ABSTRACT
The commoditization of higher education entails the sale and purchase of higher education in commercial establishments. Commoditization is fundamentally antithetical to questioning, and hence to critical thinking and originality. The public education system, in contrast, has, over the years, produced a culture of critical thinking and of free political discussions, and, as the excluded and marginalized groups are better represented there thanks to low fees and the policy of reservations, a certain tradition of non-conformist political activity. Commoditization will change the very nature of higher education in several crucial ways. In the United States, for instance, institutions of higher education are in general either state-owned or run by philanthropic agencies. A parallel process to commoditization is the exercise of political control over the institutions of higher education. A specific instrument for advancing political control is the proposed legislation that seeks to abolish the University Grants Commission.
