International Branch Campus Insights Series - June 2026
By CCG Associate, Raymi van der Spek
An International Branch Campus Isn't a Campus Project—It's an Institutional Transformation
Too many universities approach an international branch campus as a property project, an academic project or simply another international partnership. In reality, it requires the university to rethink governance, decision-making, risk management, quality assurance, finance and organisational capability. The universities that recognise this early build resilient international campuses. Those that don't often spend years solving problems that could have been avoided before the first student enrols. Here are five critical considerations:
1. Strategy comes before geography
The first question should never be "Should we open in India, Dubai or Egypt?"
It should be:
Why are we doing this? It sounds like an obvious question, but I have worked with a highly successful branch campus where the home university could never clearly articulate why it had established the campus in the first place. If the strategic purpose isn't clear at the outset, almost every major decision that follows becomes more difficult.
What does success look like in ten years (critical)?
How does this fit our institutional strategy?
Many projects fail because the location was chosen before the purpose.
2. Choose the right strategic partner—not simply the biggest one.
Universities often undertake extensive due diligence on financial strength but far less on culture, governance and decision-making.
This is about long-term partnership and the best long-term partnerships are built on aligned values and complementary capabilities, not simply attractive commercial terms.
3. Governance matters far more than contracts
Universities understandably devote considerable time and cost to negotiating legal agreements. Yet contracts only define what should happen. Instead first spend more time designing how decisions will actually, and practically, be made once the campus opens.
Questions like:
Who approves new programmes and how?
Who controls budgets?
Who owns quality?
Who resolves disputes?
These determine success long after the lawyers have left.
4. Regulation is only the starting point
Obtaining a licence is a milestone—not the destination.
The real challenge begins afterwards:
maintaining compliance
embedding academic quality
recruiting staff
delivering the best possible student experience
protecting institutional reputation
5. Think beyond opening day
Too many feasibility studies stop at launch.
Successful branch campuses are planning for Year 5 before Year 1:
programme expansion, breadth and depth
research
industry partnerships
financial sustainability
eventual maturity of the campus
Ultimately the university should be learning from the branch campus and vice versa. Success may mean the ‘tail wagging the dog’.
After more than two decades working with universities, operators and governments on international branch campus projects, I've found that success is rarely determined by regulation or infrastructure alone. It comes from recognising that a branch campus is not simply another overseas venture—it's an extension of the institution itself.