Branch Campuses in the world are growing, or decreasing?

Though Times Higher Education recently reported that branch campuses are withering, the number of HEIs’ outposts around the globe remains impressive.

As C-BERT defines it, a branch campus is “an entity that is owned, at least in part, by a foreign higher education provider; operated in the name of the foreign education provider; and provides an entire academic program, substantially on-site, leading to a degree awarded by the foreign education provider”.

In 2017 there existed 278 active branch campuses.

The top 10 host countries are:

1. China and HK: 43

2. United Arab Emirates: 34

3. Malaysia: 13

4. Singapore: 11

4. Qatar: 11

6. Canada: 9

7. UK: 7

8. US: 7

9. France: 6

9. South Korea: 6

9. Uzbekistan: 6

Top 10 home countries:

1. US: 91

2. UK: 42

3. France: 31

4. Australia: 15

5. Netherlands: 10

6. China+HK: 9

6. India: 9

8. Canada: 6

9. Germany: 4

The investment of the 3 top countries in these lists reflects their interest in soft power globally.

Out of 10 countries, 8 – with the exception of China and India- are in the top 10 of softpower30.com, which probably is no coincidence.

And Italy? In 2017, our Country was home for 5 (3 US, 1 France, 1 China) and host in 2 (Bologna in Argentina, and Bocconi in India).

Check out the latest C-BERT researches here.