Predominantly focused on the international student market in the past, the acquisition provides ECA with the opportunity to offer education to domestic students and make an inroad into the online learning space.

“IT Masters gives us a new university partner and significant experience in domestic and online education”

IT Masters has been in a partnership with CSU for over 17 years, specialising in remote and online delivery of Master of IT courses.

It covers student acquisition largely by offering free short courses online, a certain proportion of this student cohort then converts to full fee-paying master’s students.

The company’s online master’s degrees are fully accredited under the Australian Government Qualifications Framework.

“Our aim is to expand our offerings and continue to make a difference for the domestic student base as well,” said Gavin Dowling, chief operating officer at ECA.

“We see a huge opportunity in the existing business model – our core business model – of partnering with universities for on-campus delivery for international students,” he told The PIE News.

“However, that is just one way of operating, and as we mature as a business we are looking to expand in a number of directions.”

Dowling said that ignoring online education was never an option in the longer term.

“Likewise moving into domestic students was a natural progression. Students want quality education experiences and qualifications which are transformative, and universities want dynamic partners who can help drive growth in a number of different ways.

“So, IT Masters was a perfect fit as it gives us a new university partner and significant experience in domestic and online education,” Dowling added.

“The ECA management and CSU management are very excited by this partnership to further develop the offering and look forward to enhancing the student experience in every way.”

ECA has also recently developed its online learning platform ECA Online offering a range of diploma certificate and graduate certificate programs.

The company has also established a student support fund in response to the Covid-19 situation to assist students with various scholarships off tuition fees and flexible payment options across its colleges and partner universities.