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THE GLOBALIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION Recently, there has been a major trend in globalizing prominent U.S. colleges into Asia. Due to the growth in competition for Asia’s education market, many top U.S. schools are expanding their campuses and curriculums into Asia. Singapore, specifically, whose own goal is to draw 150,000 foreign students from across Asia within 10 years, has already attracted a number of leading U.S. schools including Duke University, John Hopkins University, the University of Chicago, Cornell University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University to open programs under various arrangements. One of the main draws to Singapore, besides that it has a government known for its quality control, is that it offers schools preferential real-estate terms and tax-free status. While the students may save on travel and living expenses by enrolling in the Singapore campus, most often the tuition rates would still be the same as the rates in the U.S. In addition, the admission criteria would remain the same as well. Still, many universities bore caution prior to agreement. Due to their strong educational success, protecting these leading schools’ brands is crucial in order to attract future students. Therefore, some colleges only offered specific degrees rather than the entire curriculum, some provided only a graduation certificate bearing their brand instead of a degree and some wanted to wait a couple years before allowing Singapore to bear their brand at all. However, some universities did opt for joint ventures. For some universities, global expansion has already paid off. A business school in France that opened a campus in 2000 took in $18 million in revenue for 2004 and has an enrollment of 300 full-time MBA students. Yet, educators say that it’s not just about the financial gain, but the education. Many feel that since a number of students are recruited from international companies, it is important for them to have a global outlook. By providing classes that are internationally-focused or being able to study-abroad in a joint program, students would be able to achieve that global outlook. For years, the U.S. has been content in letting the students come here for a higher education. Through global educational expansion, the U.S. can now offer these services to more people in addition to keeping current students. However, by providing these services, the U.S. may also open itself up to losing one of our best competitive advantages. (Source: The Wall Street Journal; 07/12/05) |
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