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AUSTRALIA

Bond University was Australia 's first private university, founded in 1987 . It runs three semesters per year (correlating exactly with the Northern and Southern Hemispheres' schedules), which allows a student to complete a six semester degree in two years and an eight semester degree (e.g. Law) in under three years.


CHINA

In the late 19th and early 20th century the first private universities in China were founded by missionaries, such as St. John's University and Aurora University in Shanghai , Yenching University in Beijing (Peking), and Ginling Women's University and University Of Nanking in Nanjing (Nanking). During the Republican Era , all public universities were all designated "National Universities". (This is still the case in Taiwan , where the Republic Of China still exists e.g. National Taiwan University .)

All universities were made public following the 1949 Revolution and the establishment of the People's Republic Of China (PRC). The first private university in the PRC is Sanda University , founded in 1992 and not authorized to issue university degrees.


UNITED KINGDOM

The private university/public university split is of little relevance to the British university system. British universities have institutional autonomy, which is well respected as it has developed over centuries, but in the 20th century they came to rely on the government for most of their funding. The only university which is wholly privately financed is the University Of Buckingham , which has a low profile within the UK and caters largely for overseas students.


UNITED STATES

Most private colleges and universities in the U.S. accept some government funding through grants and loans to students. Only a few remain that do not accept government funding.

Because private universities are not an extension of the government, they can engage in behaviors from which Public Universities as an extension of the government are prohibited.

For example, religious institutions can expressly forward their own beliefs. Some use this autonomy to teach that other religions are incorrect. They also are allowed to train clergy, which public universities may not. Both private and public universities can be nationally Acccreditated . Some private universities are not accredited (see List Of Unaccredited Institutions Of Higher Learning ), and their degrees are not formally recognised; some of these in turn have been characterised as Diploma Mill s.

Private universities have a freer hand to discriminate on the basis of race, religion or gender. For example, Bob Jones University in South Carolina refused to admit African-American students until 1971 , and until the year 2000 it was noted for prohibiting inter-racial relationships based on the belief that they were forbidden by the Bible .

In more recent years, Affirmative Action policies favored minority students - some private schools have more aggressive Affirmative Action than their public counterparts.

For the same reason, private universities generally have a freer hand in setting admissions policies than public institutions. Universities such as those of the Ivy League have historically based their selections on many factors other than academic performance, including "lineage," "character", and "personal" characteristics . Some observers state that these factors, intentionally or not, tended to favor applicants whose families who were part of the U. S. "power structure," and created a self-perpetuating association between certain schools and high social ranking. Thus it could be seen that graduates of some universities were statistically overrepresented in the Social Register . In recent years, however, prestigious private universities in the U.S. have been making a marked effort to appeal to and recruit academically talented students from underprivileged backgrounds. It should be noted that there are a variety of other factors, including family tradition, high test scores and high degrees of education besides the admissions process procedures that are partially responsible for this observation.

In the U.S., it is a valid generalization that many of most socially prestigious universities—such as those of the Ivy League — are private.

Most of the liberal arts colleges, such as those among the Five Colleges Of Ohio , are privately controlled. Many smaller or less prestigious private universities are run by religious orders, such as Gonzaga University and Brigham Young University . Several renowned private universities are also operated by or affiliated with religious organizations, such as Duke University , the University Of Notre Dame , and Georgetown University .

The U.S. system of education has also been exported to other countries. Private universities such as the American University of Cairo and the American University of Afghanistan {Link without Title} typically offer a liberal arts curriculum to their students.


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