In January 2010, Australia-based Navitas sealed its first U.S. deal, a 10-year contract with Western Kentucky University.  Since then,  the company has signed three more  agreements – with the Universities of [...]]]> Inside Higher Ed reports that U.S. colleges are increasingly turning to for-profit pathway programs for international students in a bid to boost revenues.

In January 2010, Australia-based Navitas sealed its first U.S. deal, a 10-year contract with Western Kentucky University.  Since then,  the company has signed three more  agreements – with the Universities of Massachusetts at Boston, Dartmouth and Lowell.

Students entering the Navitas program at Western Kentucky will need deep pockets.  According to the fee schedule, the costs are over $22,000 for three semesters, plus a mandatory $1,000 medical insurance charge. The pre-master’s program is nearly $10,000 and runs just one semester.

With the U.S. recession clobbering college finances, other for-profit pathway providers are swooping down upon campuses across the country with promises of bountiful new revenue streams from full fee-paying international students. Study Group International, recently purchased by a U.S. private equity firm, is setting up programs at Dean and Fisher Colleges, and Madison University. Meanwhile, Kaplan International which already runs a “Global Pathways Program” at Northeastern University opened its second program earlier this year at the University of Utah.  And UK-based INTO has signed long-term contracts with Oregon State University and the University of South Florida.

INTO’s joint ventures with Oregon State and South Florida generated headlines earlier this year when the Commission on English Language Accreditation initially revoked the accreditation of the two universities’ English language institutes after they were taken over by INTO.

Ironically, the rising number of private pathways programs comes at a time when the U.S. Congress is looking at new rules to reign in the more questionable practices of many for-profit colleges. Surely it’s time to shine a similar light on Navitas, Study Group, Kaplan and INTO?

The vote is a blow to SGI’s ambition to establish a greater presence in Canada, but a victory for faculty [...]]]> After a nearly 4 hour debate on a proposed joint venture with Study Group International, the University of Windsor Senate voted against the plan to create a private, for-profit pathways program for international students.

The vote is a blow to SGI’s ambition to establish a greater presence in Canada, but a victory for faculty and students who campaigned against what they called the “outsourcing” of education.

However, despite the rejection by Senate, the SGI proposal isn’t dead yet. The vote this week was on establishing a joint venture with the school of business. Voting on three other motions involving SGI deals with the faculties of computer science, science, and arts and social science were postponed until March.

According to reports, if the deal is approved by the university’s senate in February, ISG’s international study centre would open its doors as early as [...]]]> Canada’s University of Windsor is considering a joint venture proposal with Study Group International (SGI) that would see the company establish a for-profit college on campus for international students.

According to reports, if the deal is approved by the university’s senate in February, ISG’s international study centre would open its doors as early as this September.

A handful of Canadian universities have similar joint venture arrangements with Navitas, but the Windsor deal is the first in the country for SGI, and it’s raised concerns amongst teaching staff.

In an op-ed published in the Windsor Star, professor James Winter says the deal will compromise the quality and reputation of the university. He cautions that the desire of the university to tap into potential new revenue streams “must not lead us to abandon academic integrity.”

The University of Windsor faculty union is also speaking out and campaigning against the joint venture. Any information or experiences colleagues have had with SGI that might be helpful for the union’s campaign would be greatly welcomed.

Many of these “campuses” are [...]]]> Many universities and colleges in the mainly English-speaking developed countries are investing more and more of their resources into offshore operations, including branch campuses.  According to the UK-based  Observatory for Borderless Higher Education, there are now 162 branch campuses around the world, up by more than 40% since 2006.

Many of these “campuses” are joint-ventures and franchising arrangements with local providers. Despite the hype spun by university and college leaders, in most cases the motivation for these initiatives has been financial, not educational. And the product being sold hasn’t entirely been up to standards.

In a recent article in International Higher Education, Philip Altbach pulls no punches in calling out branch campuses for what they really are:

Let us be honest about branch campuses. With a few notable exceptions, they are not really campuses. They are, rather, small, specialized, and limited academic programs offered offshore to take advantage of a perceived market. Not surprisingly, the most popular programs offered are in business management and information technology — with fairly low setup costs and significant worldwide demand. Except where generous hosts…provide facilities and infrastructure, branch campuses become rather spartan places, resembling office complexes rather than academic institutions.

In the rush to establish these branch “campuses”, many institutions are risking their reputations and scarce finances on something that, like the stock market before the bubble burst, seemed like a sure bet even if the dirty little secret was that things were simply not sustainable in the long run.

This week, the University of Melbourne announced it would stop funding the troubled U21 Global virtual operation after yet another year of lackluster performance.

In response, Universitas 21 announced it [...]]]> Universitas 21, the international consortium of universities that launched a for-profit on-line program in 2001, is reassessing its future after another institution has left.

This week, the University of Melbourne announced it would stop funding the troubled U21 Global virtual operation after yet another year of lackluster performance.

In response, Universitas 21 announced it was handing its controlling interest in U21 Global to the Manipal Group, an Indian company that specializes in financial services, manufacturing, and health care.

Manipal says it plans to shift the focus of U21 Global to “corporate education” — something that Melbourne spokeswoman Christina Buckridge described to Inside Higher Ed as “short, non-award courses, sometimes tailored to a big corporate’s particular needs.”

It’s quite a fall from grace for the ambitious venture that once boasted it would attract half a million on-line students and generate nine-figure profit margins. Dazzled by the prospect of reaping new revenue streams, many public universities were quick to jump on board, pumping untold millions into the joint venture that never made a profit.

All in all, the story of U21 Global is a sorry tale that ends with a clear warning about the dangers of joint ventures in higher education. Let’s hope the lesson has been learned.

A subsidiary of the Washington Post Company that started off in the test preparation business, Kaplan has expanded its operations in recent years and now provides an [...]]]> Kaplan Inc., the for-profit U.S.-based education provider, announced yesterday a joint venture with the University of Adelaide in Australia that will create the company’s first international campus.

A subsidiary of the Washington Post Company that started off in the test preparation business, Kaplan has expanded its operations in recent years and now provides an array of higher education programs, English language courses, professional training, and tutoring services. It has operations in more than 30 countries and annual revenues of $US 2.3 billion.

Kaplan already boasts that it’s one of the largest providers of real estate and financial services training in Australia, which in some eyes I suppose qualifies it for an easy leap into the country’s university market.  As part of their business deal, Adelaide and Kaplan are planning to offer on-line courses in “high quality career-oriented educational programs” –  that is to say, finance and business.

Incredibly, officials from Kaplan and Adelaide are proudly claiming their business partnership is meant to “break down barriers to education.” Now, would that be the barriers between public and private?

Interestingly, financial details of the joint venture have not been released.