International comparisons

Canada

30. In 1999, a survey by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC)[1] found that 42 percent of 82 responding institutions were actively engaged in the export of educational services and products (which included `offshore education'). Export of educational services and products from Canadian universities was `literally world-wide', with most frequent mention of Asia (China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan and Malaysia), the Caribbean, Franco-phone Africa and Latin America.

31. The Canadian survey differentiated between academic and training programmes. Canadian universities offered a total of 268 `academic' programmes offshore in 1999. Distance education programmes were the most popular form of offshore delivery (155 programmes). The second most frequently delivered offshore programmes were those jointly developed and delivered by Canadian and local instructors (50 programmes). Eighty-seven `training' programmes were offered offshore by Canadian universities in 1999. These were primarily developed and delivered using only Canadian instructors (35 programmes). One institution alone offered 20 of the 35 training programmes, and overall the number of institutions involved was very small.

Australia

32. Official statistics from the Department of Education, Science and Technology (DEST) show that in 2000, the number of overseas students enrolled in Australian higher education institutions offshore was 34,905[2]. Thirty-eight of 43 higher education institutions enrolled students in offshore programmes in 2000. A survey by the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee (AVCC) shows that at May 2001, Australian universities had 1,009 offshore programmes offered in conjunction with overseas education institutions[3].

33. Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong accounted for the largest proportion of students enrolled with Australian higher education institutions offshore. While the majority of these students studied on-campus, a significant number studied via distance education.

United Kingdom

34. Although many UK universities provide courses offshore, usually in partnership with national institutions, no statistics on the student numbers involved are collected nationally. A report entitled The Business of Borderless Education: UK Perspectives[4] quotes a survey undertaken in 1997 which estimated the number of international students studying under `overseas collaborative link' arrangements at 120,000.

35. In 1997, British universities had established offshore programmes in 69 countries - Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore dominated the market outside of the European Union. China was also noted as a fast emerging major market, with over 8,000 students enrolled on UK university degree and diploma courses in 1997. However, the overall geographical distribution of offshore programmes at British universities in 1997 was global, with students in Eastern and Western Europe, Africa and the Middle East, as well as Asia and the Americas.

Initial broad-brush comparative analysis

36. Internationally, Australia, Canada and the UK have all reported on the on-going growth in offshore delivery in their countries over the last four years.

37. New Zealand public tertiary education providers exhibited roughly the same percentage of activity in offshore education in 2001 as their Canadian university counterparts a couple of years earlier - just under half were involved in `offshore education' in some way. However, had the Canadian survey included non-university tertiary providers, their percentage of provider involvement would arguably have been lower than for New Zealand.

38. Eighty-eight percent of Australian universities offered at least one offshore programme in 2000. While this compares to only 45 percent of New Zealand public tertiary providers in general, if we focus solely on universities, 88 percent of New Zealand universities also offered at least one offshore programme in 2001. Australian providers offered an average of 23 offshore programmes each in 2000. New Zealand providers offered an average of one-two offshore programmes in 2001.

39. In sheer numbers, the UK was well ahead of New Zealand and Australia, with three times the number of offshore students four years ago (120,000) as that of Australia in 2000 (34,905). However, on a per capita basis, Australia's offshore activity was competitive with the UK. Both countries are well ahead of New Zealand in terms of numbers of students enrolled (an estimated 2,200) and on a per capita basis.

Fig 5. International `broad-brush' comparisons table

Source: Australia: Overseas Student Statistics 2000, DEST; Offshore Programs of Australian Universities, AVCC; www.dest.gov.au; Canada: Progress & Promise - The AUCC Report on Internationalization at Canadian Universities, AUCC; www.statcan.ca; UK: The Business of Borderless Education: UK Perspectives, CVCP & HEFCE.

40. Caution should be exercised when comparing the above offshore student numbers with international student numbers onshore. In New Zealand's case, general population, total student population and onshore figures provide a "snapshot" as at 31 July 2001, while data from the stocktake is cumulative for the whole year 2001.