Flinders U is close to an agreement for a Sri Lanka campus, with Vice-Chancellor Colin Stirling in-country last week for “final discussions” with President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
In a brief statement Tuesday, the university confirmed “it is proud to progress the opportunity to establish a campus” in Sri Lanka and is “well positioned to help meet future workforce needs in areas such as IT, engineering, business and medicine.” The university’s existing engagement with Sri Lanka is limited to pathway programs with three providers in IT, business, medical sciences and psychology.
Flinders follows Edith Cowan, already open in Colombo, offering complete courses in-country or transferring to Perth for second and subsequent years. ECU Sri Lanka degrees include IT, business and nursing. Unit costs are around A$730.
Flinders’ move appears to be part of its response to the merger, now underway, of Uni Adelaide and Uni SA, which is the result of a State Government push. Premier Peter Malinauskas has long argued that a big South Australian university will have the research mass to rise in international rankings, which will attract many more international students.
While Flinders U has never commented on any approach to be part of the merged institution, it is now positioning itself as an independent brand in the city, with a new office-tower campus in the Adelaide CBD, close to locations of the giant Adelaide University that starts teaching in 2026. And now Flinders appears intent on eating the Sri Lankan course of its competitor’s international education lunch.
Flinders’ offshore expansion follows Deakin U and Uni Wollongong which are opening in India, also in a “special zone” in Gujurat state. Monash U has recently established a campus in Jakarta, teaching English language and postgraduate courses and Western Sydney U is about to open in Indonesia in Surabaya, East Java.
