Why Do Associations Run Independent Schools in Sweden, and Why Does It Matter?

The Swedish school system was radically reformed in the 1990s, and went from one of the world’s most uniform and egalitarian, to one of the world’s most deregulated and marketized. In recent years, the political controversy has heated over the for-profit corporations that operate independent schools and allegedly make major profits off the public purse. A majority of independent schools in Sweden are operated by limited liability companies, but hundreds of schools are also operated by non-profit foundations and associations. The latter category are of interest in this article. With the help of a thorough legal historical analysis of the corporate law on associations in Sweden, and how the two forms of associations – economic associations and non-profit associations – are defined in the law, we discuss how well the law matches the purposes and needs of elementary schools in Sweden. The article concludes that the ambiguities and confusion around the law on economic associations in this specific case, and the essential lack of legislation for nonprofit associations, warrants a fundamental questioning of whether it is at all appropriate for independent schools in Sweden to be operated by economic and nonprofit associations.