Curtin University opens ‘fully fledged’ Sri Lanka campus

Curtin University is claiming bragging rights for its international network after transforming a decades-old teaching partnership in Sri Lanka into a “fully fledged campus”.

Curtin University Colombo will occupy purpose-built facilities at Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT), where the Perth-based institution has produced more than 2,500 Sri Lankan graduates since the early 2000s.

Vice-chancellor Harlene Hayne said the new home would enable Curtin to boost admissions and expand from the current offerings in engineering, computing and business into new fields including artificial intelligence, health and the humanities.

The new campus will also facilitate research and student transfers to Curtin’s other offshore campuses – in Dubai, Mauritius, Sarawak and Singapore, as well as the Australian campuses – because all will feature common curricula and degrees.

Curtin says it has now matched Monash in Melbourne as the university with the most offshore campuses of any university in the world.

It is also one of just two foreign institutions with campuses in Sri Lanka, a Tasmania-sized island with a population approaching Australia’s. The other is Perth neighbour Edith Cowan University.

Branch campuses are undergoing a resurgence despite doubts about the economics of offshore operations. Australian universities have led the charge, opening a flurry of offshore campuses after the Indonesian and Indian governments relaxed rules on foreign universities operating on their soil.

The Australian government’s proposal to cap overseas student numbers onshore has also renewed interest in transnational education.

Curtin said that 700 students were currently enrolled on its courses in Sri Lanka and that applications to study at the new Colombo campus had opened.

SLIIT vice-chancellor Lalith Gamage, who is the new campus’ landlord as well as its partner, said he was “proud” that the union had produced an official campus.

“The partnership has successfully brought international best practices into Sri Lankan higher education while providing local students with access to high-quality international education,” he said.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com