The internationalisation of the higher education industry: the case of universities in the US & Canada

Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,3, University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg ; Rheinbach, language: English, abstract: The higher education industry nowadays is a multibillion dollar business and even expected to grow in the future. Higher education institutions of the Anglophone countries have been very successful in the past decades in progressing towards internationalization. As others for instance German institutions lag behind, it could be very interesting to take a look at the higher education industry of countries like the U.S. and Canada. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework which serves for a classification of different forms of internationalization in the higher education industry in the U.S. and Canada. Furthermore some important aspects and a checklist will be added to give the reader a solid overview of certain conditions for an internationalization strategy. It addresses people which are interested in the higher education industry, especially in the context of internationalization. For this reason, it is designed for people, who are working in the higher education industry as well as students. At the beginning there will be a short introduction into higher education of both countries as the definition of higher education differs from country to country. Subsequently the meaning of the term internationalization will be described. Having clarified the meaning, rationales for internationalization are given both at the national and institutional level. In the context of internationalization, the paper provides statistical data of the higher education industry of both countries, focusing on the effect of internationalization on the economy. After this profound information, the paper enters the main part of the topic. A framework is described, which serves to classify the different forms of internationalization in the US and Canada. In addition the process of internationalization in case of the New York University and its new ways in Abu Dhabi are specified in form of a case study. A list of aspects is provided to support managers in their approach to develop a successful internationalization strategy. Finally the paper will be summarized and completed by a final conclusion.