The Privatization of Study Abroad: New Kaplan-Northeastern Program
An interesting article in the New York Times, “College and Company Link up to Lure Foreigners,” describes Northeastern University’s new partnership with Kaplan to recruit international students. Kaplan finds students for and helps run an academic program for international students to spend a year on campus, improving their English and acclimating to American higher education, before starting one of Northeastern’s degree programs. Although Northeastern is the first American university with such a partnership, the model, now common in Britain, is gaining interest in the United States. Some critics worry that if such partnerships catch on widely, the quest for lucrative international students could undermine academic standards, if the profit motive leads programs to admit unqualified students or use low-paid, poorly trained instructors.