Mauritius campus

An artist’s impression of the planned residential campus at Quartier Militaire

On Tuesday 4 March Aberystwyth University formally announced its ambition to open a new campus in Mauritius.

The announcement was be made by Professor April McMahon, Vice-Chancellor of Aberystwyth University, at a conference in London hosted by the Mauritius Board of Investment.

Aberystwyth University is working with Mauritius based Boston Campus Limited and is planning to launch four undergraduate degree programmes and one MSc postgraduate programme for September 2014, subject to accreditation by the Mauritius Tertiary Education Commission.

The programmes are also subject to approval by Aberystwyth University’s Senate.

The academic programmes proposed for the 2014/15 academic year are BSc degrees in Accounting and Finance; Business Finance; Business Management; Management with Law and the MSc Masters in International Business, all of which currently run at Aberystwyth University.

For September 2014 the proposal is to deliver the courses in premises operated by Boston Campus Limited in CyberCity, Ebène, 15 km south of the capital, Port Louis.

Plans are also being developed with Boston Campus Limited to build a modern residential campus catering for up to 2000 students at Quartier Militaire, 12km inland from the capital Port Louis.

It is anticipated that the new Quartier Militaire campus will open in time for the 2015 academic year, subject to final approval by the University’s Council.

Under the arrangement students studying at Aberystwyth University’s Mauritius campus would enjoy the same status as their counterparts at Aberystwyth and upon successful completion of their course would receive Aberystwyth University degrees.

All undergraduate and postgraduate programmes offered on the Mauritius campus would be subject to the quality assurance processes that are applied at Aberystwyth University.

To ensure consistency of provision and foster close working relationship, academic and administrative staff from Aberystwyth would spend time working on the Mauritius campus and staff from Mauritius would be encouraged to spend time working in Aberystwyth.

Equally, students who might wish to transfer to Aberystwyth from Mauritius would be able to do so, and would be offered the choice of attending graduation at Aberystwyth or Mauritius, upon successfully completing their course of study.

All students following Aberystwyth University degree programmes at the Mauritius Branch campus would be required to meet the usual International English Language Testing System set by the Home Office (UK Visas and Immigration) and Aberystwyth University.

Under the proposal, Aberystwyth University’s Information Services team would advise on the development of IT and library facilities and the students would also enjoy access to Blackboard, the University’s virtual learning environment.

Professor April McMahon said; “We are delighted to be working with Boston Campus Ltd on this exciting development. Mauritius lies at the cross-road between the African and Asian continents and is ideally positioned to attract international students who wish to pursue a high-quality university education but might not be in a position to travel to the UK. It also enjoys political stability and provides a safe environment for international students.

“The Government of Mauritius has ambitious plans to establish the country as an international knowledge hub and attract 100,000 students to study there over the next 10 years. At Aberystwyth University we look forward to working with the Government’s Ministry of Tertiary Education, Science, Research and Technology and Boston Campus Ltd to help realise this vision.”

“This development sits squarely with our strategic aims of ‘Creating opportunities’ and ‘Engaging the world’ by ‘pursuing collaboration nationally and globally’. The Aberystwyth University Mauritius campus offers an excellent example of how we can enable those who value the quality of a UK degree to study at a regional hub or partner institution in a way that is affordable and accessible to them.”

By establishing a branch campus in Mauritius, Aberystwyth University would become the highest ranking overseas university to operate in the country.

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