Looking to achieve top marks for education, the region is enticing Western universities to set up shop on its shores
A growing number of Western universities are collaborating with Southeast Asian universities. The affiliations allow regional education institutes to offer high-quality higher education at cheaper rates than offered in the US and Europe.
A collaboration between America’s Yale University and Singapore’s National University will open Singapore’s first liberal arts college in 2015. The partnership makes Yale the first Ivy League school to establish a college bearing its name in Asia.
In pursuit of its goal to become a regional education hub, Malaysia is looking to expand its strategic partnerships with Western universities. To date, seven foreign universities from Australia, India, the UK, US and the Netherlands have opened branch campuses in the country, with four more to open
in the coming years.
The Malaysian government has enticed universities by supplementing start-up costs. In return, universities must establish learning environments that best suit the country’s needs, such as engineering facilities.