Legitimacy Seeking among New Private Institutions of Higher Education in Central and Eastern Europe.

The quest for legitimacy is particularly acute for organizations that are in the initial stages of their lifecycles. Without recognition and acknowledgment of the ‘right to exist’, new institutions may falter or fail because of lack of acceptance. Surmounting the barriers that block the road to legitimacy can be very difficult, but there are steps that can be taken to overcome such obstacles. This article examines the paths that new institutions of private higher education in Central and Eastern Europe have taken to assume a level of legitimacy that allows for their continued operations and future success. Its focus is to dissect the forces and factors that affect the movement of such new institutions along a described legitimacy continuum. Examination of key legitimacy factors as identified by private sector rectors in both Poland and Hungary reveals that there are country‐specific means that enable new institutions to transit the given legitimacy continuum expeditiously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]