TNE – Family Secret or Global Power Play?

The UK’s global strength in transnational education (TNE) is sometimes treated more like a family secret than the treasure trove of soft-power, networking and route to employability it should be. It’s an increasingly valuable pathway to recruitment in an ever more competitive higher education landscape. As the momentum of ‘the Asian Century’ takes hold, institutions should see TNE as a way to enhance global mobility, improve graduate outcomes and build their reputations.

 Building TNE has taken many forms but is sometimes seen as a way of simply delivering revenue through fees for administration, quality assurance and academic services. The strategic opportunity is much larger and lies in using TNE to build a university’s profile, employer networks and active alumni advocates. Leveraging relationships is critical to doing business in Asia and TNE is a good starting point. 

 TNE has real potential to become a defining feature of a university’s global ambition and strength. Every advantage counts in international markets.        

 Growing competition in Asia

 Competition has always existed, but Asian countries have a growing sense of their identity and capability as part of the most populous and economically vibrant region in the world. The founding of the Asian Universities Alliance was just one example of the ambition to create greater cooperation among universities in the region. Tangible developments include the branch campus for China’s Xiamen University in Malaysia.

Students recognise the advantages of studying in the region where they will work and that they have increasingly high-quality options. Asia Careers Group data show that of the 8% of UK Undergraduates that chose to pursue further study 47% of them chose to undertake their postgraduate qualification in Australia and/or Asia. China, Hong Kong and Singapore are currently the preferred destinations in Asia but the aspirations of South Korea, Japan and Malaysia as education hubs will bring even more competition.

 In addition to increased competition at postgraduate level, the growing quality of Asia’s higher education makes the region increasingly attractive as a destination for mobile students at all levels of study, and from across the world. The proximity to home, ability to maintain networks and chances of employability in expanding markets are all persuasive. Over and above that the cost of study and living is lower than study in the West.

Building on Visibility, Value And Variety 

 In 2013-14 TNE was ‘worth ￡550 million per annum to the UK and earns the most of any education export from the UK. It represents 11% of international student fees.” But concentrating on revenue significantly underestimates the strategic value and potential of TNE. It is evidence of the quality, understanding and reach of UK higher education around the world, and offers a distinct competitive advantage.

It is an area where the UK has established a powerful presence . A simple comparison suggests that the UK has 17 Asian branch campuses compared to 9 for Australia with particular preeminence in China and Malaysia. Australia’s Department of Education data suggests that the country has just over 150,000 offshore students (including VET) compared to the UK’s 700,000+ with around 50% studying in Asia. While Australia does not systematically capture some types of offshore degree students, the UK lead seems strong. 

Different TNE approaches bring different levels of risk and investment but its popularity demonstrates that it has been a worthwhile endeavor for most institutions. Even the occasionally maligned branch campus has brought successes with the universities of Nottingham and Heriot-Watt seeing significant increases in enrolment at their Asian campuses this year. The level of risk and potential for failure has diminished as experience has grown.

 Other institutions have also demonstrated the value of being highly visible and delivered outstanding results in country and through recruitment back in the UK. The 10 year partnership creating Xi’an Jiatong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) has seen its student numbers grow from just 164 to around 9,000 in Suzhou and nearly 3,000 in Liverpool. Universities taking a strategic approach to building presence through TNE have every opportunity to enhance their global recruitment.

Leveraging TNE for Recruitment, Employability and Reputation

Whichever form of TNE is used, it offers a powerful value proposition because it brings local costs of study to the cachet of a UK degree. It also gives students the chance to fulfil their ambition of securing a UK degree without the inherent risks and costs of travelling overseas, both environmental and social impact. One student voice summarises these considerations: “I wanted to be close to home and earn a "reputed degree" so chose the Malaysian branch campus of the U.K.'s University of Nottingham. To me it was not just about the distance but also about the quality of education." Darshika Chaturvedi, BA (Hons), International Business Management.

 As employability becomes a primary influence on students’ decision to study and their choice of institution, the time is right to build on the UK’s platform in TNE. Universities that choose to flex their TNE strength have the potential to ensure internships and graduate employability that makes for a lifetime return on investment. This could even provide the basis for supporting Asian students who have studied in the UK to find a job when they return to their home country.

Understanding the lives and careers of students who study through TNE and go on to careers is another area where universities need to bring more resources to bear. Traditional alumni offices are not following through on these potential advocates and influencers. Collaborative provision – the most common form of TNE – should mean engaging with partner institutions and understanding graduate outcomes.

There is scope for TNE to provide the basis for globalising the experience of British Domiciled UK-born students. A joined- up strategy could see UUKi’s ‘Go International’ programme for outward mobility using existing degree delivery and links in-country to encourage study overseas. It might go even further in considering the potential of TNE to provide the basis for work-experience around the world.  That would go some way to preparing UK-domiciled students for a future where Asian companies will be major employers in the region and around the world.

Above all TNE must come from out of the shadows and take the limelight it deserves. UK universities have a long and distinguished tradition of educating individuals from all over the world that return to their home countries and generate with economic and social development. The UK should build on its considerable strengths in terms of i TNE , in all its forms. It is the surest way to success.     

 Universities UK International’s annual TNE conference is taking place in London on 6 November 2019, and will bring together TNE professionals both from the UK and abroad, to discuss trends, challenges and opportunities for UK TNE delivery.

 Louise Nicol is director of Asia Careers Group SDN BHD, a company based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which provides longitudinal graduate outcomes and average salary data to both the UK and ASEAN governments and UK higher education institutions. Contact - [email protected]