US gains from our expertise

THE hammering taken by US university endowment funds has opened up the world's most competitive education system to Australian expertise in recruiting and educating overseas students, according to Navitas chief Rod Jones.

"It's only in the last two years that the [postgraduate-oriented] US has become interested in the overseas undergraduate student market," Mr Jones said.

"It's partly linked to endowment funds taking a big hit from the [global financial crisis].

"They are looking for alternative ways of generating income and undergraduates are seen as providing that."

His comments follow a string of US deals by Navitas - Australia's largest provider of university foundation programs for overseas students - and by education agent IDP in the past month.

Defying headwinds from India, Australia was now exporting its expertise in recruiting and educating overseas students to the US, Mr Jones said.

Navitas will provide foundation and first-year university programs for the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and Lowell, and the University of Western Kentucky later this year.

IDP has struck deals with 24 US universities and colleges, including the University of Mississippi and that of Tampa, to recruit Asian and Indian students for their programs.

The new deals bring to 27 the number of US universities and colleges to take advantage of Australian expertise in the global market for undergraduates.

Mr Jones said there was unlikely to be any adverse effect on Navitas's 14 Australian university clients from its initial $4.5 million push into the US.

"We aren't factoring in any reduction in our numbers for Australia , the UK or Canada. There will be additional growth in the [global] market and some of that will be taken up in the US."

Similarly, IDP chief Tony Pollock has shrugged off concerns that the US push by IDP could have a distracting or adverse effect on the Australian market.

Mr Pollock said there were huge numbers of top students from China and elsewhere who had the US as their first choice and were lost to Australian universities because they had no contact with them.

"I believe [the US push] will have a positive impact [on Australia]," Mr Pollock said.

"But I appreciate the only way in which it can be proven is when it's done."

Source:http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/us-gains-from-our-expertise/story-e6frgcjx-1225823749396