Locally, universities are placing more emphasis on the recruitment of foreign nationals who are able to pay the full cost of tuition.

With no cap on how many students of this kind that they can serve, institutions like the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the University of Technology (UTech) continue to invest in diversifying training products that are pitched to nationals in far-flung continents, such as Africa.

At the UWI, Mona, where the Jamaican Government cut fee subsidies by $700 million, from $7.59 billion in 2008, to $6.9 billion this year, 30 students from Botswana were accepted to the medical programme in September 2009.

The Botswanians pay the full economic cost of US$25,000 (J$2.225 million).

Sunday Business research shows that the cost is on par with American medical schools, which charge on average US$25,000 for first-year entry, with increments as the programme ages progresses. State-based students get significant discounts.

But the per-credit charges quoted by the UWI paints an even starker picture of home-based study versus the cost to foreigners. A sponsored or government-subsidised student - from within CARICOM - is charged J$5,679 per credit. A foreigner from a non-sponsored country pays US$417 per credit, which, at current exchange rates, translates to more than J$37,000 per credit - or seven times what a Jamaican and some Caribbean nationals pay.

The trend is the same at the University of Technology where 143 non-nationals are pursuing a range of programmes.

Michelle Beckford, the UTech's corporate communications manager, says the institution places no cap on international students.

The university recruits through college fairs in regional countries, as well as newspaper advertisements overseas, but with an 11,000 population, foreigners still represent a tiny fraction of the cohort.

Beckford said that the majority of the UTech's foreign students come because they want to obtain the "UTech experience", quoting what, she said, is a frequent response on questionnaires.

There is also positive feedback on the hospitality, pharmaceutics, building/land management, and architecture programmes, among others, Beckford said.

They are also hooked by the fees, which, for the desired course of study, is comparatively lower than other regional and North American universities.

And some seek entry because the programmes are not offered in their own country.

The students are expected to pay the full cost of the programme, unlike Jamaican nationals who continue to be subsidised at the institution.

Even faith-based Northern Caribbean University (NCU) in Mandeville has been building up its international student corps.

"We often have up to more than 30 different countries represented here," said Patrick George Smith, director of corporate communications at the NCU.

"We recruit students irrespective of faith and creed. We use several recruitment strategies, which are similar to those used by other local institutions. All sensible universities in a global community will try to get students from anywhere."

But not all foreigners are required to pay full cost at the NCU, though the rates quoted, he said, are different than for Jamaicans.

"We recruit individuals who are poor, people who work on our farm and our other programmes and earn a degree," said Smith.

NCU undergraduate fees per credit is J$5,930, comparable to the UWI's. Its foreign fee is US$254, which translates to $22,600 per credit.

"All our students have access to the work-study programmes," Smith said.

"They are not necessarily recruited to pay the full cost of tuition."

tuition rates

He admitted, however, that tuition rates for non-nationals were not the same as for Jamaican students.

At the UTech, the majority of students are male, with 40 per cent of the number female.

Students are drawn from Anguilla, Antigua, The Bahamas, Barbados, Beliz, The British Virgin Islands, Brazil, Cayman, Dominica, Fiji, Grenada, Germany, Guyana, India, Montserrat, Nigeria, Russia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks & Caicos, South Korea, the United States and Zimbabwe.

According to Cebert Adamson, executive director of the Council of Community Colleges of Jamaica, several non-nationals are currently enrolled in the colleges, but this is largely due to migration, parents relocating for work purposes, or in some instances, children of third and even fourth-generation Jamaicans living abroad who want their children to benefit from this type of education.

Other involvement with non-nationals includes student-exchange programmes, where non-nationals spend some period of time in our local institutions, he stated.

"In a broader sense though, I believe that community colleges, like other higher-education institutions, must become directly involved in recruiting non-nationals into our colleges," said Adamson.

"Not only does it allow for greater earning, as usually, non-nationals pay more for tuition than do nationals, but Jamaican institutions need to embrace the concept of internationalisation, which allows an institution to become known globally, which brings the benefit of possible funding opportunities through various means, including scholarships and endowments."

avia.collinder@gleanerjm.com