Lemmens The Virtual Challenge to International Cooperation in Higher Education Bernd Wächter (ed.) Aca papers on International Cooperation in Education The V irtual Challenge to International Cooperation in Higher Education

Conclusions so far
From the research reviewed so far we can conclude that:
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The growing demand for HE worldwide is driving the development of
borderless or transnational education. It focuses on filling the gap where
national supply does not meet national demand in quantitative terms or
in terms of flexibility, type of learning approach, etc. This means that it is
market-driven and private and does not benefit from public sources. Stu-
dent fees are thus the main source of income. Exceptions to that, like for
free online courses, will be discussed later.
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We should distinguish between different types of demand. In developing
or transition countries, the demand concentrates on widening access to
higher education for the traditional age group. In developed countries,
related to what we call the knowledge economy or society, the demand is
rather focused on more flexible types of education, which enable non-tra-
ditional target groups, such as working adults, to continue professional
education and lifelong learning.
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Proportionally, the demand for in-country delivered transnational educa-
tion is growing as compared to the demand for overseas study, which
obviously is a more expensive option, related to the fact that transnatio-
nal education is almost by definition provided by developed countries
(with high costs for living) into less developed countries.
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Related to the different types of demands and related target groups, the
role of technology in transnational education seems to differ. Online
distance education is generally acknowledged to be more effective for
adult learners, whereas young students have a stronger need for face-to-
face support in their learning process. And, as we will see later, the tech-
nological possibilities (in terms of computer and Internet access) also dif-
fer with respect to the different types of countries (developing, transition,
developed) in which the programmes are delivered.
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Transnational and virtual education concentrate on a limited number of
subject areas, of which business education is the most important one.
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The growing market of TNE and virtual education has attracted a range
of new providers leading to further diversification of the higher education
landscape.
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As governments are bypassed in their steering or controlling role by the
transnational and virtual character of the new provision, their main con-
cern is quality assurance of TNE and the protection of the consumer. As
we shall see later, however, this concern is in various cases mixed with
protectionist behaviour favouring national providers.
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Finally, this new type of education which crosses borders in various ways
is not necessarily international in terms of content or learning experi-
ence.
To put these conclusions into the perspective of international cooperation
and the traditional role of exchange agencies in that, I would like to add the
following. In a study on international student mobility carried out last year for
the Council for Education in the Commonwealth and for the UK’s Council for
International Education, it was found that it was becoming more difficult for
students from developing countries to get a university or college education
abroad in the latter half of the 1990s. At the same time, the number of stu-
dents from more developed or industrialised countries studying abroad sky-
rocketed, especially in Commonwealth countries such as Australia and the
UK. And also that much higher tuition fees for international students than for
domestic students continue to be a sore point. During a discussion on this
theme in a recent international education symposium held in Halifax, one of
the representatives of the developing world stated in conclusion that “Global
competitiveness has been achieved at the expense of students from devel-
oping countries, ... they are falling further and further behind” (Sherwood,
2001).