Transnational Education: Issues and Trends in Offshore Higher Education

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All of the top five nationalities for offshore higher education were Asian: As in the UK, the main TNE countries for Australian providers do not necessarily align with trends in the numbers of students travelling to Australia to study.

Crossborder and Transnational Higher Education - Education - Oxford Bibliographies

The top five sources of international higher education students in Australia are: China, India, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia. Over two-thirds of students offshore were studying for Australian bachelor degrees and well over half in the fields of management and commerce. Not unexpectedly, offshore students are more likely to be studying part time for Australian qualifications 31 percent of the total than is the case for their peers who have made the financial investment of studying in Australia 10 percent. This statistic points to issues related to the cost of studying and living abroad, in addition to the red tape related to finding work as a foreign student in many host countries.

While there is no official data on the number of students undertaking U. The report found that more American institutions than in any other country reported offering dual-degree programs, with half being offered at the undergraduate level. The United States also leads the way with regards to international branch campuses overseas, with an estimated 78 currently in operation according to the OBHE. This is a source of actual and potential confusion.

Given the potential for confusion in developing, understanding and monitoring transnational education programs, a commonly understood typology would be of benefit to all parties involved. The following is a selection of terms related to the provision of transnational education taken from three well-thought-out sources in the TNE space:. Articulation — An awarding institution reviews the provision of another organization and deems that the curriculum is of an adequate standard for the award of specific credit leading to direct entry into year two, three or four of the specified program at the awarding institution.

These arrangements occur most frequently at the undergraduate level. Students are aware from the outset that they will qualify for advanced standing at a particular institution upon completion of the partner section of the program. Branch Campus — A foreign degree-granting location of an institution of higher education. As simple as this definition seems, what exactly constitutes a branch campus seems to have become something of a moving target. In both cases, the awarding institution delivers courses — through independent-learning materials or via distance technology online — directly to the student without the need for a partnering institution.

Franchising — A process by which an awarding institution agrees to authorize another organization or institution to deliver and sometimes assess part or all of one or more of its own approved programs.

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Often, the awarding institution retains direct responsibility for the program content, the teaching and assessment strategy, the assessment regime and quality assurance. Joint Degree — One program, taught collaboratively by two or more universities with periods of study at each location. Dual Degree — As above, but with the award of two or more certificates and transcripts. Each institution has responsibility for its own degree. Progression Agreement or Sequential Degrees — Students studying at named partners are entitled to enroll in and complete a second, related program at the second partner institution once they have earned a specified first degree and met the admission requirements.

Degree Validation — The partner delivers its own programs to its own students at its own centers; however, the awarding institution validates the programs because the partner either lacks degree-awarding powers or else the power to make awards at a particular for example, graduate level or in a given disciplinary area. The principals and guidelines underpinning the foreign partnerships of UK institutions are overseen by the Quality Assurance Agency.

The watchdog agency conducts reviews of oversees provision on a country-by-country basis, publishing its findings and recommendations through reports on its website. These reports give an idea of the type and scale of transnational provision occurring in some of the bigger and more important Asian education markets. Six percent 29 of these programs led to a qualification from the Singaporean institution, which gave advanced standing to a program offered by the UK institution articulation.

The remaining five percent of the programs were studied partially with a partner institution in Singapore and partially in the UK, or offered by the UK institution to students in Singapore with learning support provided by a Singaporean partner distance learning. Business and administrative studies accounted for 62 percent of the programs , followed by creative arts and design 56 , mathematics and computer sciences 46 and engineering A total of 66 UK institutions were either planning to start or had one or more existing links with 82 Singaporean partners.

The vast majority of Singaporean partners were privately funded. The QAA is currently undertaking a review of transnational higher education in mainland China where the awarding body is a UK higher education institution. The results are yet to be published, but according to the findings of a audit , upon which the current review is building, there were 82 UK higher education institutions that had or were intending to establish links with Chinese institutions to deliver a UK higher education award.

The most common links were found to be under progression agreements, where Chinese students undertake one or two years of undergraduate study at a Chinese institution before progressing to a final one or two years of study at the UK awarding institutions. In a few cases, students graduate with qualifications from both institutions.

There were 58 UK institutions involved in links under progression agreements, with at the undergraduate level.

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These accounted for over a third of all links. Advanced standing arrangements for admission to a UK institution for students with specific Chinese qualifications was the next most common arrangement 50 links , followed by foundation programs prior to admission 22 links and direct delivery of programs in China 20 links. The most common offerings were business and administrative studies 38 percent , engineering 25 percent , and mathematical and computer sciences 10 percent. Teaching is performed by both Chinese and UK staff, but largely with English as the medium of instruction.

An estimated 11, students were studying in China for a UK award in , which compares to the 50, Chinese students that were in the UK studying that same year.

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Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show that Malaysia is the largest market for UK transnational higher education provision, with almost four times as many Malaysia-based students studying on UK higher education programs than the number of Malaysian students in the UK. Of those, 40 percent links concerned programs which were studied entirely in Malaysia with a partner institution, and a further 36 percent 94 links were articulation agreements. The purpose of these selected references is to provide that overview and context. Confusion exists as to the multiple terms used to describe program and provider mobility, and thus Knight is a good place to start exploring the similarities and differences between crossborder higher education CBHE , transnational education TNE , offshore education, and borderless education.

The SAGE Handbook of International Higher Education provides fundamental insights into the context of international higher education IHE through a rich variety of historical, conceptual, policy, and program oriented chapters covering diverse aspects of internationalization including CBHE. Together these three references give academics, policymakers, and researchers an overview of the literature and opinions on IHE in general and CBHE in particular. Fegan and Field highlights core aspects of program and provider mobility such as political, policy, and legislative issues.

The increase in the scope and scale of program and provider mobility since the early s is staggering, but the collection of information on CBHE programs and enrolments is not keeping pace. Although somewhat dated, Naidoo attempts to systematically collect information on the types of CBHE but has to rely on secondary data sources given the scarce and uneven availability of information from both sending and host countries around the world. McNamara and Knight emphasizes the critical need for countries to establish or strengthen CBHE data-collection systems in order to monitor trends in program and provider mobility and to develop the necessary policies and regulations.

Heyl, and Tony Adams, eds. The SAGE handbook of international higher education. This comprehensive handbook examines multiple aspects of international higher education, including CBHE.

By providing an extensive overview of the strategies and issues facing the international dimensions of higher education, it helps readers from diverse disciplines to gain a deeper understanding of the contexts and complexities of CBHE. Egron-Polak, Eva, and Ross Hudson.

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Internationalization of higher education: International Association of Universities. Included in this extensive report on the 4th Global Survey on Internationalization is data on the scale and scope of international higher education in all regions of the world. This report will assist researchers, practitioners, and policy analysts to gain a deeper appreciation of CBHE modes, trends, and patterns in the wider context of internationalization.

Eldridge, Kaye, and Neil Cranston. Does national culture really matter? Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management Using a national culture value framework, the research assesses how Australian TNE managers perceive the effects of national culture of both sending and host countries. The findings have relevance to TNE in other countries of the world. Fegan, James, and Malcolm H.

Politics, policy and legislative action. The authors insightfully discuss the impact of politics, policies, and regulations on CBHE from a wide selection of countries.

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Chapters address diverse topics related to CBHE such as e-learning, mobility and immigration, building research capacity, and creating pathways through articulation programs. Borderless, offshore, transnational, and crossborder education: In Higher education in turmoil: The changing world of internationalization.

By Jane Knight, 81— The origins, similarities, and differences among the four terms commonly used to describe programs and providers moving between countries are explored in this chapter. It provides a conceptual framework for gaining a deeper understanding of the different elements and types of CBHE, and identifies some of the key regulatory issues and challenges related to language of instruction, and quality assurance among others.

Transcending borders and traversing boundaries: A systematic review of the literature on transnational, offshore, cross-border, and borderless higher education. Journal of Studies in International Education.

This extensive review of the literature on TNE identifies the most cited publications on specific themes, trends, and patterns in TNE provision. It also points to gaps in research and discusses methodological issues and future directions for research.

McNamara, John, and Jane Knight.

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