Higher education in the United Kingdom is changing. With less money available from the government, universities need to diversify and look for new ways of deriving revenue. At the University of Roehampton, we have been exploring the possibilities that partnerships might offer us and our students. One of the avenues we were keen to consider was the opportunities that a move into online education could provide.
Online education isn’t new in the UK but it isn’t as widespread as it is in the United States. When we decided we wanted to widen our appeal and create opportunities for people right around the globe, an online degree seemed right.
However, having no experience in providing an online course and not wanting to sacrifice any quality in the delivery, we thought we’d seek advice from an expert in this area. The University entered into a partnership with Laureate Online Education B.V., a part of Laureate International Universities — a global network of 60 accredited campus-based and online universities offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs to students in 29 countries around the world.
Our Business School has a long tradition in the delivery of on-campus programs in business, management, marketing, human resource management, finance and information systems at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The Business School’s strategic plan sets out some ambitious aims, including growing our postgraduate numbers through the development of new programmes that draw on our research expertise and complement our existing offerings.
We’ve started our online programs with a suite of master’s degrees in the Business School: an MBA, MSc in Project Management and MSc in Information Systems Management. Courses began in the fall of 2012 and take-up has been strong.
We’re really pleased at how the courses are developing as the move online has given us the ability to tap into new markets. We’re now considering expanding our online offering, not just in the Business School, but across the university. We’re really excited about online education and the opportunities it allows us. This development is the perfect example of Roehampton’s mission in practice: top-quality education made accessible for all.
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