ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a critical examination of three public purposes of English higher education (HE) forms. The three public purposes are: public good, public benefit and public interest. National differences abound in the definitions and characteristics of public universities and colleges as set by the relevant governments and/or states. The chapter focuses on the Office for Students ‘public interest’ governance principles, which form a condition of registration for approved providers. Following a move from an elite to a mass HE system, the framing of the public good purposes of universities shifts under a New Labour, neo-liberal model for HE. Subsequent major HE policy reform comprise barely distinguishable ministerial forewords making the case for the public contribution of universities, but which serve as prefaces to an imperative to drive economic competitiveness. Examining the public dimensions and status of universities is made more complex when read in conjunction with an unclear statutory definition of the public interest.
