The state has a regulatory role to assure that all education
providers meet certain quality and equity standards. Quality is not
determined solely by institutional type as a public or private institution,
but on whether or not an institution adheres to externally
established standards promulgated by the academic community
(Johnstone 2001). An article in The Economist (‘‘Private Education’’
2002) noted that many private universities in Central and Eastern
Europe are improving. Certain private universities have the potential
to be high quality, and, consequently, support quality assurance
mechanisms (Lin-Liu 2001). Quality assurance processes may be
developed by either voluntary private accreditation agencies or by
agencies established by legitimate public authority as in the United
Kingdom and the European Union. The role of government is to
make transparent accreditation standards, to ensure objective and
fair implementation of standards, and to establish mechanisms to
accredit all institutions.