UTCC Sets Its Sights On Overseas Students

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EDUCATION

UTCC sets its sights on overseas students

By Chularat Saengpassa

Wannapa Khaopa

The Nation

Private universities struggling to compete with subsidised rivals

A presence in the international arena is a gaol the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce is seeking to attain, to diffuse the impact of fierce competition at home, which drives down the number of new recruits at private universities nationwide.

Instead of competing with state and autonomous universities that can quote the cost of each credit unit at Bt100 each thanks to government subsidies, this 47-year-old private university is geared towards a new target group of students. The bosses of UTCC are chasing more overseas students.

"We won't compete with them for the cheap tuition fees of Bt100 per credit but UTCC will compete with foreign universities at a rate of Bt4,000 per credit," said Chiradet Ousawat, president of UTCC and former president of the Association of Private Higher Education Institutions of Thailand (APHEIT).

To draw foreign students, UTCC kicked off a programme in 2003 to strengthen its teaching staff. Scholarships are granted to finance its lecturers' master and doctoral degrees abroad in a bid to streng-then its educational quality. With |a sharp drop in new recruits, the university realised that it could |not solely rely on famous lecturers who were retired from state universities.

To date, more than 160 of its young and talented lecturers are attending leading universities in different countries. In the 2012 academic year, 118 lecturers who got such scholarships are expected to finish their doctoral degrees.

In the next step, within three or four years, the university is aiming to win accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business - an accrediting agency for bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programmes in business administration and accounting.

Winning this accreditation would make UTCC more appealing to international students. It would help attract university students in the US to study at UTCC because law in the US state that an undergraduate has to study in a foreign country for a semester.

Chiradet also hopes UTCC's new campus of 450 rai has space for more international programmes so it can serve more overseas and Thai students from 2013.

Private universities have been |in a tough situation for years as state, autonomous and open universities have spread their wings and recruited more and more |students. Related agencies said |they would try to increase the proportion of students in private universities.

"Private universities shared only about 10 per cent of university students nationwide or around 187,000 out of the total 1.95 million in the 2010 academic year, according to the Office of Higher Education Commission (Ohec)," Mathana Santiwat, president of APHEIT and Bangkok University, said.

State and autonomous universities had the highest number of students - 1,263,000 - while open universities had 500,000 students in the same year, she said.

A drop in the number of students in private universities began from 2004, when Rajabhat institutes became Rajabhat universities. They extended educational programmes to serve more students and were able to attract more students, UTCC's Chiradet said.

Mathana said the decrease in the number of students at private universities had been more severe over the past few years. Universities had had to compete to recruit students through direct admissions, which they did early in each academic year and provided many rounds of direct admissions.

Moreover, many state and autonomous universities had opened campuses to recruit students in different regions, Chiradet said.

"When we compared the |number of students in private |universities with ones in state and autonomous universities with recruitment limits, private univer-sities shared 18 per cent. Over the past three years, our share of students has not exceeded 20 per cent," he added.

Chiradet said supply side pro-vided by universities was greater than the demand from students. Universities had extended programmes and increased available seats but the number of students had not increased.

So, the competition is getting fiercer. Both said although relevant agencies said they would try to increase the proportion of students at private universities to 30 per cent, they had not issued any moves to ensure this.

Despite their previous role as a popular alternative for students who failed to get into famous universities, private institutes have suffered greatly and are upset at the lack of government support.

"We [private and public institutes] could provide different |fields of education. State and autonomous universities should focus on programmes that provide education on environmental conservation, advanced technology, medicine and nursing, whereas |private universities should be responsible for communication/arts, accounting and business," Chiradet said.

Currently, private companies can deduct income tax if they donate to universities.

But while the deduction is equivalent to the donation amount in the case of private universities, the rate is double for public universities. APHEIT is pressing for equal treatment, Mathana said.

"I personally sent a letter to the chairperson of the committee for private higher education institutions a year ago to encourage the committee to be aware that this problem should be addressed. And I'm still waiting for movement," Chiradet said.

"Many private university executives told me that they are worn out by the tough competition. I don't know how long they will be able to bear the tough situation."

For now, while waiting for |support, Mathana said private |universities should try to improve their quality and cut costs. All |investment funds had to be used more effectively, to ensure survival amid tough competition.

-- The Nation 2011-03-21