China’s transnational education (TNE) policies incentivize overseas universities and colleges to engage in TNE in China. Equally, growing unemployment is likely to further boost student demand for locally taught international courses and degrees.
This is critical for existing TNE providers or new entrants to fully understand in order to ensure a sustainable growth and appropriate governance.
This is also particularly relevant for other government policymakers and senior management of universities from TNE-hosting countries in their reflections on the alignment of their strategies and supporting policies.
TNE in China
More and more countries in the Global South, such as India, Vietnam, Indonesia and some African countries, are actively seeking transnational education opportunities with UK universities to improve and internationalise the quality and provision of their higher education system.
This also corresponds to the international strategy of UK HE. It all seems exciting and positive for the sector and stakeholders involved.
Based on data published in early 2024 by China’s Ministry of Education, there were two overseas campuses and 47 joint institutes from UK universities in the country. Moreover, nearly 80% of UK universities have some level of TNE delivery.
In 2022-23, according to UK Higher Education Statistics Agency data, China remained the largest TNE provider for UK universities, with 81,380 students enrolled on UK TNE programmes, accounting for a total of 14% of the whole UK TNE provision.
Over the last 30 years of TNE history in China, there have inevitably been failures. However, the Chinese government has always adapted its policies and practices in response to the emerging landscape over the years to ensure it is fit for purpose and its future relevance while maintaining educational quality and sovereignty.
Universities UK International defines TNE as education delivered in a country other than the country in which the awarding institution is based. United Kingdom higher education TNE refers to UK degree programmes delivered outside of the UK.
The awarding of the degree outside the UK, either a double, dual, joint or single degree, serves as the determining factor in UK TNE operations, irrespective of the process or collaborative model. One could argue, in theory, that awarding degrees abroad entails the equivalent of UK quality assurance and student experience requirements.
But we know in practice that this varies. Fundamentally, the definition or the practice of UK TNE places less focus on the “partnership” or the local partner.
In China, TNE is termed “Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools” and emphasises “cooperation” between the two parties, while requiring degree-awarding from the international partner to be part of the essential requirements.
Critically, a genuine and often equitable collaborative partnership with the international institutional partner is a prerequisite in TNE delivery and success nowadays in China, manifested in the four one-third rules (stipulating the requirement for international partners to commit no less than one-third of teaching and education resources) relating to the whole running of TNE, from teaching and learning, staffing, curriculum development, administration, resources and quality control for all levels of education.
Despite its complex requirements and resource investment from UK universities, why does this set-up still attract UK universities or international universities?
Authentic educational experience
The delivery of a minimum of one-third of the teaching on TNE programmes in China as part of the regulatory requirement is a complex process and requires extra investment from UK universities.
However, the physical delivery of international staff working in China offers students a more authentic UK educational experience without the need to travel miles away from their home country.
Currently, one of the critical pull factors for Chinese students who choose UK higher education is the Socratic teaching pedagogy which fosters critical thinking. The regulatory requirement results in the most authentic Socratic teaching to be found in China.
The content of a degree course, such as mathematics, should be similar or equivalent in China, the UK, Nigeria, India or even globally, no matter who awards the degree. There should not be a hierarchy in knowledge globally, only differences in how we approach the content of the knowledge and how we develop student’s skills and competencies.
bell hooks once questioned whether a white professor could teach black history. Can we expect Chinese staff educated in China to teach the Western curriculum?
The participation of British or international staff with UK teaching experience is therefore critical to ensure the student’s experience on a UK degree course is delivered in China.
Institutionally, working with international students also offers a platform to train local staff about the internationalisation journey of hosting universities.
Overall, Chinese students speak of a better learning experience as UK universities are greatly involved in the actual teaching delivery by flying faculty or international staff to China.
Without question, this regulatory requirement has ensured the quality and reputation of TNE in China, an inevitable element of its thriving record.
Guaranteed student numbers and quality
The Chinese Ministry of Education stipulates clear processes and procedures for the TNE application process as well as delivery. It typically takes a project one or two years just to get the ministry application completed and approved.
But it is worth the investment and commitment because approval means practically guaranteed student recruitment in terms of numbers and quality.
It also means TNE programmes will be part of the national gaokao quota system. Currently, most of the top universities in China have an enrolment rate of less than 1% of their application pool.
One senior manager from the University of Electronic Science and Technology from Chengdu commented that their university’s admission rate is 0.45%.
For 2024, there were 13.53 million high school graduates with a possible 4.5 million placements at Chinese universities across all tiers. If a TNE programme is allocated 100 students per year, it should likely recruit a minimum of 95 students on average.
This guaranteed quota system means that both the Chinese and UK universities can budget and plan for staffing and delivery with relatively high confidence.
A new phenomenon or perception which started emerging in China recently is that entry into some UK degrees awarded in China requires students with higher academic performance compared to the admissions criteria to equivalent degrees delivered in the UK, apart from the International English Language Testing System requirements.
In some ways, the more selective TNE becomes in China, the more it will be linked to enhanced quality and reputation.
Government or external funding
Higher education as a public service in China requires the public funding of universities. As universities are tiered in China, the funding bodies and the value of their contribution vary. Geographical location also functions as a variable for the amount of public funding.
Despite the premium tuition fees that TNE programmes charge in China generally, they also receive additional funds from the government to subsidise the cost of education.
This even applies to the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, a collaboration between the University of Nottingham and Zhejiang Wanli Education Group, a private education enterprise.
As published by the Ministry of Education, during the 12th five-year plan period, the university received over CNY0.5 billion (US$70.25 million) from the local Ningbo government to invest in its education, infrastructure, library and enterprise, innovation and more. In addition to public funding, there have also been generous donations from alumni, philanthropists and enterprises.
If TNE were run as a business without financial support from the local government, its primary objective would be financial resilience rather than its true mission of education and research.
Graduate unemployment
No matter which business we are in, it is imperative to adapt to new landscapes. Chinese students are constantly looking for more cost-effective ways of obtaining an international education experience, especially during the current economic downturn. This means staying closer to home in Asia or opting for TNE in your own country.
Technology also offers easier ways for senior management and administrative staff to communicate and collaborate with their counterparts in China. The same applies to academic collaboration between staff-students based in the UK and staff-students in China.
The global challenges of graduate employability are more severe for some Chinese graduates returning from abroad as they miss out on local graduate job recruitment fairs.
Sometimes, being away from the local job market also results in a disconnect between Chinese students abroad and the job market in China in terms of salary expectations.
TNE offers students a high-quality international education experience and also, importantly, job proximity for graduates.
Aligned visions and missions
Despite TNE in China requiring UK universities to invest in additional commitment and resources, Janet Ilieva, founder and director of Education Insight, still believes that joint institutes have been very popular for UK universities and are profitable too if they are implemented properly.
TNE in China places a stronger emphasis on collaboration and requires mutual commitment on all levels from both sides. Awarding UK degrees and having UK staff deliver part of the curriculum also pushes Chinese partners to invest in the relevant infrastructure, staffing, resources and processes to meet the requirements of both educational systems.
A sustainable and equitable TNE requires more commitment and effort in identifying a suitable and matching partner with an aligned vision and mission.
Xinhua News Agency recently shared the “Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Promoting Chinese-style Modernisation” and one of the highlights is to promote the opening up of high-level education and encourage high-level foreign science and engineering universities to cooperate in running schools in China.
China is a special case with a unique regulatory regime, but it offers lessons to TNEs on how to comply with and respect host countries’ regulatory bodies while making TNE successful financially and reputationally.
Fundamentally, in making TNE work sustainable, we should ask why international students are attracted to study in the UK. We also need to recognise that these reasons change gradually over time. With this in mind, that is why, as a sector, our practice should not be static but dynamic and agile.
We can argue that some TNE collaborative models are primarily dictated by the relevant governing bodies of the host countries, but we have a role in influencing these policies.
At the same time, partner institutions can also have their voices heard and participate in decisions shaping the nature of a sustainable and equitable TNE partnership.
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