The University in Crisis: the Role of Madrilenian Stakeholders in Higher Education Policies Formulation

The higher education subsystem in Madrid has faced a structural transformation over the past 15 years, characterized by the rapid expansion of the private university sector. This has resulted in an increase in the number of institutions and students enrolled in private universities. This study explains the policy formulation process, with particular attention to the interactions between the principal actors involved in the higher education subsystem. Based on 10 semi-structured interviews with policymakers (deputy counsellors and general directors of universities) and stakeholders (rectors of public and private universities), the positioning of the main actors in the subsystem is analyzed in relation to public funding, frustrated legal reforms and the expansion of the private university sector. The qualitative content analysis of the interviews reveals the existence of two distinct coalitions within the subsystem, each characterized by a different set of policy beliefs: a pro-public coalition and a pro-market coalition. The emergence of the 2008 economic crisis led to a reduction in resources at the disposal of the pro-public coalition, a situation that has persisted for over a decade. Consequently, the confrontation between policymakers and the pro-public coalition has blocked any attempt to reform the legal and financing system, creating an opportunity for new actors (the pro-market coalition) with greater financial resources and policy beliefs aligned with those of public decision-makers to prosper.