Sowmya Ghosh

Globalizing forces have both transformed the higher education sector and made it increasingly homogenous. Growing similarities among universities have been attributed to isomorphic pressures to ensure and/or enhance legitimacy by imitating higher education institutions that are perceived as successful internationally, particularly universities that are highly ranked globally (Cantwell & Kauppinen, 2014; DiMaggio and Powell, 1983). In this study, we compared the strategic plans of 78 high-ranked, low-ranked, and unranked universities in 33 countries in 9 regions of the world. In analyzing the plans of these 78 universities, the study explored patterns of similarity and difference in universities’ strategic positioning according to Suchman’s (1995) 3 types of legitimacy: cognitive, pragmatic, and moral. We found evidence of stratified university strategies in a global higher education landscape that varied by institutional status. In offering a corrective to neoinstitutional theory, we suggest that patterns of globalization are mediated by status-based differences in aspirational behavior (Riesman, 1958) and “old institutional” forces (Stinchcombe, 1997) that contribute to differently situated universities pursuing new paths in seeking to build external legitimacy.

Within the internationalization strategies of higher education institutions, there is a recent tendency to shift from moving people to moving programs and providers. Transnational education in the form of international branch campuses became an important phenomenon during this century’s first decade. However, criticisms and risks associated with opening a branch campus have slowed down their growth. Recently the University of Arizona (UA) in the United States developed an alternative model for transnational education called a micro-campus. This model represents a joint venture between the UA and partner institutions abroad to deliver joint degrees that do not require students to move abroad. This study presents the early stages of the micro-campus model assessment as well as some recommendations to improve joint ventures.