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1、均是精品，欢迎下载学习！欢迎下载百度文库资源资料均是本人搜集均是精品，欢迎下载学习！In Chile, a Fast-Growing University, Owned by Sylvan, Produces Profits and ScornBy BURTON BOLLAGSantiago, ChileIn the two and a half years since Sylvan Learning Systems bought a majority interest in it, the University of the Americas has gone from a small in
2、stitution with a grand-sounding name to Chiles largest and fastest-growing private university. In doing so it has produced big profits while eliciting scorn from much of Chiles academic establishment.The Americas was a family-owned institution with 4,000 students when Sylvan bought it at the end of
3、2000. Now, after enrolling 8,000 new students this spring - the academic year here in the Southern Hemisphere runs from March to December - it has 18,000 students, one-third of them working adults enrolled in evening degree programs. It caters to the low end of the market: students with grades too l
4、ow to win places at most other universities.Mario Albornoz Galdmez, rector since the universitys founding in 1988, admits that the rapid growth has created serious strains. Ive tried to maintain the whole thing without letting the boat tip over, he says. Growth is important, but we must maintain qua
5、lity.ALSO SEE:Chronicle video:(Requires Real One media player, available free.) An interview with the chief academic officer at Pitgoras College, a Brazilian for-profit institution that uses distance education An interview with the rector of the University of the Americas, a Chilean for-profit insti
6、tution that has grown exponentially since it was bought by Sylvan. A Spanish television commercial for the University of the Americas (English text translation available).Related articles:Spanning the GlobeApollo International Builds on a Local Network to Create Colleges in BrazilPrivate Universitie
7、s Bloom in ChileYet this is just the start of planned expansion, says Lorenzo Antillo Matas, who remained chief executive of the company that owns the University of the Americas after Sylvans arrival. The strategy calls for a doubling of traditional day students, to 25,000 within five years, and a q
8、uintupling, to 30,000, of evening students during the same period. To say higher education is a fantastic business would be an understatement, says Mr. Antillo. Part of the reason for this tremendous growth is the universitys huge spending on marketing. It is the only university in Chile to advertis
9、e so extensively on television.Shortly after Sylvan acquired the university, it advertised that its degrees were recognized in other countries. The claim was quickly dropped after complaints from the education ministry. But the Americas continues to stress that the universitys membership in Sylvans
10、multinational network gives students the possibility of doing part of their studies at sister institutions in Spain and Mexico. Kathia Leyton, a first-year psychology student, says she enrolled at the Americas, after failing to win admission to one of the more competitive state universities in the c
11、apital, in part because of the interuniversity exchanges and also because this is the only university in Chile where the study of English is obligatory.Critics say the institution may be raising unrealistic hopes of study abroad: During the current academic year, only about 30 of its students are ta
12、king classes outside Chile. Mr. Antillo says that is because most students cannot afford it.The institution has based its success on enrolling students with low grades, mostly from middle- and lower-middle-class families. Historically in Chile, 80 percent of university students have come from the mo
13、st affluent 40 percent of the population. They have often benefited from the better education provided by private schools. We give an opportunity to other people to study, says Mr. Albornoz, the rector. The traditional universities dont. Administrators say the first two years of the basic five-year
14、undergraduate program includes a significant amount of remedial training and help to develop good study skills. Yet many in this South American nation question the kind of education the Americas is providing. How could they get so big in a couple of years? asks Gonzalo Zapata Larran of Chiles Nation
15、al Accreditation Commission. Are they maintaining quality standards? In Chiles deregulated higher-education system, private institutions must go through a process of extensive scrutiny leading to autonomy within 11 years of their establishment - a process the University of the Americas had nearly co
16、mpleted when Sylvan arrived. Once they become autonomous, institutions are virtually free of further oversight.Jos Brunner, a professor and former head of the accreditation commission, says the concerns are not over foreign ownership but over whether the Americas is providing an education with the minimum standards the country needs. This is why it is an issue, not because of Sylvan. Mr. Brunner adds that by charging yearly tuition of $
