Barriers and opportunities: The role of sustainable private universities in Bangladesh

Private universities have become pivotal in expanding access to higher education in Bangladesh, particularly in response to rising demand and the limited capacity of public institutions. This paper examines the barriers and opportunities influencing the transformation of private universities toward sustainability. Drawing on policy analysis and institutional case studies, the study identifies key challenges including inadequate regulatory frameworks, financial dependency, inconsistent academic standards, and underdeveloped research infrastructure. Despite these constraints, emerging opportunities -- such as digital innovation, flexible academic programs, increasing student enrollment, international collaborations, international students and the potential for enhanced research and skill development -- present promising pathways forward. The findings suggest that through strategic investment, governance reform, and stronger policy alignment, private universities in Bangladesh can evolve into sustainable institutions that significantly contribute to national development and educational equity. While structural and operational hurdles remain, the study concludes that private universities possess considerable potential to foster innovation and long-term academic advancement-provided that accountability, inclusiveness, and institutional integrity are systematically strengthened.

Over the past few decades, Bangladesh has witnessed a rapid increase in the number of private universities, primarily driven by the growing demand for higher education and the limited capacity of public institutions. These private institutions have emerged as key players in filling the educational gap by offering diverse academic programs and accommodating a large and growing student population.

However, this rapid expansion has raised significant concerns about academic quality, governance, and long-term institutional sustainability. While private universities have played a critical role in democratizing access to higher education, they now face substantial challenges that must be addressed to ensure their future viability. This paper explores the major barriers confronting private universities in Bangladesh and highlights strategic opportunities that can support their transformation into sustainable, high-impact institutions.

Despite rapid expansion and growing importance in Bangladesh's higher education landscape, private universities face significant structural and operational barriers that hinder their transition toward sustainable development. This study seeks to identify and analyze these barriers, as well as explore the opportunities available to support the sustainable transformation of private universities in Bangladesh.

The research problem concerns the tension between the growing role of private universities in meeting higher education demand in Bangladesh and the persistent challenges they face in achieving sustainability. These challenges -- ranging from governance and financial limitations to research capacity and quality assurance -- threaten their long-term effectiveness and contribution to national development. The paper addresses how private universities can overcome these barriers and leverage emerging opportunities to become sustainable and impactful institutions.

Private universities in Bangladesh face many physical and operational challenges that hamper their sustainable growth. Key barriers include:

Most private universities are heavily dependent on student tuition fees as their primary revenue source. This overreliance limits their capacity to invest in research, infrastructure, and faculty development. Unlike public institutions, they receive little to no government funding, making them vulnerable to economic downturns and fluctuations in student enrollment.

Internal governance in many private universities is often influenced by business interests rather than academic values. The lack of transparency, inefficiencies in decision-making, and limited regulatory oversight compromise institutional effectiveness and academic integrity. Inadequate concept about Private University

There is a notable absence of robust accreditation mechanisms and standardized quality assurance protocols. This has led to disparities in academic standards, curriculum design, and student learning outcomes across institutions.

Many private universities remain primarily teaching-focused, with minimal investment in research infrastructure and activities. The absence of dedicated research centers, limited access to global academic databases, and a lack of institutional support for scholarly publication hinder both faculty and student research endeavors.

There is a nationwide shortage of qualified full-time faculty, particularly those holding PhD degrees. Many institutions rely heavily on part-time or adjunct instructors, which affects academic continuity, research output, and student mentoring. Competitive compensation and career development opportunities are often inadequate.

Some institutions, especially newer or resource-constrained ones, operate with minimal infrastructure. Deficiencies in libraries, laboratories, digital platforms, and student support services directly impact the quality and effectiveness of the educational experience.

A section of the general people still perceives private universities as academically inferior to public universities. This negative observation can influence enrollment decisions and limit philanthropic or institutional funding opportunities.

Despite these challenges, private universities in Bangladesh have numerous opportunities to foster sustainable growth and institutional excellence with specialized programs that boost employability in the private sector. Market-driven teaching, making students for jobs in multinational companies and other non-government sectors:

With greater academic autonomy, private universities can rapidly develop and implement interdisciplinary, market-driven programs. Fields such as data science, artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship, Bio-Tec, climate change, and sustainability studies are increasingly in demand and provide fertile ground for academic innovation.

The COVID-19 pandemic speed-up digital adoption across the academic institutions. Private universities can leverage this momentum by investing in blended learning platforms, virtual labs, and online teaching tools to enhance educational accessibility, quality, and cost-efficiency.

Comprehensive policy reforms that promote transparency, institutional accountability, and quality assurance can significantly improve governance structures and performance outcomes.

Collaborations with government agencies and public institutions can facilitate joint research initiatives, infrastructure development, and policy experimentation, helping bridge resource and capability gaps.

Partnerships with foreign universities open up opportunities for academic exchange, joint degree programs, collaborative research, and access to international funding. These collaborations can raise institutional credibility and enhance global academic exposure.

Strengthening ties with the private sector can facilitate internships, practical training, research collaboration, and job placement, making education more relevant and outcome-oriented. Innovation hubs co-developed with industry can foster entrepreneurship and applied research.

Strategic investments in research centers and faculty development can position private universities as innovation leaders. With appropriate support, these institutions can attract research grants, establish centers of excellence, and contribute to national and global knowledge ecosystems.

To achieve sustainability, private universities in Bangladesh should adopt a comprehensive framework encompassing environmental, social, and economic dimensions. This framework should integrate sustainable practices into all aspects of university life, including operations, curriculum, research, and community engagement. Pathways to sustainability involve developing clear sustainability plans, setting quantifiable objectives, monitoring progress, and reporting transparently. Collaborating with stakeholders, adapting global best practices to local contexts, and fostering a culture of sustainability are also crucial.

To address the barriers and capitalize on the opportunities identified, this section outlines a strategic implementation a model for transforming private universities in Bangladesh into sustainable, high-impact institutions. The implementation plan is organized into five key domains: governance, academic quality, research, digital transformation, and partnerships.

To establishing rules and principles to help manage and organize the higher educational institutions. Building an atmosphere of expectation, transparency and responsibility. Protecting the rights of shareholders. Policy should be realistic, not to control rather sustainable development. Should not have any discrimination with other similar institutions.

Governance and Policy Reform strategic approach focusing on areas like university's growth, academic excellence, student success, relevance, research and innovation, and sustainability to the dynamic higher education context.

• Enforce revised governance guidelines under the Private University Act.

• Establish independent body with representation from academia, industry, and civil society.

• Introduce periodic external academic audits and performance evaluations.

• Promote leadership development programs for academic administrators.

• A sustainable policy may helps align academic excellence, infrastructure, innovation, and community impact under one vision.

Governance and Policy Reform will be monitored by Ministry of Education (MoE), University Grants Commission (UGC), Association of Private University of Bangladesh (APUB).

Quality Assurance and Improvement is defined as 'taking deliberate steps for continuous upgrading in the effectiveness of the learning experience of students' and align programs with national and global standards.

The Strategies for Enhancing Academic Quality and Assurance:

• Implement a national accreditation framework and make accreditation mandatory for all programs.

• Establish internal quality assurance cells (IQACs) at each institution with UGC oversight.

• Strengthen faculty development programs and require minimum full-time faculty thresholds.

• Encourage outcome-based education (OBE) and continuous curriculum revision aligned with job market trends.

Monitoring cell are : UGC, IQACs, Academic Councils, Local accredited body, International QA bodies (as partners)

For sustainable University Research, Innovation and Development are closely related. These activities focused on generating new knowledge and technologies, advancements into new products, services, or processes that create value. In essence, faculty and team of human resource provide strength to sustainability to ensure the advancements.

Strategies for Faculty & Human Resource, required sustainability for University Research, Innovation and Development:

• Allocate a fixed budgets for research and innovation, research and development.

• Establish dedicated research centers.

• Encourage faculty to pursue research grants and publication incentives.

• Promote student-led research through undergraduate thesis programs and university journals.

Main sources will be Government fund, Universities contribution, Research Grants, sponsors, International donors.

To incorporate physical structure and digital technologies to necessarily change how a business operates, interacts with customers, and delivers value. It's not just about adopting new structure and technology; it's about using physical facilities and it to redefine business models, processes, and culture. Digital setup also refers to the hardware, software, and network mechanisms that enable these digital changes and data sharing. The intention of both is to improve efficiency, increase customer experience, and adoptive innovation.

Effective strategies for infrastructure development involve a multifaceted approach encompassing planning, financing, stakeholder engagement, and technological integration:

l Develop robust Learning Management Systems (LMS) and virtual classrooms.

l Increase access to e-libraries, digital labs, and online academic resources.

l Digitize administrative operations for admissions, evaluations, and student services.

l Provide digital literacy training for faculty, staff, and students.

Strategic partnerships include a cooperative affiliation between two or more organizations that work together to achieve mutual goals.

Effective strategies for strategic partnerships and global engagement focus on mutual benefit, clear communication, and aligned goals.

Key strategies include identifying partners with complementary strengths, developing robust partnership agreements, and fostering open communication channels. Regular evaluation and adaptation are crucial for long-term success in dynamic global environments: Set-up public-private partnerships (PPPs) to co-develop infrastructure, laboratories, and job placement programs. Sign MoUs with foreign universities for joint degrees, faculty exchange, and collaborative research. Create industry advisory boards for each academic program to align curricula with market needs. Grow graduates networks for mentorship, funding, and career facilities.

All case study institutions demonstrated heavy reliance on tuition fees (90-95% of revenue), with no substantial alternative funding streams. University leaders reported that economic instability and enrollment fluctuations pose significant risks to financial viability. Interviewed administrators acknowledged that the lack of government research funding or industry sponsorship limits long-term growth.

Interviews revealed varying governance models, with two out of three case institutions showing signs of board overreach and limited faculty participation in decision-making. Governance issues cited include lack of transparency, politicization, and non-compliance with regulatory standards. Respondents emphasized the need for governance reform and capacity-building among university leadership.

All three universities maintained active Internal Quality Assurance Cells (IQACs), but quality assurance practices remained inconsistent and under-resourced. There was no standardized accreditation system in place, and program reviews were often driven by market pressure rather than academic rigor. Faculty-student ratios varied widely, and reliance on part-time faculty ranged from 40% to 70% across institutions.

Research output was low, with fewer than 10 peer-reviewed publications annually per university in most cases. Faculty cited limited time, lack of funding, and absence of research incentives as core challenges. No case institution had a dedicated research center or grant management office.

Despite these barriers, several positive trends were identified: Digital transformation was a strong area of development. Two universities successfully integrated LMS platforms and blended learning models post-COVID-19. Flexible curriculum design allowed institutions to quickly introduce programs in data science, business analytics, and environmental studies. One institution had piloted a public-private partnership to develop a business incubation lab with industry support.

International collaboration remained limited, but there were early-stage partnerships with universities in Malaysia and the UK for faculty exchange and curriculum benchmarking. Internship and job placement programs were more developed in urban universities, where corporate linkages improved graduate employability. Stakeholders viewed industry-academia partnership as a shows potential avenue for funding, training, and applied research.

The landscape of private higher education in Bangladesh reflects a dual reality: rapid expansion and increasing accessibility on one hand, and persistent systemic challenges on the other. The analysis of data from institutional case studies, interviews, and secondary literature reveals a multidimensional picture.

Private universities remain highly dependent on tuition fees, with insufficient financial diversification. This financial fragility limits investment in research, infrastructure, and faculty development. Compounded by inconsistent governance and limited accountability, these factors restrict long-term institutional resilience.

Many institutions operate under governance models that prioritize commercial or individual interests over academic excellence. The absence of uniform accreditation and enforcement mechanisms has resulted in wide disparities in academic standards. Internal quality assurance cells (IQACs), though established in many universities, lack autonomy and capacity.

Despite an emerging culture of academic inquiry, most private universities fall short of fulfilling their research mandate. The deficiency of devoted research funding, institutional support, and teacher incentives stifles innovation. Research remains mostly subsidiary rather than integrated into university missions.

Digital infrastructure, catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic, has enabled new models of blended learning, virtual labs, and academic administration. Additionally, curriculum autonomy allows private universities to introduce market-driven programs (e.g., data science, climate studies, entrepreneurship) quickly -- an agility that public universities often lack.

International and industry collaborations remain fragmented, yet they present substantial opportunities for improving academic quality, employability, and research funding. When present, such partnerships have proven effective in enhancing institutional reputation and student outcomes.

Public universities, largely funded by the government, are exempt from taxes, Private University are classified under charitable educational organizations, can face a complex tax environment. It raises serious worries about the impact on pupils and the overall education system in the country. The lawful basis for taxing non-government universities in Bangladesh stems from the Income Tax Ordinance of 1984, which differentiates between charitable and academic institutions.

Private universities in Bangladesh are at a pivotal juncture. Their role in democratizing higher education is undeniable, but their ability to deliver quality, equitable, and sustainable education is hampered by structural, financial, regulatory limitations and government's policy. Nonetheless, the sector holds significant promise if strategic reforms are pursued. While private universities in Bangladesh face significant structural and operational challenges, the potential for sustainable transformation remains strong. By embracing innovation, reinforcing governance mechanisms, enhancing academic quality, and fostering strategic collaborations, these institutions can play a pivotal role in shaping the future of higher education in Bangladesh. Their contributions to national development, equity in education, and global academic engagement will depend on sustained commitment to excellence, inclusiveness, and institutional integrity.

To achieve sustainability, private universities must:

• Reform governance structures to enhance transparency and academic leadership.

• Diversify funding sources, including research grants, industry sponsorships, and endowments.

• Invest in faculty development and research capacity, making innovation central to institutional missions.

• Influence digital transformation to update pedagogy and expand access.

• Build strategic partnerships with industry and international institutions to strengthen global relevance and competitiveness.

• Public universities, largely funded by the government, are exempt from taxes, Private University is classified under charitable organizations, no Value add Tax (VAT) and Tax on higher education.

A coordinated, multi-stakeholder approach involving the government, regulatory bodies, university leadership, and the private sector is essential. If implemented with accountability and vision, these reforms can enable private universities to evolve from access providers to engines of innovation and social transformation in Bangladesh.

Professor Sarwar Jahan is founder of Southern University Bangladesh and Professor Dr. Ishrat Jahan is dean of the commerce faculty at the university