Report 2008:27 R

Monitoring reform: foundation higher education institutions

The survey showed that the most significant difference is that the operations of higher education institutions (HEIs) that are foundations are governed by the Swedish Companies Act. This means that the HEIs may easily set up limited companies to run their operations. They are accountable for their own equity and this leads to a great sense of responsibility. They have different appointments procedures from other HEIs, and this is considered to be an advantage. In addition, they have somewhat different types of access to first cycle education.

The general conclusion is that the difference between HEIs that are public authorities and those that are foundations is not as great as would have been expected. This is partly because HEIs that are public authorities have also been partially deregulated, and HEIs that are foundations have not taken full advantage of the freedom they actually have. Reasons for this include the fact that it takes time to bring about change within a HEI, and the HEIs that are foundations have not wished to deviate too much from the other HEIs in the country.