Historical Development of Foundation Universities from Organizational Ecology Perspective

In this study, the diversification and spread of Foundation Universities, which have been providing higher education for nearly 40 years in our country, Türkiye has been examined descriptively within the frame of organizational ecology theory. The qualifications of the founding foundations of the 74 Foundation Universities, which are continuing education since the first Foundation University started education in 1984, have been examined in the historical process until 2022 yearend. It has been evaluated that the conditions of the period in which the Universities were founded caused their diversification; and five different periods were determined according to the foundation dates of the Foundation Universities. While the increase in the number of Foundation Universities was low in some periods, it was determined that there was a high increase in other periods. In addition, according to the characteristics of the Founding Foundations, a classification was made for Foundation Universities under six different categories as; “educator”, “investor”, “medical education focus”, “collective organization”, “public nature” and “association”. Currently, investor category universities outnumber those in other categories. Another issue identified in the study is that the Founding Foundations tend to preserve the imprinting of their qualifications. In addition, in line with the stagnation in the number of newly opened Foundation Universities in recent years, it has been evaluated that the number of Foundation Universities in metropolitan cities has reached saturation. However, it is considered likely that Foundation Universities with different imprinting characteristics will be established in the future.