Public benefit corporation Cintana Education has announced a collaboration with Arizona State University with the view of launching a global network of universities.
The network, which will be named Cintana Alliance, will offer coordinated academic programs allowing students to earn degrees across multiple institutions and will support universities outside of the US to meet their countries’ unique needs.
“Our goal is to empower selected institutions outside of the US to achieve their ambitious goals for growth”
Speaking with The PIE News, a spokesperson for Cintana said that once a partner university is identified and approved by Cintana and ASU, Cintana will provide the management and operational capacity-building for the university and ASU will provide educational content to help the university improve and grow.
“We expect that some institutions will mostly join the Alliance because they’re seeking to improve their own degree programs,” the spokesperson explained.
“However, we do believe that over time many of our partner universities will also recommend ASU courses or programs to their students, or welcome students from other institutions within the Alliance.”
Cintana will also partner with government organisation and the private sector to support the development of start-up universities to meet rising HE demand in developing countries.
“In an era where higher education remains the most powerful global lever for economic mobility, our goal is to empower selected institutions outside of the United States to achieve their ambitious goals for growth in scale and quality,” said Douglas Becker, founder and chairman of Cintana in a statement.
“To do so, we will combine our experiences with the experience and resources of ASU to enhance academic quality and drive innovation.”
ASU president Michael Crow added that the partnership will allow ASU to fulfil its mandate for global engagement.
“US institutions have increasingly focused on attracting international students to the US, but few have been able to engage effectively at the local level outside of America to help institutions advance in their home country,” he said.
“This partnership with Cintana allows us to fulfill our charter’s mandate to engage not just in Arizona and nationally — but globally.”
