Most Australian universities provide teaching activities or learning opportunities through online courses, domestic subsidiary companies, offshore campuses and overseas ventures. These raise the profile of the university, help attract foreign students to WA campuses and raise revenue for the university as well as contributing to the economic development of the foreign countries.
All 4 WA public universities operate non-metropolitan campuses and offer online courses to improve the accessibility of their courses to students. In addition, 3 universities conduct educational programs through overseas ventures, predominantly in Asia.
Engaging in these activities requires different financial, management, business modelling and risk assessment skills to those needed for core on-campus university business. Our 2016 audits did not identify any noteworthy audit issues in relation to these additional activities. However, it is important that management not only closely monitors the university’s core on-campus business, but also the activities offered online, through subsidiaries and overseas.
The following summary of information, provided by the universities, illustrates the extent and complexity of their activities.
Local operations
Campuses of the four WA public universities have traditionally been located in the Perth metropolitan area but now all 4 universities have regional campuses which offer various tertiary education courses.
Overseas ventures of universities
Three universities conduct a range of overseas educational activities. The types of activities include joint ventures, offshore campuses, or sending academic staff overseas to a foreign institution. The universities receive revenue from these arrangements.
Curtin University
Curtin has the most overseas operations of the WA universities. It has two offshore campuses – in Malaysia and Singapore (Table 4) which are operated by third parties through individual formal contracts. Degrees are issued in the name of Curtin University.
Curtin also delivers its degree programs through other institutions, predominantly in Asia. Individual formal contracts are signed between the institutions and Curtin. Curtin advised that in 2016 it received $4.8 million in total revenue from the overseas ventures listed below.
Murdoch University
Murdoch forms partnerships with offshore institutions that offer a Murdoch degree for their enrolled students. A formal partnership contract, signed by both parties, sets out the general terms and conditions including academic, financial, administrative and managerial arrangements. Murdoch licenses the use of their intellectual property, which includes the use of Murdoch’s name, learning material and lecturers, in exchange for a percentage of the student fees earned by the offshore institution. Degrees are issued in Murdoch University’s name.
The University of Western Australia
UWA partnered with overseas higher learning facilities to provide teaching facilities outside Australia and awards its degrees to students who enrol and fulfil the requirements of courses. Formal agreements are set up to identify the roles of UWA and the partnering/learning institution in that country.
Online courses
Students enrolled for study at university campuses often have opportunities to participate in lectures or tutorials online. However, there are some students who study exclusively online. All 4 universities offer a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses online. The only requirement to attend a campus is for examinations or for verification purposes.
Two universities, Curtin and Murdoch, offer online courses through Open University Australia (OUA) to their registered students. OUA is a consortium of 7 Australian public universities which offers online higher education for students, the majority based in Australia but available to students globally. The courses are developed and approved by each university and details provided to the Commonwealth Department of Education and Training.
Fees for online subjects are agreed between each university and OUA and are set in line with HECS fee regulations. Revenue from student unit enrolment fees is divided between the two parties in proportions specified in their agreement. Individual unit fees ranged from $782 to $1,305 in 2016, while the split ranged from 55:45 to 50:50. Australian students can apply for Commonwealth HECS-HELP for their online units.
We were advised by the universities that in 2016, ECU delivered units online to 22% of their Equivalent Full Time Student Load (EFTSL), Curtin to 12% of their EFTSL, Murdoch to 4.3% of their EFTSL, while UWA had only 29 students (0.04% of EFTSL) enrolled in online units.
Local subsidiaries of universities
Two universities, Murdoch and UWA, use local subsidiary companies to conduct activities on their behalf, as shown in Table 9.