Creating International Masters of Design

Abstract

The nature of higher education in the United Kingdom will change over the next few years in response to anticipated substantial budget cuts to be announced by the British government. Questions have already been asked about the ability and will of ‘home’ students to pay tuition fees in the region of three times current fees. In this climate, British Universities will seek to increase numbers of international students who are well financed and are already used to paying higher international tuition fees.

Unfortunately, the timing of the British austerity cuts also coincides with a change in nature of international education and international recruitment. In the past, many British universities have welcomed large cohorts of international students to study at their UK campuses. This is expected to decline over the next 5 – 10 years particularly in certain overseas markets such as Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore. These markets have a maturing local provision for higher education and the standard is improving. Traditionally students had a limited option of university courses in their home countries and therefore those who could afford it often studied overseas for the complete duration of their undergraduate or postgraduate degrees. However, as higher education provision matures in various countries, students are being encouraged by their governments to study in their home countries. Significantly, Singapore and Hong Kong wish to establish their economies as international hubs for education and the creative industries.

These developments might be considered unfortunate as they could lead to a drop in the numbers of international students applying for full courses at British universities. However, it does provide a significant opportunity for growth in international academic activity if universities are prepared to change how they serve the needs of international students.

What British universities can offer international students is their experience of delivering undergraduate and postgraduate degrees of a high quality within established QA benchmarking of franchise and validated courses through Trans-National Education (TNE) projects. The step-change for many British universities will be not to think of themselves as local providers of higher education (with an international student cohort) but to become international providers of Higher Education with multiple international partner institutions.