Download University of New South Wales to open Singapore campus: the

University of New South Wales to open Singapore campus: the quest for hub status
continues
Australia’s University of New South Wales (UNSW) recently confirmed acceptance of a
Singapore government offer to set up a teaching and research-led branch campus on the
island. Slated to begin enrolment by February 2007 with 70% non-Singaporean students, this
is the 11th prestigious foreign university Singapore has recruited. Franchised provision from
foreign universities is very common in the country, but the UNSW initiative is of another order
of magntidue- widely hailed as Singapore’s fourth comprehensive university. What are the
details of the new institution, why was UNSW chosen, and what’s in it for them? How does this
expansion fit into the Singapore’s higher education objectives of attaining coveted regional hub
status?
The UNSW campus will be the first 100% foreign owned higher education institution in
Singapore to offer a wide range of subjects at the undergraduate and graduate level. UNSW
has also pledged to develop a strong research capacity. It will reportedly cost US$44 million
for initial set-up of the campus and a further US$66 million over the first ten years of
development and operation. Singapore’s Economic Development Board indicated that UNSW
may be eligible for, “some form of financial assistance in terms of loans or grants, largely for
their research purposes", but that overall costs would be the responsibility of UNSW Australia.
The institution will be independently run and operated by UNSW Singapore with no third party
involvement. Initially programs will focus on high demand subjects in IT, engineering and the
sciences, with over 50% of all student places allocated to these areas. Entrance criteria,
educational quality, and tuition fees (for international students at UNSW Australia US$13,00015,000 per year) will conform to norms at UNSW’s Australian campus. A preparatory one year
foundation programme in university level English language will begin in February 2006 to help
student transition into the wholly English curriculum.
Prime enrolment has been set at 15,000 students. The university expects to recruit 500
students for February 2007 of which no more than 150 will be Singaporean. This 30% cap has
been agreed upon for a a number of reasons. Firstly, Singapore intends to protect its own
domestic universities from a surplus of foreign high quality competition (although higher tuition
at foreign institutions would presumably inhibit such a scenario). Secondly, the expansion of
foreign student enrolments is being encouraged to make the country a hub for higher
education, and subsequently increase foreign capital flows into Singapore. Another side to
capping the numbers of domestic students may have come from the UNSW Australian side,
which enrolled over 1,000 Singaporean students in 2003 (unclear as to how many of these are
onshore or offshore) and would be wary of encouraging such intra-institutional competition.
Professor John Ingleson, the UNSW International’s deputy vice-chancellor was keen to point
out that their presence in Singapore would not affect the recruitment of foreign students to its
Australian campus. "The research is showing that ... by 2007, all Australian universities will not
be able to take any more international students…We'll all be at somewhere around 25 to 30
per cent, yet the demand will continue to grow over the next 10 to 15 years." UNSW in
Singapore is expecting some recruitment from Europe, the US and Australian universities,
mostly for one semester or student exchanges. The bulk of student recruitment is anticipated
to be from China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and other Southeast Asian countries.
Why has Singapore head-hunted UNSW as its ‘fourth’ comprehensive university? As a
founding member of the Group of 8 (GO8), representing the most prestigious universities in
Australia, UNSW is well-regarded both at home and abroad. UNSW has maintained a high
international profile and according to Australia’s Department of Education in 2003 enrolled
© The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education, April 2004
1
8,120 onshore foreign students and 489 offshore foreign students. With total student
enrolments of over 40,000 and more than 400 undergraduate and post-graduate programs the
university is well suited for delivering high quality education in a number of disciplines. And, as
members of Universitas 21 (an international network of 17 leading research-intensive
universities, and the parent body of Universitas 21 Global, the commercial online degree
company based in Singapore) UNSW has the connections to raise Singapore’s academic
research profile overnight.
UNSW’s transnational initiatives are relatively limited compared to some of its Australian
counterparts. Two English language institutes (Vietnam and Thailand) and other non-degree
level studies are overseen by NewSouth Global, a wholly owned subsidiary of UNSW.
According to 2003 data from the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee, UNSW offers a total
of ten offshore programmes with nine different partner institutions in Hong Kong, Indonesia,
Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Compared to Australian institutions such as Curtin
University, Edith Cowan University, and University of Technology Sydney, to name a few, this
number is well below the average. This relative lack of transnational activity is common
amongst the GO8 (Monash and UNSW being the only ones listed by AVCC as involved in
more than two offshore agreements). Generally speaking it has been the less prestigious and
less research-intensive universities in both the UK and Australia that have developed offshore
delivery as a major activity. Although interest is now growing, it is fair to say that many
members of the GO8 (and the UK equivalent- the Russell Group) have viewed overseas
franchising as in tension with core institutional characteristics such as a research environment,
campus life and disciplinary breadth. By contrast, the branch campus approach offers
institutions the scope for replicating the home campus experience abroad, easing the
aforementioned tensions and tightening quality control. Development of branch campuses by
research-led universities such as Monash in Australia (with campuses in Malaysia and South
Africa) and Nottingham in the UK (with a campus in Malaysia, and construction underway in
China), and now UNSW, suggest an interesting trend. While less prestigious universities saw
offshore activity as a way to develop innovative business models, raise income and gain
greater control over brand image, more prestigious institutions may increasingly exploit the
branch campus model, trumping their less respected peers abroad as well as at home.
Singapore’s public higher education sector is made up of the National University of Singapore,
Nanyang Technological University, and the recently opened Singapore Management
University (publicly funded but privately constituted). The expansion of higher education in
Singapore has not only been encouraged to increase domestic capacity. Government targets
for foreign student recruitment have been set at an ambitious 150,000 within the next 10-15
years, and in order to meet these targets they are encouraging local private institutions and
foreign universities to invest in the country. Long a supporter of franchise and foreign
partnership agreements, Singapore has more recently begun to recruit high prestige 100%
foreign owned enterprises. Not only has Singapore encouraged expansion, but they have done
it in style, wooing some of the world’s most well regarded institutions to set up permanent
locations in Singapore. The jewels of Singapore’s foreign institution recruitment campaign are
the following: INSEAD (France), University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (US),
Georgia Institute of Technology (US), Johns Hopkins University (US), MIT (US), Shanghai Jiao
Tong University (China), Stanford University (US), Wharton School of the University of
Pennsylvania (US), Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (Netherlands), and Technische
Universitat Munchen (Germany). These institutions are involved in branch campuses,
partnership agreements, or joint ventures.
Education is at the centre of Singapore's national economic strategy. In the past decade the
country has heavily relied upon its export industry, in particular the technology sector. During
the global recession in 2001-2002 it suffered acutely from this dependence, and has since
sought to prevent such a reoccurrence. The 'educaton industry' offers a number of
advantages: recession-proof performance, foreign investment (financial and human capital),
reduction of brain drain and projected massive demand, particularly among neighbouring
countries. UNSW Singapore alone is expected to eventually inject almost US$300 million
(S$500 million) per year in direct spending into the Singaporean economy. The education
services sector (all levels) accounted for 1.9% of GDP in 2000, and projections suggest that
this could grow to 3% to 5% of GDP if developed properly. The higher education sector is also
© The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education, April 2004
2
anticipated to help ease unemployment, which by September 2003 had risen to 5.5%, a 17year high. With a highly developed and free market economy Singapore is well placed to
welcome new providers, whether foreign or domestic. Measures to encourage growth
(available to foreign and local private investors across most industries) include tax cuts and
rent reductions.
As the UNSW example illustrates, Singapore is interested in more than merely expanding
taught higher education, but is seeking a more integrated and long term strategy that
incorporates research development as well. This concern for reputation and high quality
(alongside less regulated, mass market foreign provision) may be what separates Singapore
from their regional hub competitors. Is this the model to which other Asian countries should
aspire? Will Singapore’s success come at the expense of other countries aspiring towards
regional hub status in the region? By attracting some of the most well respected institutions
from around the world, Singapore is trying to position itself at both the elite and mass ends of
the market. But with high reputations come tuition fees to match. Study in what is a relatively
expensive country may be beyond the budgets of many potential international students in the
region. Less prominent hub aspiring nations such as Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam may be
selected by international students on grounds of lower tuition and living costs. Niche markets
(such as religious and cultural studies) may also present opportunities for the smaller players.
But with Singapore’s relatively stable political environment and investment friendly economy,
other Southeast Asian countries will be hard matched to compete at the same level. In terms
of ambition and status of foreign entrants, Singapore remains in a class of its own.
© The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education, April 2004
3