Currently the "big" news going around is on the sudden closure of the Asian campus of one of the top universities. Students and parents were both shocked and worried. The news came so suddenly and unexpectedly. After all, for such a reputable university, one will never imagine it closing down just after a semester or so!
The general public has the sentiment that the whole issue was very badly handled. In the first place, if the campus was going to close down, the management should discuss with the students and staff, before springing the news on them out of the blue. Although there was compensation like offering scholarships to current students to study on-campus in the country, many students are still not satisfied over the sudden news and considering if they will like to take up the offer.
Of course, if I am one of the students, I, too, will feel rather bewildered. Afterall, the students have already paid the fees and rejected other universities to go into this school, yet now that it suddenly closes, they will be left without a school, not to mention wasting another year trying to source for a school to go into.
Now that this experiment had failed, it seems that we are not ready to become an education hub, attracting top universities to set up a campus here. I am not talking about distance learning from overseas universities, run by the private schools here, but campuses that operate exactly like the respective overseas university, except for the overseas experience.
One reason it could have failed could be the type of students they take in. Being a top university, it only accepts students of a certain calibre. However, top students will rather enter our own universities instead, or else go to other prestigious schools overseas. Not many will put the Asian campus as first choice. Even if they do, they rather go overseas on-campus and experience life abroad, rather than study here.
Another reason could be the amount of fees. Because it is still run according to the university's regulations, there is no discount in the fees. Thus, students still have to pay the same amount for the course. The only difference is that they do not need to pay for air ticket or living expenses abroad. Even then, the offer is not very appealing, as if one is to pay such exorbitant fees, one rather study in our local universities where they can get education subsidies.
A third reason could be the lack of foreign students. Initially the people involved in this experiment thought of attracting foreigners who could then pay half the fees and study here instead of another country. But if foreign students are able to afford to study here, they can afford to study somewhere else. As a result, they will rather go to the country to study if they want to go to the university in question.
Perhaps if the university is to set up an Asian campus, certain entry requirements can be less stringent. Maybe they can lower the requirements, like taking in students with B-averages instead of As. Or lower the course fees. But being such a reputable university, they are not willing to lower the entry requirements as well as the fees, because all along, they have taken in only the best students.
Perhaps all these factors could have been taken into account before deciding whether to set up an overseas campus. Maybe the people involved were too idealistic, without considering that perhaps people might not think that way. It was quite a big loss to the name and reputation of the university, not to mention heavy losses financially.
Not all overseas campuses flop though. We do have some schools here that operate as overseas campuses, and they have been successful. Maybe the situation can be better assessed before any school thinks of setting up an overseas campus anywhere, because afterall, one has to see if there is a niche before anything can be done.
The general public has the sentiment that the whole issue was very badly handled. In the first place, if the campus was going to close down, the management should discuss with the students and staff, before springing the news on them out of the blue. Although there was compensation like offering scholarships to current students to study on-campus in the country, many students are still not satisfied over the sudden news and considering if they will like to take up the offer.
Of course, if I am one of the students, I, too, will feel rather bewildered. Afterall, the students have already paid the fees and rejected other universities to go into this school, yet now that it suddenly closes, they will be left without a school, not to mention wasting another year trying to source for a school to go into.
Now that this experiment had failed, it seems that we are not ready to become an education hub, attracting top universities to set up a campus here. I am not talking about distance learning from overseas universities, run by the private schools here, but campuses that operate exactly like the respective overseas university, except for the overseas experience.
One reason it could have failed could be the type of students they take in. Being a top university, it only accepts students of a certain calibre. However, top students will rather enter our own universities instead, or else go to other prestigious schools overseas. Not many will put the Asian campus as first choice. Even if they do, they rather go overseas on-campus and experience life abroad, rather than study here.
Another reason could be the amount of fees. Because it is still run according to the university's regulations, there is no discount in the fees. Thus, students still have to pay the same amount for the course. The only difference is that they do not need to pay for air ticket or living expenses abroad. Even then, the offer is not very appealing, as if one is to pay such exorbitant fees, one rather study in our local universities where they can get education subsidies.
A third reason could be the lack of foreign students. Initially the people involved in this experiment thought of attracting foreigners who could then pay half the fees and study here instead of another country. But if foreign students are able to afford to study here, they can afford to study somewhere else. As a result, they will rather go to the country to study if they want to go to the university in question.
Perhaps if the university is to set up an Asian campus, certain entry requirements can be less stringent. Maybe they can lower the requirements, like taking in students with B-averages instead of As. Or lower the course fees. But being such a reputable university, they are not willing to lower the entry requirements as well as the fees, because all along, they have taken in only the best students.
Perhaps all these factors could have been taken into account before deciding whether to set up an overseas campus. Maybe the people involved were too idealistic, without considering that perhaps people might not think that way. It was quite a big loss to the name and reputation of the university, not to mention heavy losses financially.
Not all overseas campuses flop though. We do have some schools here that operate as overseas campuses, and they have been successful. Maybe the situation can be better assessed before any school thinks of setting up an overseas campus anywhere, because afterall, one has to see if there is a niche before anything can be done.
3 comments:
So who was it - NYU?
I had to search the news for more background info on it. So I now know it is the UNSW that pulled out. According to the articles I read, the pullout was spearheaded by their new chancellor Fred Hilmer. The articles seem to indicate that he is a bottom line man (fair enough) and was concerned about the costs of the new campus.
However, it seems that the Singaporean government was investing a fair amount of money into this.
Not being privy to the details of the deal and not having the inclination to research this further and learn more about all the parties involved, this is what my gut reaction is: he doesn't want to waste money teaching a bunch of foreigners. Of course, he can not say it that way, using instead the usual rationales of cost, overextending oneself, etc. However, given my experience of white English people, I know there is a tremendous racist streak that runs through them. This may not be the case, but it is my gut reaction.
On the other hand, maybe it was a wooly, pie-in-the-sky type of project which appealed to persons with a certain ideological, political persuasions, but was wholly impractical. So, canceling it was really the best option.
Kumar : Chicago School of Business, and to a certain extent, University of Buffalo, New York.
Richard : Perhaps cancelling it would be the best option, considering they were making quite a loss the last few months. However, the decision could be communicated more effectively in advance instead of dropping the bombshell so suddenly like this.
Post a Comment