Universities are not Corporations

For more than a decade there has been increasing public concern about the corporatization of the American public university, a process that has been going on for several decades. Articles and public opinion pieces decrying the transformation of public colleges and universities into corporations have appeared in many publications. Many attribute the process to the economic crisis of the 1970s, but it is important to understand that the process is driven throughout society by the proponents of neoliberal ideology. Those proponents set in motion the transformation of American public universities into corporate-like institutions, embedding their political beliefs in institutional practices. Neoliberal ideology holds that the market model is the best way for all organizations, including public institutions, to operate. In a sense, the market model is presented not only as the most effective and efficient model, but as the panacea for all societal ills. Beyond this emphasis, the principal elements of the ideology are: 1) radical individualism, 2) limited government, and 3) flexible labor. I discussed these elements in relation to society in general in the Fall 2017 issue of NEXO, 21(1).

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