University Pathway Programs: Types, Origins, Aims and Defining Traits

Feeling supported: Enabling students in diverse cohorts through personalised, data-informed feedback

“…Students in these courses include many first-in-family applicants with little knowledge about the experience and expectations of university (Habel, Whitman, & Stokes, 2016). Given the target enrolment, enabling programs share the same goal of helping students to develop key skills for learning at university, by immersing them in the culture of higher level learning, and developing language proficiency as well as critical thinking, research and study skills (Agosti & Bernat, 2018). While the outcomes of enabling programs have been promising (Cullity, 2006;Habel et al, 2016;Klinger & Murray, 2011;Lisciandro & Gibbs, 2016), many students fail to meet the standards and level of academic engagement required resulting in high attrition rates (Hodges et al, 2013).…”

Selling out the Public University? Administrative Sensemaking Strategies for Internationalization via Private Pathway Colleges in Canadian Higher Education

“…Public universities are seen as the drivers of these problematic activities; thus, they often become a target of scholarly criticism for their aggressive recruitment strategies to attract the best and the brightest at all costs (Brunner, 2017; Guo & Guo, 2017; Wildavsky, 2012). A relatively recent phenomenon associated with the recruitment of international students across the globe is formal collaboration between public universities and private for-profit companies that offer direct pathways for international students into post-secondary education at their partnering public university (Agosti & Bernat, 2018; Brett & Pitman, 2018; King & Owens, 2018; Miller et al, 2015). The emergence of the private pathway colleges represents a new trend, primarily in English-language institutions in countries such as Australia, Canada, and the United States, that challenges the public higher education landscape.…”

“…We know relatively little about this recent trend in international education. The major corporate providers of university pathway programs worldwide are Bridge Pathways, Cambridge Education Group, Culture Works, INTO University Partnerships, Kaplan International Colleges, Navitas, Shorelight Education, and Study Group International (Agosti & Bernat, 2018; Larsen, 2020). These private providers offer almost half of the pathway programs in existence.…”

“…The paper examines how these agreements have been rationalized and framed by the administrators working in English-speaking institutions. While there is an increasing literature surrounding internationalization and private pathway colleges (Agosti & Bernat, 2018; Brett & Pitman, 2018; King & Owens, 2018), this area of administrative decision-making has been largely unexplored, which provides opportunities to share empirical evidence and clarify reasonings related to the role of private pathway colleges in internationalization. While the agreements with private pathway colleges have emerged primarily in the context of English-medium institutions (in the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom), this paper is relevant to broader audiences because it examines how controversial and conflicting decisions associated with internationalization get justified and legitimized.…”