Alignment of the Governance System for Private Higher Education in Indonesia

With more than 3,000 private higher education institutions, and around 70 percent of all students in the country enrolled in them, Indonesia has a particularly large, dynamic, and diverse private higher education sector. The country’s economic and political environment can be characterized as conducive to private institutions offering academic programs. At the same time, the higher education sector in the country faces enormous challenges — especially with respect to the difficulties to uphold academic standards on a broad basis. Providing a framework for this sector — one characterized by appropriate governance structures that ensure quality — is of particular importance for Indonesia. The governance-equalizer model, a well-established tool, was used to analyze how leaders of higher education institutions view governance structures in the sector in Indonesia: A survey was conducted asking them what kind of reform of governance in private higher education institutions they would suggest in order to make the system more effective. Rectors, vice rectors, and other academic leaders shared their perspectives on the role of government, stakeholders in higher education institutions, leaders of higher education institutions, and on academics as well as competition. The most important findings were a preference for the closer involvement of stakeholders and equally strong support for competitive forces within higher education too.