The Navitas group is a world leader in the development and provision of educational services and learning solutions. Member Colleges of the Navitas group offer English language training, high school, university preparation, university programmes, career advancement programmes and migrant settlement services to students. Navitas operate in collaboration with their partner universities in UK, Australia, Canada, Singapore, South Africa and as of recent have launched partnerships with a few prestigious US universities.
Mr. David Matthews - Navitas USA |
The concept of this "joint partnerships" between US Navitas and the respective partner universities is that all four US Navitas Colleges work in collaboration with their respective partner universities, being located inside the campus and using campus lecturers and facilities and providing the same quality of education on par with the university. However the advantage to students - especially overseas students, is that they are provided a more personalized service at the Navitas College as opposed to studying in the campus. Most colleges limit the students from 10 to 30 (depending on the subject) and for example students from Sri Lanka find this easier to adjust, having come from a safe and controlled environment back at home.
Mr. David Mathhews - Navitas USA Marketing, based at Delhi is in charge of Strategic Marketing for the South Asian Region. It was learnt from him that US universities have had the "notion of going after overseas students", but have not done this aggressively. Via Navitas, US universities have started to compete with UK and Australian Universities. Mr. Maththews re-iterates, "With the present restrictions and high costs associated with studying in Australia the market for Australia has drastically dropped and students are looking for alternatives. US campus facilities are second to none with state-of-the-art facilities. The numbers of students compared to Australian or UK campuses are significantly lower. Therefore they get more value for money with a more personalized environment.
US have always been a popular destination for Sri Lankan students, but have not been aggressively marketed". As a result of the global economic downturn, US need to start focusing on more international students not only as a source of revenue, but also to promote goodwill between the US and other countries. He goes to say that the ethos behind the Navitas - USA concept is that Universities stick to what they are doing best, which is teaching and Navitas Colleges concentrate on preparing students for higher studies and also to penetrate markets globally using their marketing strategies.
The US undergraduate system is built on a four year platform. The first year is known as the Freshman year, the second as the Sophomore year, the third as the Junior and the final as the Senior year. Navitas Colleges in the US provide a pathway for students entering into university to enter at the sophomore year through their bridging course which is known as UPP Stage II. This bridging course exempts students from the freshman year provided the necessary pass is obtained by the student. There are several advantages in entering university through the Navitas pathway. Firstly students do not require SAT, whereas SAT is mandatory for direct entrants to enter university. A slightly lower level of English (IELTS 5.5) is required as students are provided a good English background at the bridging course.
urthermore as stated earlier, Navitas Colleges provide a more personalized service to students with a more one to one teaching environment. In addition to this the same partner university lecturers teach at the colleges. Mr Maththews feels that the College option is much more plausible for Sri Lankan students, who make their transition to go overseas from a safe and controlled environment back at home. The Navitas Colleges will give them a comparatively similar atmosphere to home rather than directly going into a vast university environment. This would also give their parents back home some peace of mind.
A daunting taskNavitas USA - Marketing have to undertake is finding the right students to send to US universities, in other words finding the target market. As long as a high school student within the age group of 17 to 20 years satisfy the financial requirements they will be successful at the embassy interview in obtaining visa, provided they do not say something very stupid which would impinge their chances. However students who are of the older category tend to have ulterior motives of going to study in the US, which are generally detected at this same interview. If the right type of students with the right background is chosen, US is definitely open for business, states Mr Maththews. However a student applying many times having been rejected each time also counts for several applications, although it is the same student. He goes on to say that this is definitely the wrong type of market. Furthermore Mr. Maththews refers to awarding scholarships as buying academically strong students. Based on academic merit a 50% tuition scholarship is awarded to a quota of 2 students per each semester. This amounts to 8 scholarships to the 4 affiliated Navitas Colleges.
The four Navitas Colleges specialize in different subject areas. Dartmouth, which is affiliated to University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, specializes in Business, Management and Economics; Bowing Green, Kentucky which is affiliated to Western Kentucky University specializes in Sciences and Engineering; Lowell which is affiliated to University of Massachusetts, Lowell also specializes in Sciences and Engineering; Boston, which is affiliated to University of Massachusetts in Boston specializes in IT, Arts and Communication. Boston is a more popular destination for studies. However for students from Sri Lanka the other 3 colleges may be more attractive in terms of lower living expenditures.
The Navitas Group has built a reputation globally. One in eight students entering universities in Australia has gone through a Navitas pathway. In US it is still a start-up operation. The Navitas goal is not only to see students entering into universities, but also to ensure that they are successful at these universities. Navitas also has to ensure that their academic partner universities are happy with the quality of students they receive from their partner Navitas College thereby ensuring that these partnerships are solid.
The sole local representative for Navitas US is Pac Asia Services (Pvt) Ltd. Mr Anil Verma - Regional Manager - Pac Asia could be contacted for any inquiries with regard to studying at Navitas Colleges in the US. E-mail : averma@pacasia.org
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