With numerous obstacles facing the academic pathways sector in recent years, such as government curbs on student immigration and the need for pathway colleges to readjust to “Highly Trusted Sponsor” status in the UK, observers might have considered that private operations working in tandem with HE had had their fill of government restrictions.
On the contrary, academic pathways are flourishing; true to their literal meaning, pathways have found a way through these obstacles and the story is generally one of growth and expanding opportunity.
On-campus provision of pathway programmes – enabling international students to get to know a campus while honing their language and study skills prior to a degree course – is one of the fast-developing areas of the wider international education sector. Underlying consolidation and expansion, of course, is the fact that the number of students wishing to study abroad is set to continue rising through the next decade and beyond.
“There are 157.5 million students in tertiary education today, that’s larger than the entire population of Nigeria or Russia; in 1970 there were just 28 million,” says Tim O’Brien, director of INTO Knowledge at INTO University Partnerships. The company provides pathways, English language and higher education programmes in partnership with universities in the UK, US and China under a joint venture model.
“In the last decade alone,” adds O’Brien, “the number of students studying outside their home country has gone from 2.5 million to 3.7 million and by 2025, it is projected to reach 8 million. The global demand for higher education only seems to be going one way.”
“The global demand for higher education only seems to be going one way”
In the last seven years, in line with factors including the growth of household income in some Asian countries and capacity issues regarding tertiary education in countries such as India and China, all the major pathway players have reported growth, albeit with some wobbles.
Curtin Sydney College – a Navitas-owned centre
Long-term provider Navitas has opened 10 new colleges in the last two years and now has 30 university pathways colleges in seven countries (including Canada, Singapore, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Indonesia), with a total of 15,000 students enrolling in 2011.
However, recent changes to student visa policy in Australia and the UK caused enrolment dips of 14.5% and 10% respectively in 2011 (although their North American and Asian colleges offset this, making the overall decline just 1.5%).
Kaplan meanwhile has seen its university partnerships extend from one college to 13 since 2005, including one in UAE that opened in September 2010 with the sole aim of preparing Emirati students for higher education within their own country. New UK colleges are planned for this year and the company’s total number of students has grown from 100 to 6,000.
Study Group claims 20 to 30 per cent enrolment growth year-on-year
Another key player, Study Group, has grown to 14 colleges since inception in 2006 and also wants to open more on-campus centres this year. One of their most recent was at University College Dublin where, as Paul Lovegrove, principal of Study Group’s International Study Centres admits, “visa requirements are considerably more within our control.”
The group – which leases premises from university partners and operates independently on-campus, unlike INTO’s joint venture arrangement – announced bilateral International Study Programmes with three Chinese universities last year, and claims 20 to 30% enrolment growth year-on-year (though they don’t publish student numbers).
Similarly, Cambridge Education Group (CEG) did not wish to discuss specific enrolment figures, but instead pointed to its placing 23rd in a list of the top 100 private equity-backed firms with the fastest growing profits, as sourced by Deloitte. They also point to a steady proliferation of partnerships such as their London Foundation Campus serving three new partners last year, one of which was Royal Holloway. [more>>]
INTO has seen “course commencements” grow from 552 to 34,000 between inception in February 2006 and this year. In January, INTO launched its latest full joint venture with Colorado State University which welcomes its first intake in September. INTO expects Colarado will mirror its partnership with Oregon State University; the university saw international numbers increase by seven times the national average in 2010-11.
On-campus operators have certainly tasted success, but mention should be made of the myriad of pathway providers operating off-campus as well such as Kings Colleges and LSBF. LSBF has been delivering pathways since 2009 at its campuses and has just launched 16 specialist MBA pathways validated by London Metropolitan University; students on these courses can also access all the university’s facilities nearby. The school also runs one on-campus operation in partnership with Grenoble Graduate School of Business, France, and says it would like to expand both on and off-campus in future.
“We strongly believe in working alongside our partners to improve the students’ academic development and their overall experience. On-campus and off-campus options have great advantages and we are aiming to increase our offer of programmes in both categories,” says Anton Baboglo, managing director of LSBF’s Business School.
For Baboglo, pathways offer universities the benefit of diversity, with LSBF courses welcoming students from over 150 countries. He says some of LSBF’s partners are willing to source up to 20% of their student population from overseas.
To attract these students, pathways rely on increasingly honed sales and marketing networks, often providing their university partners with an otherwise unattainable reach into foreign markets. Channels such as digital marketing, including use of social networking, are increasingly employed as well more traditional routes such as appearances at student fairs. Education agencies – often overseen by providers – remain integral to the recruitment process.
All this means universities can rely, wobbles aside, on a steady stream suitable students who will often (though not always) progress on to host degree courses. Kaplan MD Linda Cowan points out that universities inevitably welcome “the stability that [pathways] give their planning through the ability to make more accurate forecasts, predicting six to nine months in advance what students are coming through”.
INTO’s University of Exeter building; one of its success stories
As far as the actual revenue stream is concerned, an individual snapshot can be provided by INTO’s partnership with Newcastle University, established in 2007. The INTO Newcastle University joint venture generated UK£16.02 million in revenue for the year 2010-11. According to Professor Tony Stevenson, the University’s pro vice chancellor, “INTO has effectively had somewhere between a £12-13 million a year impact on our bottom line; that’s about 3.5% of our income.”
Meanwhile, Navitas CEO Rod Jones explains the power of the pathway on a macro level: “The value that has been directly created for universities by Navitas since 1994 exceeds AUD $544 million. In addition it is estimated that the flow-on revenue from students who complete a programme of ours and then enter the university and complete the balance of their degree is more than AUD $1.6 billion. [These are students who would not have gained entry to university without the Navitas program].”
With the rewards so worthwhile for both parties, it’s not surprising that universities and their pathway providers are quick to warn governments against putting off potential customers.
With uncertainty likely to persist over visas, will the future remain bright for pathways? For many companies, the outlook is positive because changing mobility patterns and growing demand for HE worldwide are presenting new opportunities.
“Gross enrolment ratios across much of the developing world suggest there is simply not enough capacity. Often where capacity is being built or already exists, the quality and relevance of provision causes huge problems,” says O’Brien. “We see significant opportunities to work with major public universities to provide pathways and higher education opportunities in Asia and North America – as well as retaining a clear focus on working with our partners in the UK.”
