Employability figures can show the worth of branch campuses to the countries in which they are based but universities still need to do more to communicate the benefits of transnational education, according to the head of the University of Nottingham¡¯s Malaysia campus.

David?FitzPatrick, chief executive and provost of the site that celebrated its 25th anniversary this week, said his graduates can go on to earn ¡°up to twice the average graduate salary in Malaysia¡±.

¡°What that tells me is that companies see our graduates as having real added value and added strength that they¡¯re willing to pay almost twice or up to twice the average salary to get them to stay in their organisation.

¡°The key industry sectors in Malaysia, such as semi-conductors, they¡¯re actively seeking our mechanical and electrical engineers. It¡¯s a very competitive market.¡±

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The?Malaysia outpost?was established in 2000 ¨C initially in central Kuala Lumpur ¨C and in 2005 Nottingham moved the campus to its own 48-hectare site 40 kilometres south of the city.

FitzPatrick, who arrived in June 2023, described the original launch as ¡°a bold move, probably a bit of a gamble as well,¡± driven by Nottingham¡¯s vice-chancellor at the time, Colin Campbell, to build ¡°a global university that had a physical footprint in the world¡±.

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Although?the curriculum and quality assurance mirror the UK, students¡¯ motivations show subtle regional differences, FitzPatrick?said.

¡°The economic gain that would result from a really good-quality higher degree is perhaps a very significant thing.

¡°Whereas in a lot of UK students¡¯ minds, they want to go to university to study something that they¡¯re really interested in that will get them into work at some point but actually the subject space is really a strong driver. Whereas here maybe the economic driver is a more powerful element.¡±

FitzPatrick said that across the region ¡°there are so many growing and emerging economies, education is a really highly valued attribute. In those environments, you are likely to have more students who are first in the family to go to third level [education]¡±.

Roughly 30 to 40 per cent of UNM¡¯s 5,000 students are international, and most Malaysian alumni stay in-country after graduating. Over the past decade, the university estimates its economic impact at RM30.5 billion (?5.3 billion).

The Malaysia campus celebrates its anniversary amid another wave of branch campuses opening, with many universities launching sites in India and the Middle East.?

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Nottingham¡¯s current vice-chancellor, Jane Norman, recently told 51³Ô¹Ï that the institution was in no rush to join them.

FitzPatrick said rapid expansion was not on the cards for his campus either.?

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¡°In 10 years¡¯ time, success looks like growing a little bit, significantly increasing our engagement with industry regionally so that our research presence is enhanced, and ensuring mobility across the three campuses [including Nottingham¡¯s other site in Ningbo, China] is at least as strong as it is today.¡±

As part of the anniversary,?FitzPatrick?co-hosted a UK-Malaysia round table on the future of transnational education with UK skills minister Jacqui Smith.

FitzPatrick believes the full potential of transnational education is still emerging.

¡°It is not yet fully understood,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s where we, as institutions, have an opportunity to help inform that now.¡±

¡°UK universities have a really strong position in transnational education,¡± he added. ¡°We need to work hard and collectively to keep that leadership role.

¡°Branch campuses are complex, but when done right, they deliver enormous value-not just to the students, but to the whole sector.¡±

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tash.mosheim@timeshighereducation.com