The IAFOR Journal of Education
Volume 1 – Issue 1 – Spring 2013

The IAFOR Journal of Education
Volume 1 – Issue 1 – Spring 2013

The IAFOR Journal of Education
Volume 1 – Issue 1 – Spring 2013

This paper explores the current shift in Australia’s higher education system moving to
a more explicit, standards-based quality system and its potential impact on
international partnerships in teaching and learning, particularly in Asia. The new
Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency and the underlying Higher
Education Standards Framework have the potential to threaten a large number of
transnational or cross-border programs delivered outside of Australia. With over one
hundred and fifty thousand tertiary students studying Australian programs in Asia, the
impact could be significant. It would also be significant for countries that leverage of
Australian Universities to build human capacity within their country. The paper
highlights the current practice of assuring equivalent and comparable academic
standards in transnational education and explores how shifting to a more precise
standards framework will require more explicit demonstration of standards across
teaching, learning and student outcomes. If equivalent or comparable standards were
to be achieved across the whole standards framework, it is likely to constrain the
opportunities for internationalization and the formation of new transnational
partnerships.

Keywords: tertiary education quality, standards framework, transnational

Sandra Kroh