Perceived quality of private education and fears of stratification: Investigating the propositions of human capital theory by exploring the case of Colombia

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the recent developments in the higher education system of Colombia in order to illustrate how these encourage stratification between (types of) universities and their students. We do so by discussing propositions generated by human capital theory and apply them to the experiences of students and graduates from Colombian universities. We conducted a survey (n = 700) amongst graduate and undergraduate students at 12 low-fee private universities. Four interviews with (former) students served as an illustration. The majority of undergraduate students perceived the quality of their education as poor and wanted to attend another university. Both students and graduates expressed uncertainty about finding a job and anticipated difficulties as they felt they lacked essential skills. Due to relatively unhindered privatization and marketization of the columbian higher education sector, low-quality private provision in Colombia demonstrates this structural inequality. Our study shows that investing in higher education does not always correlate positively with skills gained or future income, thereby revealing the necessity to use human capital theory in a more nuanced manner.