International branch campuses in India: An alternative to studying abroad!

Abstract

International branch campuses are an important form of transnational education. Although there exists a substantial literature on the rationale and the motivation to study in International Branch Campuses, research on the customer value offered by the international branch campuses has been overlooked. In order to fill this research gap, this study focuses on the perceptions of Indian students about the value that the IBCs bring to them as an alternative to studying abroad. Mixed method research was used. Qualitative research methods included semi-structured interviews of 13 students who were either enrolled or intended to study abroad. Purposive sampling method was used to identify the respondents. The quantitative method included a questionnaire was then, distributed through the online and offline mode among students who were either enrolled in a foreign university or intended to study abroad. A total of 235 questionnaires were found to be complete and useable for further analysis. Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine factors that the students perceive to be crucial for the IBCs based in India so as to become an alternative to studying abroad. The three factors revealed are as follows: employment opportunities that offer a monetary value that is at par with studying abroad, symbolic value that is at par with studying abroad, and a friendlier sacrifice value compared to study abroad. This study will lend market intelligence to the government policymakers, marketers, and international higher education experts as it proposes an understanding of the perceptions of Indian students about the values that the IBCs to be based in India will bring to them as an alternative to studying abroad.

Keywords:

• ‘International Branch Campus’
• ‘customer Value’
• ‘outcome based benefits’
• ‘Experiential based benefits’
• ‘Social-Personal based benefits’
• ‘Costs Sacrifices based benefits’

1. Introduction

Transnational higher education (where the student is located in a country other than the one where host institution is based) has been one of the major components in the internationalization of higher education, thereby resulting in the advancement of communication and information technologies and the role played by market-oriented mechanisms across the world (Kosmutzky & Rahul, 2016). International branch campuses (IBCs) are an important form of transnational education. Transnational higher education has benefitted both the home country and the host country. The underlying reason for using transnational education is that over the years higher education has transformed from increasing access and quality to establishing global hubs in various parts of the world.

The emerging economies in Asia-China, Malaysia, Singapore and UAE have taken the lead by setting up IBCs. Traditionally the direction of flow of students has been from the east to west and from south to north and the countries hosting the largest number of international students were-USA, UK, Australia, Germany, France, Japan, Canada and New Zealand (King et al., 2010). In the recent years this flow has found new directions i.e., countries from Asia and the Middle East have been hosting IBCs and the direction of the flow of the students has changed from east to east, i.e., the students from the Asian countries prefer studying abroad in other Asian countries (Lasanowski, 2011). Malaysia and Singapore are the top countries in the region hosting IBCs.

Since time immemorial, India has been a destination for higher education. India, along with China, has been the top sources of outbound students in the world. The number of students going abroad from India for educational opportunities has increased over the years at an accelerating rate (Khare, 2021). This indicates that IBCs to be based in India can play a significant role and can be an alternative to studying abroad for Indian students.

With the surge of IBCs and the number of campuses in Asia, it is critical to understand the customer value offered by the IBCs to be based in India in order to provide Indian students with an alternative to studying abroad.

A variety of motivations or rationales for opening of foreign campuses have been cited by various authors. IBCs are a means to enhance international engagement by increasing overseas teaching and research opportunities for faculty members, by providing study abroad destination for students of the home campus, and by tapping into foreign student populations (Becker, 2010; Wilkins et al., 2012). Some of the other benefits include- the prestige of becoming a global education hub, generating foreign exchange, revenue, support for jobs and local investment (Ahmad & Buchanan, 2015).

There has been considerable body of work where the majority of the discussions revolve around the motivations and strategies to host IBCs (Becker, 2009; Knight, 2011; Wilkins et al., 2012), on the motivations of students to select IBCs (Abubakar et al., 2010; Hou et al., 2018; Wilkins & Huisman, 2014; Wilkins & Huisman, 2013), and on determining the variables that influence the decision-making process to attend higher education (Azzone & Soncin, 2020; Basha et al., 2016; Garwe, 2016). In this context, there has been a considerable body of work on the IBCs located in Asia i.e., Malaysia (Belderbos et al., 2015; Christopher & Abdelrahman Thabet, 2018; Hou et al., 2018; Low, 2019), Singapore (Hou et al., 2018), China (Kang et al., 2019; Yang & Wu, 2021) and UAE (Hill et al., 2021; Lan & Wilkins , 2019).

In order to promote internationalization of higher education, government of India has invited top international universities to set up their campuses in India. Hosting an IBC, especially in an emerging economy like India, provides the student an opportunity to earn a foreign degree at a lower cost than studying abroad (Ahmad & Buchanan, 2015).

The decision by the government of India to invite foreign universities to set up campuses in India is expected to have the following outcomes:

1. Equip the Indian students to avail world-class education in their home turf at an economical rate as compared to studying abroad. For, e.g.,, students enrolled in NYU’s campus in Abu Dhabi or Northeastern university campus in London not only get access to all the resources in the campus but also the cost of living and education are lower as compared to studying in the home campus.

2. Enable the Govt. to make India to be seen as a global education hub and attract talent, businesses and revenue from across the globe. This will be an advantage for the students from middle class backgrounds since they can get access to world-class education in their home country at an affordable cost. This will lead to efficient skill development among the youth in India by arming them with the practical knowledge and make them internationally employable.

3. IBCs would provide an opportunity to increase higher education capacity and enhance access in an efficient manner.

4. IBCs would act as a catalyst for economic expansion and human capacity building.

5. IBCs would encourage international students to stay and work upon graduation and contribute to the local economy. For e.g., Singapore has encouraged the expansion of IBC in order to assist in economic growth and development (Wilkins & Huisman, 2011).

6. High quality branch campuses would force the national universities to raise their standards through direct competition and encourage the government to further develop quality assurance measures.

Literature shows that the customer value provided by the IBCs, which is crucial for Indian students in order to provide an alternative to studying abroad, has been overlooked. In order to fill this research gap, this study focuses on the perceptions of Indian students about the value that the IBCs bring to them as an alternative to studying abroad. This gap in literature requires exploratory research not only to fill the missing pieces on the Asia (India) bound mobility of international students but also offer market insights for the government policymakers and marketers of higher education about the value that the IBCs would bring to the Indian students. This study advances the body of knowledge by examining the value propositions i.e., Functional value, Experiential value, Social or Relational value and Costs or Sacrifices that the students expect to expend by studying in an IBC to be based in India.

In the above context, this study seeks to answer the following research question:

How do the interviews with Indian students help to explain their perceptions about the value that the IBCs bring to them to become an alternative to studying abroad?

Since this study is under researched, therefore exploratory sequential mixed method design (Creswell, 2019) was found suitable to analyze the above research question. In exploratory sequential method, the first phase of the study is qualitative in nature, whereas the second phase is quantitative in nature. The strategy is to develop better measurements with specific samples from the population and to see if data from a few individuals (in the qualitative phase) can be generalized to a large sample of a population (in the quantitative phase). Therefore, the researchers have a three-pronged procedure-first phase as exploratory, the second phase as instrument development and the third is the administering of the questionnaire (Creswell, 2019).

1.1. Background of the study

Internationalization of higher education (IHE) has led to the increase in the demand of students who are globally employable equipped with the skills and competencies suited to the international job market with cross cultural experiences. The purpose of internationalization is to take advantage of the new opportunities presented by a globalized society in order to serve humankind and sustainability (SDGs, 2030). Internationalization has been categorized into a broad framework of “internationalization abroad” and “internationalization at home” (Knight, 2012).

Literature shows that IHE has grown into a multimillion-dollar industry today and has become an important source of revenue and a tool for “soft power”. Soft power focuses on a preferred (positive) understanding of India’s interests and identity abroad. India aims to become a soft power by building academic and strategic dominance. An increase in the number of international students studying in India will lead to an increase in soft power, a tool for diplomacy. India has declared its intentions to be a global education hub by providing premium education at affordable costs (NEP 2020).

Indian higher education advocates historical and cultural perspectives to interpret internationalization of higher education. A cultural approach in promoting higher education leads to more respect for cultural diversity, mutual respect and understanding between local and international students.

India has a competitive advantage over other developing economies in the following aspects of higher education market in India.

1. The education market is expected to amount to $225 billion by the year 2025(IBEF).

2. India has a large English-speaking population which allows easy delivery of educational products (IBEF).

3. India presents the largest population of 580 million students in the age group of 5-24 years, thereby presenting an attractive market in the education sector (IBEF).

4. India has over 250 million school going students which is more than any other country (IBEF).

5. Government of India has allowed 100% FDI (automatic route) for the education sector (IBEF).

6. National Accreditation Regulatory Authority Bill for higher education and Foreign Educational Institution Bill are some of the policy initiatives undertaken by the government of India (IBEF).

The total number of foreign students enrolled in Indian higher education institutions is 48,035 from 163 different countries (Ministry of Education, 2020). The highest share of international students enrolled in India are from Nepal (28.25%) followed by Afghanistan (8.4%), Bangladesh (5.7%) and USA (5.1%) (Ministry of Education, 2020). The top 10 countries from where students enroll in Indian higher education institutions are: UAE (4.8%), Bhutan (3.8%), Sudan (3.3%), Nigeria (2.9%), Tanzania (2.7%), Yemen (2.3%) (Ministry of Education, 2020). The highest number of students are enrolled in undergraduate courses (75.9%) followed by postgraduate courses (16.2%) and others (7.9%) (Ministry of Education, 2020). In most of these developing economies the economic asymmetry is perpetuated by a dysfunctional tertiary education system (Collins & Rhoades, 2009). This indicates India’s position as a provider of higher education for the students from the countries in the “periphery” or the low- and middle-income countries in the region i.e., “internationalization at home”.

In contrast, the number of outbound students from the year 2017 to 2021 are 341,562, 377993, 460871,516693 and 508,174, respectively (UNESCO.UIS). This indicates that over the years, India has been successful in “internationalization abroad” by being a major source of international students for the global economies. Outbound Indian students are sought after in the countries- USA, UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore and Germany (Khare, 2021).

Over the years, India’s efforts on internationalization have been lopsided and may strain the Indian economy in the near future (Khare, 2021). With the current policies such as NEP 2020, India is making an effort to balance the outbound and inbound student mobility so as to become an attractive market for higher education at the global stage. India is strategically aiming for “internationalization at home” by acting as a host to a greater number of students from abroad so as to be self-reliant and compliant to global norms and standards.

In order to study abroad, Indian students from middle-class backgrounds seek loans from banks and their family members. IBCs, to be based in India, will provide students, who otherwise cannot afford to go abroad, an opportunity to experience world-class education in their home country and at a lower cost. In this context, the IBCs to be based in India can play a vital role and act as an alternative to studying abroad.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Overview of IBCs

Over the last three decades, IBCs have been a prominent feature of international higher education. There were about 72 IBCs operating in the world in the year 2000 which increased to 263 by 2017 and has grown up to 305 in 2022 (Garrett et al., 2016; C-BERT, 2022). Hosting IBCs result in increase in the higher education capacity, address the local market needs and contributes to enrichment of knowledge and innovation (Wilkins & Juusola, 2018).

There exist conflicting reports about the benefits of hosting IBCs. Some authors claim that there is little or no benefit in the improvement of higher education in the host country (de Wit & Altbach, 2021) while others have found that the students are dissatisfied with the standards of teaching learning, support services and other infrastructure facilities.

Though there are several definitions mentioned for IBCs in the literature (Becker, 2009; C-BERT, 2022; Green & Koch, 2009; Wilkins & Rumbley, 2018), the characteristics of IBCs can be summarized as:

1. It is an international activity through which an institution in the home country opens a campus in the host country.

2. It carries the same institutional name and has a close affiliation with the home campus.

3. It has the basic infrastructure facilities such as library, a computer lab and other facilities, comparable to that of the home campus.

4. It offers face-to-face teaching for the programs that bear the name of the foreign education provider.

5. It offers experience that is similar to the home campus, and

6. The ability of the students to complete the degree program at the campus located in the host country.

2.2. Internationalization of higher education-government initiatives

India has one of the largest higher education systems (1113 universities 43,796 colleges and 11,296 stand-alone institutions). The gross enrollment ratio is a dismal 27.3% which is far below than the developed countries (AISHE 2020–21). NEP 2020, a policy initiative by the government of India based on access, equity, quality, affordability and accountability, towards revamping the Indian higher education system. Based on the objectives of NEP2020, systemic level government initiatives have been undertaken to make India an attractive destination for higher education (Ministry of Human Resource Development Government of India, 2022).

1. Capacity building: Government has increased the intake capacity of international students by reservation of seats for international students. It is proposed to reserve about 15,000 seats per year in the institutions of eminence or global repute (IITs, IIMs, IISC, NITs) and other higher education institutions, accredited by NAAC and ranked by NIRF.

2. Financial support. The government plans to provide financial support through (a) scholarships under the General Cultural Scholarship Scheme and full partial fee waivers. Whereas, scholarships for the students going abroad are available from the foreign governments/organizations/trusts and a few scholarships are available from Indian sources. Increasing number of students have opted for self-financing/educational loans to study abroad.

3. International marketing of programs: There are opportunities provided by the foreign universities namely, summer schools which are short term programs in order to provide a platform for interaction or cultural exchange among students of different nationalities. “Connect to India” is one such initiative launched by the government of India to foster good will and the students learn about the Indian culture and heritage and its technological and economic progress. Short term courses on Yoga, Ayurveda, Health, Sanskrit etc.to create global perception about the core competencies.

4. Procedural simplification: Government has taken steps to simplify processes by starting Single window information services. This has helped students in obtaining visa, in the admission process, and in getting fee waivers, free of cost.

5. Quality management: Reforms have been launched in the form of mandatory quality accreditation and assessment of higher education institutions so as to be compliant with the global norms, emphasis on e-learning or m-learning and massive open online courses (MOOCs) towards improvement in the teaching learning in Indian higher education institutions and the launch of National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) so as to identify the institutions providing quality education and provide comparative data. These steps will ensure government financial support and help international students to identify quality institutions. This will support the institutions of eminence with significant government funds, graded autonomy project and it will be easier for these institutions to hire international faculty for teaching and research.

6. International partnerships: Broad based inter-governmental collaborations with different stakeholders on mutually beneficial terms and desirable subject domains. This will help in international collaborations comprising of co-creation and co-innovation in south-south, north-south and triangular, long-term partnerships. Collaborations through branch campuses and educational hubs with 100% foreign direct investment are common in international arena. United Kingdom-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI), India-New Zealand Education Council, and India–Israel Research Initiative are some of the examples of international collaboration. In addition, there have been education exchanges/MOUs signed with African countries and other countries like Afghanistan, Burundi, Belarus, Mauritius, Tajikistan, and Republic of Korea. A South Asian University has been set up in collaboration with the SAARC countries.

7. Equivalence of degree programs: The Indian government has already accorded equivalence to the world’s most popular systems of school for the international students who intend to join the bachelor’s degree program in India. The government has been signing MOUs with the France and 30 countries in Asia, Africa, West Asia and the Common wealth if Independent States (CIS) so as to provide automatic acceptance of qualifications.

• These measures are at a nascent stage and there has to be a synergy between the initiatives of the government and the institutional strategies. Institutions need to be proactive in implementing and managing the different elements associated with it.

• Evaluation of the Institutional level internationalization practices have revealed the lack of concerted effort in integrating all the four elements i.e. (i) understanding the environment (ii)developing a strategic approach (iii) optimizing implementation and (iv) monitoring and evaluating (OECD, 2012).

• International academic engagements have been found to be limited to arranging guest lectures for international faculty during their India visits. Joint research projects or development of research papers are mostly initiated by individual faculty members and there is hardly any guidance or funding at the institutional level. There are only a few institutions have the presence of international faculty and provide ‘bridge ‘courses for the international students.

• The curriculum offered by most of the institutions need reforms as only 39% of the programs are designed for the international students. The curricular standards to global competitive levels will enable these institutions to compete globally in attracting international students.

2.3. Customer value

Today higher education institutions are operating under highly marketized environment (Ledden et al., 2011a) and are subjected to consumerist pressures. Students are increasingly demonstrating consumer-like behavior thereby demanding even more “value” from the institutions.

Customer value is also known as perceived value, value and value for money. Perceived value is the trade -off between what the customer “gets” (benefits) in return for what they “gives” (sacrifices) (Zeithaml et al., 1993). Customers’ perception of value has been suggested to be the primary source of competitive advantage.

Past studies have revealed that customer value is the link between customer satisfaction and the behavioural intentions that helps to explain future service- related intentions that are not captured in the service quality and satisfaction studies (Cronin et al., 1997). This study on customer value from the students’ perspective will play a significant role in understanding the various aspects of the experiences that the student considers important and also reveals the motivations behind it. This necessitates the significant role of Customer value in predicting customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions in the case of higher education sector, like any other marketing services.

2.4. Outbound Student mobility

International student mobility has been addressed by various authors in the extant literature.

Motivation is the key element that drives students to go abroad for higher education. Motivation has been categorized into internal and external forces called as “pull” and “push” factors (Chen, 2008; Obermeit, 2012; Wilkins et al., 2012). There is significant body of work on student’s motivations to go abroad for higher education. In a study conducted in South Korea regarding motivations of students, it was found that university image, external prestige, university reputation and prospects of career growth are the significant factors in student’s choice of institutions (Sung & Yang, 2008). Prospective students choose their destination for higher education on the basis of the factors- language and physical proximity. Therefore, English language has gained importance in choosing the destinations for further study (Gyamera et al., 2023).

Study conducted in Australian universities revealed that the significant factors of university image, and quality academic standards that affect student’s choice of academic institutions (Brown & Mazzarol, 2009). Chinese students are motivated to go abroad for higher education for migration opportunities after graduating from the institution, higher academic standards and lower tuition fees (Hung et al., 2000). In another study of Chinese students, it was revealed that the choice of IBCs is influenced by personal reasons, reputation of the institution, programs offered and the city effect (Li, 2020).

A pilot case study using semi structured interviews and focus group discussions revealed that earning foreign degrees specially from American universities lead to better career prospects and for pursuing overseas jobs (Kohler, 2019). Studies have shown the replicability of the student experiences between the home campus and the IBC, though the majority of the IBCs lack the infrastructure and the resources (Wilkins, 2020). There are imbalanced expectations of first year students getting enrolled in IBCs and the suggested possible solutions to these expectations can be working collaboratively with the students and the teachers of the IBCs (Yang et al., 2020).

Through systematic literature review, study conducted by Ashour and Allender (2018) examined the unique features of German transnational education that could offer something unique and add value to the collaborations with the institutions in the Gulf region.

Motivations of students from countries-Taiwan, Singapore, India and China chose foreign institutions due to the perception that the courses offered by the foreign universities was better than that of the local institutions, desire to understand foreign societies, and intention to migrate abroad after the completion of the study in the foreign institution (Mazzarol & Soutar, 2001). Liu and Wander revealed that students migrated abroad due to the attraction of being taught in English and quality teaching and research facilities. There are multiple reasons for a student’s choice of institutions and it varies depending on age, country of origin, type of institutions and target market.

The literature review shows there is a gap in the study regarding the customer value offered by the IBCs for Indian students as an alternative to studying abroad.

2.5. Theoretical framework

The theoretical framework of this study is based on the concept of customer value. Zeithaml’s definition is the most widely accepted definition for perceived value as compared to the definitions offered by Woodall (2003) and Sanchez-Fernandez and Iniesta-Bonillo (2006). Due to the multiple definitions proposed by various authors the concept of perceived value has gained complexity. Therefore, the review of the nature of perceived value becomes important.

Perceived value is interactive: It is widely accepted that value exists in both customers’ mind and within the product itself so as to fully realize the interaction between the two (Holbrook, 1994; Woodall, 2003). This interaction, when studied in the context of service, may take the form of relationships between two or more subjects (Sanchez-Fernandez & Iniesta-Bonillo, 2006).

Perceived value is personal and idiosyncratic: The perception of value is highly personal and is subjected to one’s evaluation (Holbrook, 1999; Sanchez-Fernandez & Iniesta-Bonillo, 2007). Thus, the concept varies from one individual or group to another, thus making it idiosyncratic.

Perceived value is situational and dynamic: Perception of value needs to be understood within the context or situation form where it is derived (Zeithaml, 1988). Moreover, the perception of value is believed to change with time (Sanchez-Fernandez & Iniesta-Bonillo, 2006; Woodall, 2003).

Past literature has mentioned many notions of value so as to describe the concept at various stages of purchase. It has been indicated that a decrease in the amount or the quality of the information available to the consumer (student) leads to a commensurate increase in perceived risk. Woodall (2003) used the terms- desired value and received value that describe the pre and post purchase stage of consumer behavior. Woodall claimed that customers normally look at a product as a bundle of attributes. When it comes to make a purchase decision, the customer forms preferences based on the product attributes and thus produce the desirable outcomes, which in turn would help them achieve their goals. This link between attributes, consequences and goals explains the concept of value at the post purchase stage.

Perceived value is comparative: The value of a particular product is determined by comparing it with similar offerings (Holbrook, 1999).

This study is based on the four major types of value that has key dimensions.

1. Functional value: is the extent to which a product has the desired characteristics that is useful to perform a desired function. The key components of the functional value are the appropriate attributes; appropriate performances and appropriate outcomes.

2. Experiential value is the extent to which a product creates emotional, social, relational, sensory elements for the customer.

3. Social or relational value focuses on the social identity; personal meaning; social meaning; self- worth.

4. Cost/Sacrifices: examines the economic; psychological; risk taking; personal investment elements.

3. Method

Given the purpose of the study, the research method followed is a mixed method (exploratory sequential method). In exploratory sequential method, the first phase of the study is qualitative in nature, whereas the second phase is quantitative in nature.

3.1. Qualitative research method

This study seeks to answer the following research question:

How do the interviews with Indian students help to explain their perceptions about the value that the IBCs bring to them to become an alternative to studying abroad? Therefore, the target population of this study is the students who intend to go abroad for higher education. Students from the universities located in the western region of the state of Maharashtra, India, constituted the part of the sample.

The sampling method followed for the study was a combination of purposive and convenience sampling. These two techniques assisted researchers to recruit the next participants that may be hard to reach. The study is based on a survey method and the sample comprised of the students who intend to travel abroad for higher education. Thus, the sample comprised of:

1. students enrolled abroad for higher education

2. students who have appeared for qualifying exams like TOEFL/IELTS/GRE/GMAT/SAT etc. and

3. students who intend to travel abroad for higher education after completion of their current degree program.

Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted, and the qualitative data was obtained from 13 students who fulfilled the above-mentioned criteria. The 13 participants comprised of 6 male students and 7 female participants. The details of the participants are as follows:

The number of participants kept continuing till no new themes emerged from the interviewed participants, as the data will have reached saturation. Thus, this study uses 13 participants as the subject for data collection and the data were saturated on the thirteenth participant.

The interviews were conducted online in English and comprised of semi-structured and open-ended questions. The duration of each interview was 30 min. The following open-ended questions were asked:

1. What is your opinion on IBCs of world leading universities in India is an alternative to studying abroad for Indian higher education students?

2. What benefits (value) do you expect from IBCs that would be set up in India as compared to travelling abroad for higher education?

3. What are the “outcome” based benefits that you expect from IBCs of leading universities to be based in India to be considered as an alternative to studying at overseas universities as international students?

4. What are the “experiential” benefits that you expect from IBCs of leading universities to be based in India to be considered as an alternative to studying at overseas universities as international students?

5. What are the “social-personal” related benefits that you expect from IBCs of leading universities to be based in India to be considered as an alternative to studying at overseas universities as international students?

6. What are the “Cost/Sacrifices” that you expect by studying in IBCs of leading universities to be based in India to be considered as an alternative to studying at overseas universities as international students?

7. Any other aspect that you would like to mention here that so far has not been discussed?

All interviews were audio and video recorded after assuring the participants of the anonymity and confidentiality of the information they provided for the study. Both the researchers were present during the interviews and follow up questions and prompts were used so as to motivate the students for the development of ideas by the respondents.

The analysis of the interviews started with the independent reading of the transcribed text by the two researchers. During the second reading of the transcripts, the two researchers categorised the emerging themes and derived issues independently. Each researcher’s results were paired by the similarity of meaning and reviewed by the entire research team.

The significant theme that emerged from the qualitative analysis was the values that the IBCs to be based in India will bring to the Indian students as an alternative to studying abroad.

3.2. Quantitative research method

Based on the research question, the objective of the quantitative study is to determine the factors that the students perceive to be crucial for the IBCs based in India in order to become an alternative to studying abroad.

Questionnaire research method was used to collect data. The data was collected among undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral students from one of the three categories mentioned above. The students were made clear that the purpose of this study was purely for research and the information provided by the respondents will be treated with confidentiality and anonymity. Prior consent was taken in the form of permissions from the head of the target institutions.

3.3. Survey instrument

A questionnaire was designed to carry out the survey and the instrument sought demographic information of the students in the first section, followed by section two, capturing the 16 variables identified for analysis. A 7-point Likert scale (1= not at all important and 7=extremely important) was used to measure all the items in section two of the instrument.

3.4. Distribution of participants and data collection

Both online and offline modes were used to reach out to the students for data collection.

The participants comprised of Indian students (i.e., students with Indian nationality) that have either completed their graduation in engineering or management or commerce and are seeking enrolment in higher education outside India. The researchers formulated the questionnaire based on the variables derived from the online interviews of 13 participants. Permission was taken from the respective head of the institutions to disclose the emails of the recent graduates and students admitted in the previous year enrolled for graduate studies abroad (Table 1).

Table 1. List of interview participants (n = 13)

Participant	Gender	Age	Qualifying degree	Host country
P1	Female	24	M.Sc.	Applied for PhD degree
P2	Female	26	M.Sc.	USA
P3	Male	27	MBA	USA
P4	Female	19	BBA	Applied for Master’s degree
P5	Female	18	BBA	Applied for master’s degree
P6	Male	18	BBA	Applied for degree program
P7	Female	24	BBA	USA
P8	Male	26	B.Tech	USA
P9	Male	21	B. Com	Ireland
P10	Female	21	B.A(Hons)	Ireland
P11	Male	24	M.A	USA
P12	Male	23	B.Tech	USA
P13	Female	24	B.Tech	USA

Note: M.Sc.-Master of Science; MBA-Master of Business Administration; BBA-Bachelor of Business Administration; B.Tech-Bachelor of Technology; B.Com-Bachelor of Commerce; B.A.(Hons)-Bachelor of Arts (Honours); M.A,-Master of Arts

Online mode was deemed appropriate to reach out to the students who are already enrolled in a foreign university, since the respondents were located in different geographical locations. Thirty-five (14.89%) questionnaires were received from the students who are enrolled in a foreign university. Eighteen (7.6%) questionnaires were received from students who have appeared for the qualifying examinations (IELTS/TOEFL/GRE/GMAT).

In the offline mode, the researchers were physically present in the classroom of the respective institutions so as to clarify any doubts from the students and ensure a smooth conduct of data collection. In the offline mode, the researchers reached out to the students who intent to go abroad for higher education after the completion of the current program. About 301 questionnaires were distributed among the respondents out of which 182 (60.4%) were found to be complete.

Table 2 shows the number and the percentages of students participated in the survey.

Table 2. Demographic profile of students

Enrolled in a foreign university n=35(14.89%)	Appeared for the qualifying examinations n=18 (7.6%)	Intend to go abroad for higher education n=182 (77.44%)
Gender	Gender	Gender
Male (19)	Male (11)	Male (138)
Female (16)	Female (7)	Female (44)
Indian qualification	Qualifying exam	Indian qualification
B.Tech. (18)	IELTS (9)	B.Tech. (141)
MBA (12)	GRE/GMAT (5)	MBA/BBA (34)
B. Com (1)	TOEFL (4)	B. Sc/M.Sc. (4)
B.Sc. Computer Science (1)		B. Com (2)
B.Sc.-IT (1)		BCA (1)
LLB -Bachelor of Laws (1)
Diploma (1)
Foreign Country where enrolled		Preferred Destination
USA (19)		USA (64)
UK (5)		UK (26)
Australia (5)		Germany (38)
Canada (3)		Canada (9)
Germany (1)		Australia (8)
Ireland (1)		Japan (10)
Italy (1)		Other countries (26)
Enrolled Courses		Preferred Foreign degree
M.Tech(7)		M.Tech (61)
MBA (8)		MBA (62)
MS (14)		MS (59)
M.A(1)		PhD (1)
PhD (1)
Post Doc (1)
Duration of course(s)
2 years (33)
3 years (1)
4 years (1)

Note: The number in brackets shows the number of students.

A total of 235 questionnaires were received in the online and offline mode which were found to be complete and useable for data analysis. The data was analysed using IBM SPSS 23.0.

3.5. Sample statistics

The number of female students in the sample is 67 out of 235 (28.5%) and male students are 168 out of 235 (71.48%).

The students participating in the study were having age ranging between 17 years to 36 years. The average age of the students is approx. 22 years with a standard deviation of 3.18 years.

The following table shows the demographic profile of the students.

4. Results of the study

4.1. Qualitative analysis

The following table shows that the points obtained from the qualitative study are in consistency with the quantitative study.

The table reveals the 16 variables identified after the analysis of the interviews.

In the qualitative study the strong qualitative terms/phrases were centred around-“network”, “pay scale”, “family and friends”, “affordable”, “lower cost of living”, “brand image”, “academic learning”, “research facilities”, “quality of life”, “high return on investment”, “culture”, “job market value”, and “part time work”.

The findings of the qualitative analysis are categorized into-Outcome-based benefits, Experiential-based benefits, Social-Personal-based benefits and Cost-sacrifice based benefits as shown in Table 3

1. Outcome based benefits: The participants emphasized on the academic standards of the IBC and focus was on the course and curriculum and teaching by international faculty members. This makes the participants feel confident about the quality of education in the IBCs. Emphasis was to connect with research-based institutions for equipment and other research facilities. Diversity in the campus i.e., not only Indian students but also international students will form the part of the classroom, was another important component mentioned by the participants. Pay scale upon graduation needs to be of international standards i.e., the pay scale needs to be uniform whether the student is working in USA or any other country around the globe. The poststudy employment terms are to be of international standards since the same curriculum has been followed as that of the home campus and the degree awarded by the home campus.

• Uniform pay scale was mentioned by the interviewee no. 3 and 9 in the statement:

• The IBCs to be based in India should provide job opportunities in India with a pay scale equivalent to that of the students graduating from the home campus and employed in USA, UK or any other country (P9)

• Students expect a uniform pay scale irrespective of the fact whether the student is employed in USA, UK, Canada or any other country around the globe(P3)

• Diversity was emphasized by interviewee no.12 in his statement:

• I feel diversity will increase. If a campus is established here, I believe that not only Indian students but also many international students will prefer to study here

• Interviewee no.3 in his statement emphasized on the international recognition of the degree awarded by the IBC

• The degree offered by the university may either be from a local university or from a foreign university, it has to be recognized worldwide (P3)

Table 3. For qualitative analysis

Qualitative question	Qualitative response	Quantitative response (Item generated)
1. Outcome based benefits	1. From the course &curriculum, and teaching perspective, IBCs are an excellent option for students to go ahead and explore.	1. Academic learning is of international standards.
	2. We can connect with research-based institutions for equipment and other facilities.	2. Research facilities of international standards.
	3. The kind of pay scale that you are employed at be it in the USA or over here, needs to be uniform.	3. A pay scale upon employment of international standards.
	4. I feel diversity will increase. If a campus is established here, I believe that not only Indian students but also many international students will prefer to study here.	4. Opportunity to network internationally.
	5. Even though the degree has come from the same university with features of the same curriculum, the employment terms should be the same.	5. Post study employment terms are of international standards.
2. Experiential based benefits	1. If you are lacking in these certain tools, I don’t think any firm outside will find you employable enough.	1. Teaching learning aligned to industry practices.
	2. In the USA people do all kinds of jobs to offset the cost incurred on their education. Over their students are legally allowed to work up to 20 hours per week. So that’s what has to come from the Indian government.	2. Part time work opportunities on campus
3. Social-Personal based benefits.	1. Getting to know people from different cultures and the way they think and approach questions. We like the kind of composition we will have in the class.	1. Opportunity to understand different cultures.
	2. Family plays a major role if you are surrounded by your loved ones. So, that makes the journey very easy.	2. Proximity to family and friends.
	3. The brand name does make a difference. A degree from a college renowned globally increases self-worth.	3. University brand image.
	4. When you look at the USA or any other country in Europe, or may be Australia or New Zealand, I think work life balance is definitely something that is much better there. Far superior to what we have here in India.	4. Quality of life at the IBC is of international standards.
	5. We will need to see if the students applying for jobs abroad face no visa hassles and if firms are open to recruiting students.	5. Post study employment visa opportunities.
	6. These degrees, I think, would definitely increase self-worth. Because when you go out and tell a recruiter, “Hey, I am an incoming student at Purdue or I am an incoming student at USC,” that immediately catches attention of the recruiter, and they are interested in having a conversation with you.	6. Job market value upon graduation
4. Cost &sacrifices-based benefits	1. If top universities come to India, it will be very affordable for an individual, especially for people who belong to the middle-class families. So, the cost factor plays a very vital role.	1. Affordable international education.
	2. If you are able to bring down the education degree price here in India with the outcome of getting in the USA, then it’s definitely a good option.	2. A higher return on investment.
	3. IBCs would be much more affordable as compared to the expenses involved in studying abroad. It is not just about the tuition fees; the living expenses add up to more than half of the tuition fee expenses.	3. Lower student living expenses.

• (2) Experiential-based benefits: Here the participants emphasized that the teaching-learning process in the IBCs have to be industry oriented i.e., it should be aligned to the current industry practices. Also, part time work on campus to be available so as to offset the cost incurred on education.

• Interviewee no.3 in his statement stressed on the fact that teaching learning in the IBC should be industry oriented

• The concepts taught in the class to be related and implementable to the contemporary industry practices (P3)

• Part time work on campus was emphasized by interviewee no.3 in his statement:

• Students studying abroad can legally work up to 20 hours a week so as to offset the cost incurred on their education (P3)

• (3) Social-personal-based benefits: The participants felt that IBCs will provide an opportunity to understand different cultures since international students will also enroll for the courses. Proximity to family and friends will be an advantage to the Indian students studying in the IBCs based in India. The interviewees think that the reputation and the brand image of the university are associated with the quality of education provided by the IBCs. The quality of life in the IBCs will be another important component since the quality of life is much better in the western countries. The participants felt that post-study visa opportunities will matter the most so as to get jobs abroad. The participants think that the degree awarded by the IBC should increase the self-worth of the students i.e., the recruiters around the globe should recognize the degree.

• Interviewee no. 2 and 3 in their statements mentioned about networking in the class

• To network with international students in the classroom(P2)

• This will help us know students of different nationalities and understand different cultures (P3)

• Interviewee no.11 emphasized on the brand image of the institution

  The brand image makes a difference (P11)

• Interviewee no.7 in his statement mentioned about work visa after completion of the degree

• Providing work opportunities through work visa after the completion of their study will benefit the student in being globally employable (P7)

• (4) Cost & Sacrifice based benefits: The interviewees emphasized on affordable education for the students from the middle-class background and the poor in India, who otherwise will not be able to access world class education. The participants felt strongly about the return of investment in studying in an IBC based in India. Also, the lower living expenses for the students studying in the IBC based in India was an important component mentioned by the participants.

• Interviewee no. 10 and 12 emphasized on the economic education expenses

• We expect the universities to charge a lower fee in case the IBC is based in India. This will reduce the overall education expenses (P10)

• This will make it affordable for the students, who otherwise cannot get an opportunity to study in an international campus located in their home country (P12).

4.2. Quantitative analysis

Reliability Statistics: Reliability is measured by Cronbach’s Alpha. Cronbach’s alpha was used to study the reliability and homogeneity of the items i.e., how closely the variables are related. Cronbach’s alpha above 0.896 is good for the dataset. The Cronbach alpha for each of the three factors has been mentioned.

4.2.1. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA)

There was a total of 16 items on the scale, out of which 7 items were removed since the factor loading was low i.e., less than 0.60.

The EFA identified 3 factors with eigenvalues of greater than 1 and the total variance explained was 55%. The factors were named as follows:

First factor-Employment opportunities that offer a monetary value that is at par with studying abroad. This factor comprised of three items: A pay scale upon employment that is of international standards, opportunity to network internationally and a higher return on investment.

Second factor: Symbolic value that is at par with studying abroad. This factor comprised of the items: University brand image, part-time student work opportunities on campus and teaching learning aligned to industry practices.

Third factor: Lower Sacrifice Value. The items under this factor are as follows: lower student living expenses, proximity to family and friends and affordable international education.

Table 4 shows the Cronbach alpha for each of the three factors. The measure of sampling adequacy falls in the acceptable range (above 0.50) with a value of 0.896 and meets the fundamental requirement of factor analysis. The next step is to assess the significance of the correlation matrix with the Bartlett’s test. Since the p-value is significant, therefore it shows the presence of nonzero correlations.

Table 4. Factor analysis rotated component matrix

	Factor1	Factor2	Factor3
A pay scale upon employment that is of international standards	0.765
Opportunity to network internationally	0.734
Higher return on investment.	0.657
University brand image		0.750
Part time student work opportunities on campus		0.733
Teaching learning aligned to industry practices		0.648
Lower student living expenses			0.773
Proximity to family and friends			0.756
Affordable international education.			0.686
Cronbach Alpha:	0.795	0.675	0.688
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy: 0.896 Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 1281.212 DF 120 Sig. .000* *p <0.01

5. Findings and discussions

This section discusses the findings of the quantitative analysis and the insights gained from the interviews of the students on the elements of the value propositions offered by the IBCs to be based in India as an alternative for studying abroad.

The first factor i.e., employment opportunities that offer a monetary value that is at par with the international standards. This factor comprised of three variables: A pay scale upon employment that is of international standards, opportunity to network internationally and a higher return on investment.

Participants in the interviews have highlighted that one of the motives or attractions of pursuing a degree program in an IBC in India would be the pay scale. Students expect a uniform pay scale irrespective of the fact whether the student is employed in the USA, the UK, Canada or any other country around the globe (P3). The students during the interviews mentioned that the IBCs to be based in India should provide job opportunities in India with a pay scale equivalent to that of the students graduating from the home campus and employed in the USA, UK or any other country (P9).

In this context, participants have also emphasized a higher return on investment. The students expect to pay an economical price with the outcome of getting a job in countries like the USA and other developed economies (P12). It was revealed that even though the degree is from the IBC having affiliation to the same university abroad and with the same curriculum design, the price should be economical (P3).

The analysis revealed that studying in an IBC in India will enable the student to network with international students in the classroom (P2). Students perceived that this would help them to know students from different nationalities, their perspectives and friendships for life (P3).

The findings reveal the functional benefits in the context of higher pay scale upon graduation and opportunity to build their network. The expectation of a higher return on investment gets reflected in the benefit of the costs and sacrifices made by the student. This indicates that a degree from an IBC based in India can be viewed as a mean to advance in career with respect to an attractive salary and a wide network of friends.

The second factor i.e., Symbolic value that is at par with studying abroad, comprised of three items, namely, university brand image, part-time student work opportunities on campus, and teaching learning aligned to industry practices.

University brand image plays an important role in selecting a foreign university. The students mentioned that the brand image makes a difference (P11). The degree offered by the university may either be from a local university or from a foreign university, it has to be recognized worldwide (P3). The students also emphasized on the part time work opportunities on campus and have mentioned that students studying abroad can legally work up to 20 hours a week so as to offset the cost incurred on their education (P3).

In India, part-time opportunities are available only for students from Nepal, unlike other host nations. Providing work opportunities through work visa (P7) after the completion of their study will benefit the student in being globally employable and also positively influence the enrolment decision making (P3) of the student by diminishing the perceived monetary sacrifice. Students have also mentioned that without part time work opportunities during the study program, the cost of studying in an IBC based in India will be comparable to studying in one of the developed host countries. The reason for such a perception was that countries like USA, Australia provides an “opportunity to work” to the overseas students to mitigate the tuition fees and living expenses (P3).

The analysis revealed the importance of the linkage between teaching learning and the industry practices. The students emphasized on the concepts taught in the class to be related and implementable to the contemporary industry practices(P3). It was emphasized that international firms perceived a student “unemployable” in case the student is found lacking in these aspects or contemporary tools used in the industry (P3).

The second factor reveals the experiential benefits in terms of the part time work opportunities on campus and teaching learning aligned to the contemporary industry practices. This highlights the student’s passion for knowledge and equip themselves with the modern skills and experience. The social and personal benefits get reflected in the university brand image.

The third factor was named as a friendlier sacrifice value compared to study abroad. The items under this factor are as follows: lower student living expenses, proximity to family and friends and affordable international education.

Students expect universities to charge a lower fee in case the IBC is based in India. This will reduce the overall education expenses (P10) and make it affordable for the students, who otherwise cannot get an opportunity to study in an international campus located in their home country (P12). The students revealed that proximity to family and friends will make the journey easier for the students who are enrolled in the IBC based in India (P7).

The analysis revealed that the student expects international education to be affordable. In case the student is enrolled in an IBC based in India, the student would expect that the overall education will be affordable for the student belonging to the middle class (P9). Students have mentioned affordable education in comparison to the fees charged by the universities located in western nations like USA and European countries (P 5). Also, the students mentioned that allowing the student to work part time will help in mitigating the cost incurred on the education (P3). Govt. of India has to contemplate on this issue of legally allowing students to work part time in case IBCs are set up by the foreign universities in India.

The third factor revealed the linkage to the cost and sacrifices-based benefits. Apart from tuition fees other expenses like the living expenses and proximity to friends and relatives have gained importance. The aim is to maximize the benefits that can be gained from the money that the student is spending for the degree program. Therefore, it is important that the costs were at least commensurate with the expected outcomes.

The comparison of the results with the literature shows that one of the motivations of the students to select an institution is employability or an attractive pay scale upon graduation (Ahmad & Buchanan, 2015; Blake & Mestry, 2019; Husain et al, 2018). Past studies have also emphasized on the job hunting in reputed international companies (Basha et al., 2016; Li, 2020).

The risks involved in investment decision in higher education are functional risk (employability), financial risk (tuition fees and cost of living), psychological risk (i.e., the risk of disapproval from friends) and social risk (perception of friends and family on the choice of the institution (Simoes & Soares, 2010). Students choose the institution on the basis of the entry requirements and socio-economic status and under the influence of their parents (Yang, 2023).

The motivation of the students in selecting an institution are being able to live with their family members, tuition fees, cost-of-living expenses, opportunity to understand the culture and network internationally, quality academic standards and research facilities and the international reputation of the university and its qualifications. These findings are in line with previous studies (Ahmad & Buchanan, 2015; Low, 2019; Wilkins and Balkrishnan,2019; Wilkins and Huisman, 2015; Wilkins et al., 2012).

The cost factor is an important intangible factor while making a decision to enrol in a university abroad. The students try hard to create better value for their money by finding high quality institutions at affordable prices. Foreign students are normally not allowed to work in many countries during the study period. Working part time on campus is one of the ways to offset the cost of education (Low, 2019).

5.1. Theoretical implications

This study on customer value from the students’ perspective will play a significant role in understanding the various aspects of the experiences that the student considers important and also reveal the motivations behind it. This necessitates a significant role of customer value in predicting customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions in case of higher education sector, like any other marketing services.

Practically, this study will provide the administrators and managers to understand how they can improve students’ value perceptions about enrollment in the IBCs. In particular, this research contributes to the existing literature by the conceptualization and identification of three factors that are crucial for students from the developing countries to determine the value provided by the IBCs to be based in India so as to become an alternative to studying abroad.

5.2. Practical implications

This study highlights the need for the government to seriously evaluate their policies related to higher education. This will provide market intelligence to government policymakers, university administrators and marketers of higher education. University marketers may benefit from the scale that this study proposes by understanding the international students from regions that drive south-south mobility flows. It may eventually assist them in shaping a differentiation-driven enrollment strategy to face the increasingly global and competitive international student market. This study will enable the policymakers in Asia and Africa to frame policies so as to engage with the students from the developing economies. The government needs to speed up the policy reforms in the form of providing internships to the international students and paying greater attention towards establishing a common system for measuring the equivalence of educational qualifications are

Based on the findings, this study will:

1. The study will help India to be seen as a global education hub and provide opportunity to the students from middle-class backgrounds to access world-class education at home.

2. This study will enable students to access world-class education at an affordable cost and lower cost-of-living expenses.

3. The students will get an opportunity to work (part time) so as to offset the cost of education.

4. Quality higher education through the IBCs will raise the standards of the existing Indian higher education system thus encouraging the government to improve on the quality assurance measures.

5. The students upon graduating from the IBCs will be internationally mobile i.e., the degree awarded by the IBC will be recognized by international organizations and get an opportunity to work with reputed organizations with a pay scale of international standards.

6. Conclusions

The direction of flow of students has found new directions from global south-south, i.e., countries from Asia and the Middle East have been hosting IBCs and the direction of the flow of the students has changed from east to east. This has caught the attention of the policy makers, marketers and the international education experts. This study was conducted to advance the understanding of factors that are crucial for Indian students to determine the value provided by the IBCs to be based in India so as to become an alternative to studying abroad. Three factors containing three items each were identified. Although this study provides insights into the issue of customer value by the IBCs to be based in India, it is not free of limitations.

This study was conducted only in three Indian universities including State and Private universities located in the western region of the state of Maharashtra, India. Therefore, this study cannot be generalized across the IBCs in different countries.

However, this limitation can offer new directions to the researchers. Researchers can test the scale among international students in other emerging host countries and will be able to identify the immediate competitors in the market. This scale can be used for further studies in the emerging international market sources in the Gulf region and sub-Saharan African countries.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The Scholar Dr Sanjay Pawar is the awardee of the ICSSR Research Project (Minor Research Project File no. 02/29-2021-22/ICSSR/RP/MN dated 7th March 2022). This study is largely an outcome of ICSSR Minor Research project and was sponsored by the Indian Council of Social Science Research.