STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES 

İhsan Doğramacı
President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Bilkent University
Ankara, Turkey

     In Turkey until 1981 all university education was public and private higher
     education was unconstitutional.  In that year a constitutional amendment
     allowed private foundations to establish universities provided they be non-profit,
     adequately endowed and that the standard of teaching and research was no
     lower than that of public universities.  This opened the door, and in 1984
     Bilkent University became the first private institution of higher learning in
     Turkey.  Today one third of the 75 Turkish universities are private, which
     provides us with ample opportunity to discuss the strengths and weaknesses
     of the two types of institution. 

     After serving as the executive head of two public universities and chairman of the
     board of trustees of another, 20 years ago I established the first private university.
     This gives me a chance to present my personal experience regarding the theme
     of this 2005 I.C.H.E.