"It is the case that not many unis worldwide have attempted to set up campuses overseas, and that those who have succeeded in doing so is a smaller number again," says Professor Andrew McIntyre, RMIT's deputy vice chancellor global development. RMIT has two campuses in Vietnam, with about 6000 students in Ho Chi Minh City and 1000 in Hanoi. The fees in RMIT Vietnam are about half the international student fees at RMIT in Melbourne. About 37 per cent (over 25,000) of RMIT's enrolments are international students – 21 per cent of them are offshore. Increasingly, students elect to take courses at both the Melbourne and Vietnam campuses while they study. "We see having the campuses in Vietnam as benefiting all our students," Dr McIntyre said. "It's preparing them for a globalised world of work rather than just living in Melbourne – or Ho Chi Minh City." "It's not just about the bucks, because we wouldn't be in the places we are if it was just about the bucks." Now India's government looks set to back a policy to encourage the world's top 200 universities to build campuses in India – a list that includes all of Australia's Group of Eight unis. With India seeking to train around 400 million people by 2022, it's viewed as an extraordinarily lucrative – if challenging – market. The University of Melbourne, Monash, RMIT and UNSW are among those already developing joint degrees and research partnerships with Indian universities. But would they build their own campuses there? Historically, it's been a fraught endeavour. RMIT attempted a Malaysia campus that was closed, Monash University's South African campus has reportedly struggled to turn a profit, while UNSW closed its shortlived Singapore campus in 2007. The University of Southern Queensland closed its Dubai campus and Bond University's South African endeavour closed in 2004. Gavin Moodie, adjunct professor of education at RMIT and the University of Toronto, said unis invest in overseas campuses for many reasons. They are high-risk status plays, revenue streams and marketing opportunities, but also a way of spreading risk. "It is noteworthy that the universities which have the most substantial offshore campuses have high proportions of international students on shore," he said. "So one motive for taking the risk of establishing a campus offshore is to spread the risk of a heavy reliance on international students onshore. Establishing a campus offshore is risky, but not as risky as relying heavily on onshore international students." With the federal government's National Strategy for International Education predicting a staggering 45 per cent increase in onshore international students by 2025 – which equates to around 750,000 students a year studying in Australia – the question of spreading risk is going to be relevant to more and more of the nation's 43 universities, meaning Wollongong, Monash and RMIT's model could prove to be market-leading. That's because reliance on onshore international student fees is close to one-third of revenue for many universities already, and it has in the past proved a volatile market, dependent on events outside the universities' control like the murders of Indian students in Melbourne in 2010, or swings in the Australian dollar. For now though, the future looks bright. "With favourable exchange rate settings and student visa policy settings and in a market which has grown for higher education by 19 per cent in the first three months of this year, Wollongong has seen a 25 per cent increase in the number of its commencing [international] students in the first quarter of 2016," said Elise Pitt from the University of Wollongong. "Offshore and onshore go up and down over time," says Dr McIntyre from RMIT. "We're looking for a balanced portfolio for growth." Kelsey Munro is Acting Education Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald.
South Australia ’s Woollongong University ( WU ) opened a campus in Dubai sixteen years ago which educates thousands of students from multiple countries and is now known as one of the United Arab Emirates ' " oldest and most prestigious universities " , showing just how well - regarded degrees from Australian ( and other Western countries ’ ) universities have become abroad . The international expansion has been so successful for WU that it now boasts campuses in Singapore , Hong Kong and Malaysia , as well as Dubai , where over 50 % of WU ’s students are located outside Australia and pay steep international tuition fees . While many Western universities have set up overseas campuses , not all enjoy the success WU has achieved , although such a move is seen as a risk worth taking for extra revenue streams and marketing opportunities .