Higher Education Support Program, Open Society Institute, Budapest, Hungary.
E-mail: vtomusk@osi.hu

Abstract

This essay analyzes private higher education which emerged on a massive scale in Eastern Europe after 1989, within the framework of institutional theory. It is argued that while in the early period many of the new universities saw their purpose as challenging and replacing the existing institutional order, more recently this mission has disappeared from their agenda. Instead, their primary interests lie, under the market regime, in facilitating access to traditional institutions. Related to this main line of argumentation is a discussion of social institutions as myths and ceremonies. Here, the author argues, contrary to some of the proponents of technical rationality, that institutions have a significant role to play in organizing stable societies and most probably cannot be replaced with lists of skills and competencies.