The ambition of this paper is to discuss the role of students in higher education, in a transition from New Public Management (NPM) ideals to Public Value Management (PVM) ideals in higher education management. NPM ideals have for decades streamlined higher education and shifted core issues from democratic values to cost efficiency, productivity and competition. According to the mind-set of NPM in higher education, students are perceived and treated as consumers or customers. PVM is a concept increasingly discussed as a complement, replacement and even a new paradigm in higher education governance. In PVM goals and incentives focus on creating collective rather than value for the individual citizen. Instead of aggregating individual preferences, collective preferences and value for society are expressed viewing students as co-creators of knowledge. However problematic, previous research claims that students do not see themselves as stakeholders or co-creators of knowledge, as they have repeatedly been encouraged to think about themselves as receivers of a knowledge-services. An empirically based study with findings from 20 in-depth interviews with first semester business administration students contributes to elucidate the students’ perception of themselves and their role in higher education, highlighting a spectra from individualistic to collective values.