Page 95 - Movers, Shapers, and Everything in Between: Influencers of the International Student Experience

introduCtion
For decades, international branch campuses (IBCs) have flourished and floundered in all regions of the world—the most recent statistics by the Cross-Border Education Research Team (C-BERT) and Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (OBHE) reveals 305 campuses spanning 77 host countries (C-BERT, 2021; Garrett et al., 2017). Growth has been steady in recent years, with a net increase of 56 IBCs from 2016– 2020; 66 from 2011–2015; and 67 from 2006–2010. Most IBCs are in countries in Asia and are founded by institutions based in Western countries (Garrett et al., 2016).
It is difficult to use a “one size fits all” approach to describing IBCs, given the diversity present among these institutions. This study uses the definition put forth by the OBHE and C-BERT in their report on success factors of mature IBCs: “an entity that is owned, at least in part, by a foreign education provider; operated in the name of the foreign education provider; and provides an entire academic program, substantially on site, leading to a degree awarded by the foreign education provider” (Garrett et al., 2017, p. 6).
An understanding of the student experience at IBCs, which often differs from the experience offered at the home campus (Altbach, 2010), allows universities to develop support services that address the needs of students and attract a diverse student body (Altbach & Knight, 2007). A study by Wilkins (2020) concluded that institutional claims of replicability between the student experience at IBCs and home campuses were “somewhat fanciful”, though overall the experiences may be “largely comparable”, in particular at larger branch campuses. Various studies have found evidence of dissatisfaction with aspects of the academic experience and student support services at IBCs (Ahmad, 2015; Bhuian, 2016; Marginson, 2011; Merola et al., 2021; O’Mahoney, 2014). Given the unique setup and context of IBCs, there is a need to better understand the experience of the students enrolled. In this study, “academic experience” is defined as “students” interactions with the institution associated with their studies” (Higher Education
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Effects of COVID-19 on IBCs
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