This study examines the legislative framework of the Ethiopian higher education sector in light of the corresponding roles and expectations it assigns to and the distinctions it draws between public and private institutions of higher learning. The findings reveal that public and private institutions are equally expected to deliver similar responsibilities that largely pertain to the three major missions of teaching, research and community services. However, despite ascribing similar missions and roles, government legislations provide greater leverage and privileges to the public and inadvertently marginalize the private sector. The manners in which public and private institutions exercise their broadly designated roles show significant divergences that can impinge on the proliferation of the private higher education sector that is expected to assist government policy goals of increasing access to higher education in Ethiopia. It is argued that unless mechanisms are sought to redress the existing dichotomy, the national goals of promoting economic and human resource development through the participation of private higher education institutions will continue to face challenges.

本研究根据埃塞俄比亚高等教育部门的相应角色和期望以及它对公立和私立高等教育机构的区分，审查了埃塞俄比亚高等教育部门的立法框架。调查结果显示，公立和私立机构同样被期望承担类似的职责，这些职责主要与教学、研究和社区服务这三个主要任务有关。然而，尽管赋予了类似的使命和角色，政府立法为公众提供了更大的影响力和特权，并无意中将私营部门边缘化。公共和私人机构行使广泛指定角色的方式显示出显着差异，这可能会影响私立高等教育部门的扩散，该部门预计将有助于政府增加埃塞俄比亚接受高等教育的机会的政策目标。有人认为，除非寻求机制来纠正现有的二分法，否则通过私立高等教育机构的参与促进经济和人力资源开发的国家目标将继续面临挑战。