ABSTRACT
The Indonesian higher education systern is large and diverse. It comprises more than one thousand institutions of various types, operated either by the national government or by private bodies under government supervision. In April 1988 the Minister of Education and Culture noted that the public institutions under his supervision comprised thirty-one universities including an Open University (in Indonesia, the term "university" is reserved for institutions offering degree training in a range of fields, but here it will be used more loosely), three technical institutes, and ten teachers colleges. (An art institute and four art academies are sometimes also listed as state institutions of higher education; there are also polytechnics, which function as parts of universities.) Outside the purview of the Ministry of Education and Culture but still within the public sector, there are a number of tertiary-level educational institutions operated by technical ministries to produce trained manpower for their own use. The number of private universities, institutes, "higher schools" (sekolah tinggi) and academies has skyrocketed in recent years. In early 1988 the director-general of higher education stated that 726 private institutions had been registered and another 266 were in the process of accreditation.
