University of Wollongong has begun its Indian operations by launching scholarship programme for its first set of students. UOW will open its campus in Gujarat’s GIFT City and thereby become the second foreign university to have its presence in the country after Deakin University.
As the institution is going to provide the “Inaugural Scholarships, this will provide a 50 per cent tuition fee concession to all the students who are studying full time in Master’s and Master’s Extension courses during their first trimester. In addition to that, Graduate Certificate students can also get a 25 per cent tuition fee concession. The university is developing a much broader approach for offering opportunities to students from diverse backgrounds and creating opportunities for higher education for young people from all citizenships provided they enroll into full-time courses.
Though these are only for the first batch, UOW India is keen to roll out scholarships every year thereafter, Kalyani told us. The institution is already preparing to launch an initiative called “Women Leaders in FinTech,” for which it is offering three scholarships in 2024, including a 50% tuition cut for successful applicants who will enroll for specialized Financial Technology programs.
UOW India will focus on courses in IT, STEM, business, and fintech in the short term. However, it will expand its course portfolio subsequently as per the demand from the market. Education quality will be enhanced through faculty drawn from its Australian and Dubai campuses while developing local teaching capacities.
UOW India has also partnered with IBM in training the students about the new and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and blockchain. This will expose the students to more advanced training from IBM’s Innovation Centre for Education to prepare them in the changing job market and industry.
The institution aims at ensuring that students obtain placements in wide spectrums of sectors, including multinational corporations and start-ups, thereby enhancing their employability and career prospects.
This will mark the beginning of the trend of increasing international educational institutions opening their campuses in India, signaling that India is an emerging global destination for education. In this new journey of its own, UOW would be significantly adding to the higher education landscape of India.
