Transnational Higher Education: A perspective from China

The growth and development of TNHE in China has progressed from an informal, incidental and laissez-faire activity up to 1995 into a currently more systematic and regulated project, largely controlled by the Chinese government through "input"--accrediting, registering, and licensing TNHE institutions, and restricting curricula development in particular study fields, as well as "output"--controlling the types and levels of academic degrees. The forms of franchises, articulation, and twinning as well as study abroad are most popular in China. The major source countries and regions that provide TNHE services in China have changed from the USA in 1997 to Australia and Hong Kong. It is possible that TNHE provided by Australia and Hong Kong, will continue to increase and eventually will constitute a much larger share of the total market in China.