I had lunch the other day with someone who was eager to get up to speed on global higher education. He asked me what I thought about the significance of branch campuses. I told him what I’ve written here before: that branch campuses are an irresistible object of fascination for journalists and universities; that they take many forms; that they’re entrepreneurial ventures with the mixed results one might expect from any educational experiment; that they get a disproportionate amount of attention given the tiny enrollments of the boutique programs at Education City in Qatar and New York University’s Abu Dhabi campus; and that there are other much more important trends to watch, notably the vast expansion of enrollment in countries like China, together with efforts in many countries to create elite research institutions.
Then I read that there are more foreign students studying at British branch campuses than there are at universities on British soil. Wow. Okay, the numbers are actually a little more complicated than that, in part because they cover a lot more than branch campuses, but they’re still fascinating. They come from some new research released by the British Council just before the Going Global 2011 conference held in Hong Kong last week. According to the council’s new analysis of figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, last year there were 340,000 students studying for British qualifications outside the European Union. By contrast, there were 309,000 foreign students (from beyond the E.U.) studying inside the U.K.
The British Council uses the term “transnational education” to describe the phenomenon of students studying either at a branch campus or at a local college or university that has a partnership with a British institution. Some study in their home country, others in a third country, and still others online. Those in partnership programs will typically study for one or two years outside the U.K., then complete their degree in Britain. According to the council, in the past decade the number of transnational education students seeking U.K. qualifications has risen by at least 70 percent. There are apparently 78 countries in which at least as many students stay home to study for British degrees as travel to Britain. Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong have the largest numbers of transnational education students seeking British qualifications relative to those who are studying in the U.K.
This new analysis doesn’t, I think, prove me completely mistaken about the exaggerated importance of branch campuses, at least when defined narrowly. But it has certainly reminded me that branch campuses fit into a broader (and growing) spectrum of offerings in which the delivery of higher education is far less nation-bound that it has ever been. As the council notes, the fast growth of these new educational forms and venues inevitably raises questions about quality control. But that’s an ever-present concern for all postsecondary institutions. Looking ahead, I suspect partnerships and online programs may have more promise than branch campuses. Completely different cross-national offerings, perhaps with a big assistant from improved technology, may also emerge. What seems clear is that students who want degrees from universities in other countries will have many more options to earn them without spending much—or any—time far from home.
