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Paper abstract:

Martha Merrill examines the new domestic private universities (DPU) in Uzbekistan, permitted by a change in the Law on Education in 2020. The DPU, like the International Branch Campuses (IBCs) created, with government permission, by foreign nations, are encouraged by Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Mirziyoyev became President of Uzbekistan in December 2016, following the death of Islam Karimov. Karimov had emphasized specialized secondary education and had limited enrollments in higher education. Since 40% of the population of Uzbekistan in 2022 was under 24 (CIA World Factbook), and NEET youth (Not in Employment, Education, or Training) can cause instability, quickly establishing new universities, as well as new employment opportunities, became a priority for the Mirziyoyev government.

However, the DPU were most often initiated by wealthy business people who did not understand academic staffing, policy, and financing requirements, and, as several interviewees reported, expected to be making a profit in a year or two. For example, interviewees said, the founders appreciated the need for a few top administrators and for professors, but few grasped precisely what a registrar does or what kind of staffing a library requires. In addition, having themselves studied in institutions with policies handed down from Ministries, most founders were not prepared for the myriad of policy decisions that independent institutions have to make. One interviewee mentioned asking a colleague how he was deciding what to put on a university website; the colleague pulled out a file folder with hand-written materials staff had given him. In effect, there was no policy; he was simply posting whatever he was given.

Given the backgrounds and goals of the founders, most of the DPU focus on business and IT subjects, teach in English, are located in Tashkent, and charge very high tuition. Several interviewees stated that this market is already saturated and that alternatives were needed. One interviewee suggested teaching in Uzbek, and another advocated going out to the regions, where the facilities of former specialized secondary schools lie empty. However, many of the DPU, with no track records or graduating classes, are using partnerships with British universities and content validated by them as a mechanism of proclaiming quality. To maintain these international relationships, they must have programs taught in English.

The new domestic private universities, therefore, currently are serving a limited segment of society. Thus the goal of increasing access to higher education is not achieved.