A unique three-way partnership between Education Centre Australia (ECA), Victoria University and Ganpat University in India is demonstrating that the future of international education is not necessarily restricted to the number of students who are allowed entry visas into Australia each year.

The partnership, which recently launched its first intake of postgraduate students in a suite of Dual Award  Business and Information Technology Masters courses in India, is the first of its kind for Australia. It will likely function as a benchmark for other similar international partnerships into the future.

While international collaborations are more common in PhD research programs, having a Masters by coursework program operate at this level is a game-changer.

According to Mr Andrew Holloway, Vice President University Partnerships at ECA, the stand-out feature of this arrangement is that it enables Indian students to kickstart their global careers with an industry-focussed international degree, without having to move countries to do so.

“We now have a much more sophisticated understanding of what international students want and need.  While some students are actively seeking an international study experience, others find value in remaining in their home country to study before tapping into the international market through the many job opportunities that open up to them after they graduate” he said.

“When we reflected on previous student cohorts, we discovered that the clear majority of our graduating students had done extremely well after they returned to India. Many of our IT graduates, for example, went on to work as consultants to large Indian firms who have contracts in places like Europe and the USA. By using their Australian qualifications to gain work at home, many of our students found that they then had the opportunity to work internationally. What this shows us is that to be globally successful, you don’t have to go from country A to country B to study. You can stay in your own country and still gain an international degree and generate global work opportunities” he added.

India’s rising economy and booming student market is already making a significant contribution to Australia’s $32 billion international student market. In fact, Indian students currently represent one of Australia’s fastest growing student cohorts. Creating further opportunities to deliver Australian higher education services to India, will undoubtedly add further diversity to Australia’s higher education sector.

For more information contact Dr Leanne Downing, Affect Media on 0406251406