Transnational education
From APEC HRDWG Wiki
Transnational education includes all types and modes of delivery of higher education study programs, or sets of courses of study, or educational services (including those of distance education) in which the learners are located in a country different from the one where the awarding institution is based. Such programs may belong to the education system of a State different from the State in which it operates, or may operate independently of any national education system. APEC and the Education Network (EDNET) have been interested in governance and systemic reform in education, and thus transnational education has become an important component within systemic reform. This growing interest in transnational education resulted in the Capacity Building Seminar on Transnational Education Services in 2008 which was held in Manila, Philippines.
The growing role of e-learning and global recruitment and migration of talent means that the delivery and transfer across borders is not constrained by geographic proximity requiring regional cooperation (e.g., European Union) but is leading to a truly global enterprise that requires expanded cooperation among Economies . In a similar vein, UNESCO and the European Union have developed a Revised Code of Good Practice in the Provision of Transnational Education that the United States recognizes as best practice in this area.
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Policy Issues
• Quality Assurance and Consumer Protection ---Nations throughout the world have established systems to ensure the quality of higher education and provide confidence in higher education credentials. This is critical in the mutual recognition of credentials and credit transfer across nations and in the recognition and regulation of universities from other countries providing education throughout the world. It is also important in consumer protection. In 2006 a report on Quality Assurance Systems in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economies based on a survey of 16 economies was conducted by the Australian Universities Quality Agency and funded by the Department of Education, Science and Training.
• Transparency and Consumer Information---Global corporations and citizens increasingly have a wider array of higher education services to choose from. Many of these services will be offered by higher education institutions and private for-profit companies with no well-known track record in achieving results from consumers. Nations need to coordinate how they present information on performance and likely return on investment in major programs such as business, engineering, etc.
• Mobility (i.e., interoperability) and Credit Transfer---Global citizens will increasingly gain higher education credits and credentials from multiple institutions in multiple Economies. There must be some coordination to insure transfers of credits within and across Economy borders.
Global Case Studies
The United States
The United States has a large, diverse, and decentralized education system. The federal government has a very limited role in administering education at any level. It is the state governments, local and institutional authorities, and non-governmental organizations that have major roles in U.S. education. As a result, the US Federal government has no authority to:
- Negotiate or decide agreements that bind the U.S. education system to guaranteeing admission, mutual recognition of qualifications, or professional recognition
- Support any organization or agreement that seeks to compel U.S. accrediting agencies, licensing boards, educational institutions or employers to create or adhere to national or international frameworks or standards in these areas
Resources
UNESCO/OECD, “Guidelines for Quality Provision in Cross-border Higher Education,” (pdf) Paris 2005. These Guidelines were developed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) working with governments, higher education associations, accreditation and quality assurance bodies, and student groups.
Sharing Quality Higher Education Across Borders: A Statement on Behalf of Higher Education Institutions Worldwide (pdf) January 2005.
This statement was developed by CHEA, the American Council on Education, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada and the International Association of Universities.
Sharing Quality Higher Education Across Borders: A Checklist for Good Practice, (pdf) May 2006.
A checklist of suggested good practice in quality higher education across borders developed by CHEA, the American Council on Education, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada and the International Association of Universities.
UNESCO/Council of Europe, Revised Code of Good Practice in the Provision of Transnational Education , (pdf) June 2007. The Code was adopted in the third meeting of the Working Group on Transnational Education held in Jerusalem in November 1999. It was submitted to the ENIC Network in its 7th Annual Meeting, in 2000, for approval. The ENIC Network approved the Code and decided to forward it to the Intergovernmental Committee of the Council of Europe/UNESCO Recognition
Convention for adoption. The Committee adopted it at its Second session (Riga, 2001). The revised version of the Code was approved by the ENIC Network at the 12th Annual Meeting in 2005 and adopted by the Intergovernmental Committee of the Council of Europe/UNESCO Recognition Convention at its 4th Session (Bucharest, 2007), as a subsidiary text to the Council of Europe/UNESCO Recognition Convention.
