Working out the value of transnational education

While the British government sees transnational education, or TNE, as a key part of its education export strategy, it is important that international partners see the value of TNE to their students in terms of graduate outcomes and employability.

That was the key message to the international higher education sector from Aisling Conboy, higher education specialist at the United Kingdom’s Department for International Trade.

She was addressing a session on policy priorities for the growth of UK TNE at an online event hosted by the Westminster Higher Education Forum on the future of UK transnational education on 9 December 2021.

Conboy told her audience of university and government representatives that while the British government sees transnational education as a part of its export strategy, it is important that international partners see the value of TNE to their students. So, it is vital, as the UK increases the value of education exports, that its actions on the ground are dovetailed with economic development plans and strategies to tackle skills shortages in key partner countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

TNE championing free trade

Conboy told the conference the UK government sees the growth of the TNE landscape as part of its efforts to champion free trade and that her department was working closely with the Department for Education (DfE) to meet “solid targets for increasing the revenue from international exports” by increasing student recruitment and transnational education.

As well as achieving £35 billion (US$46 billion) in education export revenue by 2030, the UK’s International Education Strategy, which was launched in 2019, set a target of recruiting 600,000 international students to come to the UK for their higher education by 2030.

“Although the strategy was revised in 2020-21 those targets have not changed and it would be helpful for our partners to understand our strategy, as it would be for the UK to look at our partners’ strategies and understand their economic development plans and their needs, so we can tailor what we offer for mutually beneficial relationships.”

Conboy specifically mentioned the Egypt 2030 and Saudi Arabia 2030 documents as “really useful in seeing what partners are looking for”.

She also directed the higher education sector towards the recent consultation by the UK government about its new international development strategy, which will set out the UK government’s approach to international development over the next decade and ensure close alignment of UK development activity with areas such as security, defence and foreign policy.

“There’s been quite a lot of discussion about the benefits of transnational education recently and it is important for us to feed in consultation from the higher education sector, particularly in areas such as capacity building,” she said.

“We want to identify more accurately the value of TNE to the UK economy. Export statistics for the UK are due to be published in December and it will be interesting to see the impact and changes of TNE to the UK economy. At the moment, UK higher education TNE is valued at around £650 million, but that’s from 2018.

“It is very important for our universities and we want to make sure we capture the data. We know it is complex working out income from international streams and we are working closely with the DfE and Office for National Statistics to refine the stats so we can demonstrate the importance of TNE to the UK economy and to higher education in terms of exports from the UK,” said Conboy.

Removing the barriers

Education is a key feature of free trade talks currently underway with a number of governments around the world and Conboy pointed to talks between the UK and Vietnam, which is one of five countries prioritised in the UK’s International Education Strategy. The other four are Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Indonesia and India.

“We want to work on any regulatory barriers and the importance of mutual recognition. It is really important that government knows what the barriers are so we can work with different agencies and bodies to address some of these,” said Conboy.

She urged UK universities not to be shy and to speak up about issues faced when developing TNE activities in any country.

Conboy said the rapid moves to online delivery and other changes forced by the COVID-19 pandemic had led to greater flexibility and changes with regulations, which will hopefully have a long-term beneficial impact on delivery modes of education.

Collaboration easier during the pandemic

“Collaboration has actually become easier during the pandemic and without the cost and other issues related to travel,” she said.

Conboy told the conference that while she had been looking at UK TNE from a trade point of view, it was important for staff and embassies overseas to focus on how transnational education was “messaged” and suggested that should be around “the history and trust that people have in UK higher education”.

But, she added: “We mustn’t become complacent because we have more competitors and we have competitors that we collaborate with, so the world is complex and we are seeing more tripartite TNE where there may be three countries involved.

“So, as TNE changes we need to adapt and make sure the UK continues to have a strong presence and reputation for delivering high quality education overseas.”

Diversification needed

That, she said, meant diversifying TNE away from a concentration in a few areas such as business education, and expanding transnational education into disciplines like art and design for which the UK has an excellent reputation overseas.

“As government, we want to support this diversification, not only in terms of the subject areas and new ways of collaborating, but also in terms of countries and models of TNE,” said Conboy.

“And while we stress the export value of TNE, to our partners it is important that TNE offers value to students and graduate outcomes and employability.”

She cited the report on graduate outcomes for UK TNE students in the United Arab Emirates, published by Universities UK International, as “very good evidence for us and a nice showcase”.

Nic Mitchell is a UK-based freelance journalist and PR consultant specialising in European and international higher education. He blogs at www.delacourcommunications.com.