Scholars in the Marketplace distinguishes between privatisation and commercialisation, two processes that drove the Makerere reform. It argues that whereas privatisation (the entry of privately sponsored students) is compatible with a public university where priorities are publicly set, commercialisation (granting each faculty financial and administrative autonomy for to design a market-responsive curriculum) inevitably leads to market-determined priorities in a public university. The author warns against commercialisation of public universities as the subversion of public institutions for private purposes