Kim, Lee, and Byun (2025) have charted the rise of Korean campuses of US universities. Could we see something similar in other countries, emulating the success of western car brands, on models made in Asia? The authors argue that korean students, and their parents, are hedging their bets by choosing prestige of a a US degree, but a lower cost one delivered locally.
China adopted an approach to develop its industry base by requiring foreign manufacturers to partner with local industry. In the car industry this was followed by support for development of electric vehicles (EVs). In a later stage local Chinese companies were able to buy up western car brands and apply these to their own local EVs. Could something similar happen with higher education? Asian governments and investors could apply new educational techniques, such as online and experiential learning, which western universities are reluctant to use at scale, to provide superior reasonably priced education. Western brands could then be used to market this programs.
Reference
Kim, K., Lee, H. & Byun, K. Choosing a U.S. branch campus in Korea: a case study of Korean students’ decision-making through the trilateral push–pull model. Asia Pacific Educ. Rev. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-025-10089-4
