Over the last few years, interest in transnational education has surged. Some of this can be attributed to very pragmatic reasons, such as attempts by universities to diversify income, especially in countries that have historically attracted large numbers of international students but, in recent years, have seen softening or falling demand. As policies on international student mobility have tightened, universities have increasingly considered developing campuses overseas.
However, the shift to transnational education represents three broader trends that over time will, in my view, be much more significant than immediate pressures and constraints.
1. The first is the surging demand for higher education, especially in emerging and rapidly developing countries. As countries achieve higher economic growth, increased affordability and improvements in secondary education attainment have led to rapidly rising demand for HE. As more young people have sought to attend university, domestic capacity often lags behind, creating significant gaps between students looking for a university place and provision of existing places.
As a result, a growing number of students will look to travel overseas to study. However, not all students with the ability and talent to study will be able to afford this. In countries where places in prestigious, higher ranked universities are limited, students will seek alternatives. These will include a growing domestic private university sector and international campuses.
International campuses offer a means for academically high-performing students to study for an international degree in their own country
In India, where the University of Southampton has been approved to establish the first full international campus under the University Grants Commission (UGC), the number of students leaving secondary education is growing rapidly. As a result, competition for limited places in India’s leading institutions – the Indian Institutes of Technology and Management – is extremely high and becoming increasingly selective.
Of the million or more secondary school students wanting to attend an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), only around 18,000 secured places in 2024/25. Of those unsuccessful in securing a place, only a small proportion will be able to afford to study overseas.
International campuses offer a means for academically high-performing students to study for an international degree in their own country. They therefore expand the options available for students.
2. The second reason has been the development of enabling regulations in key countries, notably India but also in other countries. Governments with reform agendas recognise the positive impacts that international campuses have on economic growth and upgrading of the domestic HE sector.
Malaysia is a good example of the positive system effects of international campus development. Since the introduction of regulations to enable campuses, and establishment of both campuses and long-term TNE, Malaysia has become a regional hub for HE, seeing rises in the reputation and rankings of domestic universities, and improvements in higher level skills in the workforce.
3. The third reason is that universities increasingly recognise they are international, and multi-national institutions. We recruit students and staff from all over the world, undertake research both global and local in focus and impact, and recognise that we have a broader impact.
From an educational perspective, there are tangible benefits to establishing international campuses. International campuses create opportunities to build a locally sensitive and understanding curriculum that is of relevance in a specific location, bringing together diversities of perspective and understanding. As well as challenging geographically bound views, campuses create the conditions for exchanges of learning and insight in different contexts.
International campuses also create more contextualised research and, hence, insight. A campus creates a research ‘platform’ in a particular location, opening up opportunities to build greater contextual understanding and frame research questions in ways that are relevant to that location. Given many of the most complex issues and problems we face manifest across many geographies, often in different ways, campuses create a range of research perspectives that allow for better contextualisation and increased comparability across jurisdictions.
One of the positive outcomes of developing campuses in multiple countries is that it turns the traditional higher education model on its head. Whereas many universities, especially those in the Global North, have expected students to go to them, international campuses have extended choice by enabling these universities to go to the student as well.
About the author: Professor Andrew Atherton is vice-president international and engagement at the University of Southampton
Andrew was previously global director for transnational education at Navitas, a leading global education company. Before that he was vice-chancellor, University of Dundee, and prior to that deputy vice-chancellor at Lancaster University and senior deputy vice-chancellor, University of Lincoln. He started his academic career at Durham University, in the Small Business Centre, where he established the Policy Research Unit to undertake commissioned research on enterprise and small business development nationally and globally.
Andrew has degrees from SOAS London, Yale University in the US and a doctorate from the University of Lincoln. His research focuses on entrepreneurship in China, business start-up and enterprise policy.
