Franchising: sinful or virtuous?
31 August 2010, by Prof Gareth Parry
The practice of signing up students at one institution and paying for them to be taught at another has had a mixed reception. As a model taken from business, the critics of franchising highlight the threat to academic standards and relationships of trust posed by the advance of the market in higher education. Its defenders point to the contribution made to increasing and widening participation by offering courses in locations, styles and modes accessible to students.
