University of Nottingham in Malaysia :)

Last Sunday, we were taken to and shown around the campus of the University of Nottingham and their Malaysian Campus.

I never knew that the UK universities had started to expand in regions and Countries outside of the UK, so I was intrigued.  It sounded like a mad strategy at first, especially with the budget cuts from the UK Government and the increase in the Education Fees, but I think it’s actually quite a promising idea – as Universities are ultimately a ‘business’ now!

Think of it from the University perspective, you are able to expand into new markets, tap into the Professional and Fellows located in the respective markets, and the overall site locations can be quite reasonable to build and maintain (e.g. it’s cheaper real estate)!

From the student perspective, you can go to a well-known UK university, for a fraction of the costs, you can possibly stay local and still get the best education out there.  I said this, but the Professor we were with advised me that a large number of the students at this university were from North Africa and the wider parts of Asia.  Funny! 🙂

I think he mentioned that Kent, Southampton and Newcastle universities are also planning to establish a Campus in Malaysia.  Wow!  I wonder when Sussex will do so? 🙂