Perceived differences between public and private University funding models by University students and recent graduates in Spain

Abstract

The remarkable expansion of private funding university centers in Spain during the last decades has raised multiple comparisons with public funding university centers. However, from an educational psychology perspective, students’ perceptions and beliefs -realistic or not- have been less explored. As a result, a screening study is proposed with the main aim of inquiring about current public university students and recent (last five years) graduates’ perceptions on these two different models of funding. There were 102 participants (25.5 % men and 74.5% women) who were currently enrolled in university (55.9%) or who had finished their studies within the last 5 years (44.1%). An ad hoc assessment tool was developed to evaluate the participants’ perceptions. For the analysis, descriptive statistics, correlations and mean differences between both groups were used. The most remarkable results show that even though participants find some quality indicators (such as materials, practical lessons, close treatment…) to be more present in private university centers, public universities are thought to excel in teaching and research quality. On the other hand, even though private universities are thought to be more likely to correctly adapt to the pandemic, especially regarding online teaching methods, participants also point out public universities could find this as an opportunity for improvement. These findings may point the way regarding future university orientation, teaching or scholarships.