Today and in most countries, governments are not able to provide;
universities with needed fund and facilities as a result of the growing;
number of universities and their students. Therefore, to achieve their goals,;
universities look for different ways of funding their programs without;
diverting from their main path of producing science and knowledge.;
Privatization is, thus, regarded as a policy for development of the higher;
education and ensuring financial independence of universities which can;
have positive and negative effects. The goal of this study is to identify the;
most important consequences of privatization of state-run universities in;
Iran. Following a theoretical discussion, two basic questions are posed and;
answered: 1) What are the most important consequences of the privatization;
of the higher education in Iran? and 2) What can be done to eliminate or;
reduce negative impacts of privatization? Research findings show that;
experts consider higher economic pressure on lower classes and emergence;
of class-oriented higher education in favor of the upper classes, increased;
independence of universities and higher flexibility of their managements, as;
well as promotion of the scientific status of the higher education are the;
most important consequences of privatization in this sector.
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