UNIVERSITY COLLABORATION

It is a popular trend for universities of different countries to collaborate and provide courses for students of all nationalities. The clear advantage to the student is that they are able to obtain a degree from a foreign university at a much lower cost. The student does not have to spend so much and often saves a lot by not having the high living expenses of living in a different country.

The following article from the economist magazine describes the situation in some detail:

https://www.economist.com/node/21748808?frsc=dg%7Ce

Despite the possible advantages, the article describes problems related to political issues, where the host country might not approve of comments, articles and perhaps the content that is taught. It is difficult to maintain teaching standards in addition to this.

Another pertinent question that the article does not address is whether local universities are able to compete and provide courses that are equal in quality to those from outside universities. It seems that local universities are restricted by two factors: perception and ranking. In terms of perception, regardless of whether a course is of an excellent standard, the stakeholder needs to perceive a high reputation of that course. It can also be argued that university ranking institutions do not assess the quality of courses carefully enough. So a mid ranking university might still offer excellent quality courses.

What do you think? Is it much better to obtain a qualification from an international university, or are local universities catching up? Please write your comments below.