Private higher education institutions have become increasingly important actors within higher education systems worldwide. Yet their organizational forms, institutional arrangements, and governance structures vary considerably across national contexts. The workshop aims to develop an internationally comparative perspective on different roles and functions of private higher education institutions within distinct national higher education systems. It examines how national traditions, regulatory frameworks, and institutional environments shape their emergence and transformation. Building on recent research that highlights the growing relevance of private higher education sectors, the workshop seeks to situate current German debates on non-state higher education within a broader comparative framework, drawing on country cases from different world regions.

Main thematic areas include:

• Governance arrangements between state steering, market coordination, and academic self-regulation;
• Non-profit and for-profit governance models and their institutional logics;
• Institutional differentiation, organizational change, and innovation in private higher education sectors;
• Comparative perspectives on historical trajectories and path dependencies;
• Relations between private higher education and labor markets, including employability and professional formation.

The workshop combines theoretically informed and empirically grounded comparative contributions from higher education studies, sociology, political science, cultural studies, and related fields. Beyond scholarly exchange, it aims to support the development of shared analytical perspectives on private higher education institutions, as well as to strengthen international research networks and foster future collaborative research initiatives.

09:30 AM–10:00 AM               Welcome & Registration

10:00 AM–10:30 AM               Introduction to Day 1

10:30 AM–11:15 AM               Keynote: A World of Private Higher Education

                                                Daniel Levy (State University of New York, NY)

11:15 AM–11:30 AM               Coffee Break

11:30 AM–12:15 PM               PHINK Project Overview: Analytical Framework and Key Findings on Private Higher Education in National Contexts

                                                Florian Hoffmann & Michael Hoelscher (University of Speyer, DE)

12:15 PM–01:00 PM               Lunch Break

01:00 PM–01:45 PM               World Regions:Private Higher Education in Europe

                                                Country Case: UK

                                                Stephen Hunt (University College London, UK)

                                                Country Case: Portugal

                                                Pedro Teixeira (University of Porto, PT)

01:45 PM–02:30 PM               World Regions:Private Higher Education in North America

                                                Country Case: USA

                                                Kevin Kinser (The Pennsylvania State University, PA)

                                                Country Case: Canada

                                                Cassidy Gong (University of Toronto, CA)

02:30 PM–02:45 PM               Coffee Break

02:45 PM–03:30 PM               World Regions: Private Higher Education in South America

                                                Country Case: Brasil

                                                Tilman Reitz (Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, DE)

                                                Country Case: Bolivia

                                                Willy Chambi (University of Speyer, DE)

03:30 PM–04:00 PM               World Regions:Private Higher Education in North Africa

                                                Country Cases: Comparing Egypt and Tunisia

                                                Daniele Cantini (Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM/University of Tunis)

04:00 PM–04:15 PM               Coffee Break

04:15 PM–05:00 PM               World Regions:Private Higher Education in Asia

                                                Country Case: China

                                                Jian Liu & Yanru Xu (University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, CN)

                                                Country Case: Russia

                                                Isak Frumin (Constructor University, DE)

05:30 PM–07:00 PM                Guided Tour of Speyer’s Historic City Centre

07:00 PM                                 Joint Dinner

09:00 AM–09:30 AM               Welcome Coffee

09:30 AM–10:15 AM               M-Transform Project Overview: Key Findings on Adaption and Change in German Private Higher Education

                                               Alexander Mitterle, Monique Lathan & Fiona Teske (Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, DE)

10:15 AM–10:45 AM               Convergence or Divergence across National Contexts?

                                               Pedro Pineda (University of Bath, UK) & Özgür Kadir Özer (Middle East Technical University, TR)

10:45 AM–11:15 AM               Coffee Break

11:15 AM–12:00 PM               Working Session 1: Towards a Shared Analytical Framework

12:00 PM–12:45 PM               Lunch Break

12:45 PM–01:30 PM               Working Session 2: Future Collaboration and Synergies                                                

01:30 PM–02:00 PM               Concluding Discussion & Farewell

02:00 PM                                End of the Workshop