rejected the request for renewal.

Austrian law demands private universities use the term Privatuniversität (literally "private university") within their German name, although the formal name in other languages, e.g. in English, is not regulated. While the legal definition of "private university" prohibits funding by the Republic of Austria, it still allows funding by other public bodies. Consequently, some of Austria's private universities are funded by provincial governments.

Accreditation of private universities started in 2001. Today, there are 11 private universities in Austria. Most of them are small (fewer than 1000 students) and specialised in only one or two fields of study:

• Anton Bruckner Private University for Music, Drama, and Dance in Linz
• Catholic-Theological Private University Linz
• Konservatorium Wien in Vienna
• Modul University Vienna
• Paracelsus Medizinische Privatuniversität in Salzburg
• PEF Private University of Management Vienna in Vienna and Graz
• New Design University in St. Pölten
• University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology in Hall in Tirol
• Sigmund Freud University Vienna
• TCM Privatuniversität Li Shi Zhen in Vienna
• Webster University Vienna (also accredited in the USA)

Two former private universities are not accredited any more:

• International University Vienna: Accreditation was withdrawn due to academic misconduct
• IMADEC University: First accreditation period ended in January 2006 and was not renewed

Bangladesh

Private university system in Bangladesh started in 1992 and all the private universities in Bangladesh are established under the Private University Act 1992^[5]. During the early 90's government as well as the civil society of Bangladesh felt that existing public universities are not sufficient to meet the constantly increasing high demand of higher education in Bangladesh. Moreover, to maintain the quality education most of the reputed public universities kept themselves extremely selective and each year a large number of students failed to get admitted into the higher educational institutions. All those issues leaded them to permit private sectors to establish universities. On 9 August, 1992, the Private University Act (Act 34) 1992 was passed and with in the next few years a good number of private universities were established in Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi and Sylhet. North South University(1992) was the first private university in Bangladesh and Independent University, Bangladesh(1993), American International University - Bangladesh(1994), Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology(1995), East West University(1996) etc. are some earliest private universities of the country. University Grant Commission Bangladesh is the monitoring body for all the private and public universities in Bangladesh.

China

In the late 19th and early 20th century the first private universities in China were founded by missionaries, such as St. John's University and Aurora University in Shanghai, Yenching University in Beijing (Peking), and Ginling Women's University and University of Nanking in Nanjing (Nanking). During the Republican era, all public universities were all designated "National Universities". (This is still the case in Taiwan, where the Republic of China still exists e.g. National Taiwan University.)

All universities were made public following the 1949 revolution and the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The first private university in the PRC is Sanda University, founded in 1992 and not authorized to issue university degrees.

Chile

In the 80s the government of Pinochet split up of Chile's few but large universities into minor private owned universities. Chiles traditional universities lost almost all their campuses outside Santiago these new universities. Despite of a growing number of private universities, as of 2006, Chile's most prestigious universities continued to be two state owned universities.

Germany

In Germany, Witten/Herdecke University was the first private university, founded in 1982. In the 1990s many private universities were newly founded and today, there are 63 private universities and universities of applied sciences in Germany. However, all German private universities are relatively small and the 233 public universities in the country are therefore more important within the German higher education system. Witten/Herdecke University, with just over 1000 students, is also the largest private university in Germany. Most German private universities specialise in relatively few majors, most often in business and information technology related subjects.

There are also 43 so called church-run universities in Germany, founded and operated by churches. In most other countries they would be considered to be private universities since they are run without the control of a government entity. German law defined church-run universities as a third type of university besides public and private institutions. Church-run universities specialise in church music, nursing, religious education, social work, special needs education, curative/therapeutic education and theology. The most outstanding is Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.

Hungary

• Central European University in Budapest, a founding member of the European University Association (EUA)

Hong Kong

• Shue Yan University: acquire the university status on 19 December, 2006.

India

Lovely Professional University is one of the Punjab's first private university, it is established by State Legislature and recognised under the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act.

Amity University in the National Capital of New Delhi is one of India's first private Universities. It is established by State Legislature and recognised under the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act.

Vedanta University, near Bhubaneswar, Orissa will be India's first large multidisciplinary university.^[6]. It will start functioning in 2008.

The Global Open University, Nagaland has been legislated by the Government of Nagaland (India) under The Global Open University Act 3 of 2006.

Lebanon

There are 19 private universities in Lebanon.^[7] Among theses universities, two are internationally aknowledged, namely, the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese American University.^[8] The languages of teaching in private universities are mainly French and English, while Arabic is widely used in religious universities and Armenian in the Armenian university. The first university opened in Lebanon is a private one, Université Saint-Joseph, founded by the Jesuits in 1875.

United Kingdom

The private university/public university split does not fit the United Kingdom university system very well. British universities have institutional autonomy, which is well respected as it has developed over centuries, but in the first half of the 20th century they came to rely on the government for most of their funding. The only university which is wholly privately financed is the University of Buckingham, which has a low profile within the UK and caters largely for overseas students.

United States

In the U.S., most of the prestigious universities - including those belonging to the Ivy League - are private. While many liberal arts colleges are likewise private, there are also public liberal arts colleges. Some private universities are closely affiliated with religious organizations, e.g., the University of Notre Dame, and some are directly operated by religious organizations, e.g., Brigham Young University.

Although both private and public universities can be accredited, some private universities are not accredited (see list of unaccredited institutions of higher learning), and their degrees are not formally recognized. Some are simply diploma mills.

Private universities are not limited by the restrictions on government action in the same way that public universities are. For example, religious institutions can expressly forward their religious beliefs and teach that other religions are incorrect. Private universities also generally have a freer hand in setting admissions policies than public institutions. E.g., universities in the Ivy League historically based their selections on many factors other than academic performance, including "lineage," "character", and "personal" characteristics.^[9] In recent years, however, many private universities have been making an effort to appeal to and recruit academically talented students from underprivileged backgrounds.

The U.S. system of education has also been exported to other countries. Private universities such as the American University in Cairo and the American University of Afghanistan typically offer a liberal arts curriculum to their students.

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