Transnational education provision in a time of disruption: Perspectives from Australia

Abstract

As the scale and scope of transnational education (TNE) has broadened, and the range of delivery models and partnerships has continued to expand, so too have the challenges. Universities offering courses outside their own country face a growing range of legal, practical and political challenges. The significant disruption during 2020–2021 coming from the global coronavirus pandemic, and it’s effect on the provision of higher education in most countries, has further amplified many of these challenges, raising questions about what the future might hold for TNE, including in China. This article aims to establish the major enablers and challenges for TNE provision. It utilises an investigation into Australian TNE providers immediately prior to the COVID-19 pandemic as a means to analyse these factors. As a major provider of TNE, including in China and other Asian countries, Australia provides a useful example of how TNE partnerships are being facilitated, for better and worse. In particular, the article establishes that tailored and often market-specific collaborations offer the best chance of a successful partnership. The study also provides an important basis for considering how TNE will function as a key component of the ongoing response of the higher education sector to the pandemic.

Student perspectives of hybrid delivery in a transnational education context during Covid-19

“…However, issues such as financial aid, course design, a broader scope for adopting techniques, student frustration and more appropriate teacher training are yet to be adequately addressed. Furthermore, Covid-19 and its impacts on delivery have raised further challenges in the context of Transnational Education (TNE) (Yencken et al, 2021). The context of TNE has a unique setting with education being provided to students in a different country than the one in which the awarding institution is based (Sun et al, 2022).…”

China-Australia Tensions and International Higher Education

“…To extend their market reach, Australian rizvi 619 universities have also forged complex articulation and twinning arrangements to ensure a steady flow of students to Australia. Less successful in China have been the attempts to establish branch campuses (Yencken et al 2021), but this has not been due to the lack of trying.…”

Limits to growth? Key enrolment trends for UK transnational higher education, 2002–2021

“…There is a small but growing literature which focuses on the mounting 'legal, practical and political challenges' (Yencken et al, 2021:2) which are increasingly affecting TNE provision by UK and also Australian universities (see Lo, 2017;Ramos & Wake, 2019;Wilkins & Juusola, 2018) However, no clear consensus exists on the extent to which these constraints may affect the long-term prospects for TNE. According to Healey, 'the alignment of internal and external forces that fuelled the growth of TNE is ending' (Healey, 2013: np) and, that by the late 2010s, TNE was 'no longer a policy priority for many host governments' (Healey, 2019: np).…”