ABSTRACT
Over the past decade higher education, in both developed and to a lesser extent in some developing countries, has undergone and is still undergoing significant change. Most of these changes are based upon the increasing availability and sophistication of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the way in which these technologies are not only impacting upon the delivery of educational programmes, but also upon the support systems being made available to learners. The expectations of a more sophisticated, more demanding student body and the growing trend towards life-long learning has also contributed to the need for institutions to plan for this changing educational environment. One result of this has been a growing trend to perceive potential students as clients or customers, and higher education as a commodity which can be packaged, marketed and sold like any other product. The Report of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education in the UK — the Dearing Report (1997, ch. 13.7) in com-menting on this trend had this to say:
over the next decade, higher educational services will become an international tradable commodity within an increasingly competitive global market … within the UK, by the end of the first decade of the next century, a ‘knowledge economy’ will have developed in which institutions collaborate in the produc-tion and transmission of educational programmes and learning materials on a ‘make or buy’ basis.
