Malta is aiming to attract more foreign universities to the island, its Education Minister has said, amidst concern about new legislation changing the requirements institutions must fulfill to become a university.
Construction has begun on Xiamen University's Malaysia branch campus, the first wholly overseas Chinese university campus, which will open its doors in Autumn 2015.
With a US$4bn deficit caused by the high proportion of university students opting to pursue studies abroad, South Korea’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has announced plans to open up the market further to international providers by easing restrictions on foreign investors and creating an international education hub in Songdo, Incheon.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education is conducting an independent inquiry into higher education delivered through London branch campuses, after an investigation by the Home Office found that some 45,000 immigrants may have fraudulently obtained English language test certificates.
Foreign higher education providers may now operate in Bangladesh, thanks to a recent move by the Education Ministry. The policy, which enables foreign universities, JVs with local universities and investors to establish branches or study centres, has met with some controversy and private domestic universities lobbied against such a move.
The UK's higher education watchdog, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, has found only two of 11 UK campuses in the UAE are "readily recognisable" branch campuses. It has warned providers not to mislead students about what is being offered offshore and advises that providers "do more to introduce a UK academic culture".
Lancaster University, UK, is to open an international branch campus in Ghana, Africa, later this year in what will be the only operational British IBC on the continent. Subject to approval from Ghana's national accreditation board the campus will enrol its first students in October.
Construction is underway for a foreign branch campus of CUHK opening in mainland China next year. Endorsed by the State Ministry of Education, the Chinese University Hong Kong (CUHK Shenzhen) will open in southern China, not far from the flagship campus in Hong Kong.
