The dilemma of the German university: is higher education a public good or a private issue?

No abstractThe article deals as much with the recent institutional changes in the German universities as with the wider reorientation concerning their social function. The reform initiatives of the government to introduce the system of the so-called ‘elite universities’ are inspired by the need to make them operate according to the market laws of competition so that they gain autonomy both in institutional and economic aspects. First, the article offers an extensive presentation of the conflicting arguments within the public discussion for or against the proposed innovations. Secondly, it delineates the ongoing changes in the understanding of the function of the university is undergoing and the impacts such changes will have upon the future development of Higher Education