High school students listen keenly as a tutor explains new programme offerings at UWI.
Carel Hodge, Sunday Gleaner Writer
STUDENTS INTERESTED in pursing higher levels of education need only to go as far as their local newspapers, to find an array of options. Advertisements promising scholarships and overseas educational opportunities, in any field of their choice, are scattered throughout the media.
Keiser College, University of Florida, and the Florida International University, are just a few of the overseas institutions placing advertisements offering Jamaicans opportunities to study and gain undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.
During the months of December to March, the advertisements entice prospective applicants with incentives including housing, part payment of tuition or the chance of a free education. During this period, local universities and colleges also place advertisements in the papers indicating that they too are accepting applications. But with the imminent removal of tertiary level subsidies by the Government, institutions like the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus (UWI) and the University of Technology (UTech) may no longer be the first, or the more economical choice for students hoping to pursue tertiary and higher level education. The need to develop new and innovative ways to keep their student population buoyant, has become more urgent.
Carroll Edwards, UWI's Public Relations Officer said however that because the UWI knows it has a good product, it welcomes the competition that these schools bring.
FIRST CHOICE
"We are the first choice for people in the region. We have a very good product, and people know this," Mrs. Edwards said. She added, however, that the institution was not just sitting on the sidelines doing nothing.
With the aim of keeping the name of the UWI "out there", Mrs. Edwards said the institution takes part in different expositions, including the College Fair held by the United States Embassy. The institution also hosts its own programmes targeting prospective students. These programmes highlight the strengths of the university. They include the recently concluded Research Day, academic conferences, and educational exhibitions that are taken into the schools, both in Jamaica and abroad. The university also airs television and radio advertisements.
Kerry-Ann White, student recruitment officer for UTech said that like, the UWI, they also participate in expos.
"We go into the schools, invited or uninvited, sometimes we have to invite ourselves," she said. Ms. White said that UTech also runs paper advertisements in Jamaica, and in several islands across the region. The university can also be found on the Transworld Education Web site, which offers students a database of universities around the world. She however indicated that UTech is preparing in the near future to embark on other programmes geared towards making the school attractive to students.
Carlton Francis is the marketing manager at the Crown Institute of Professional Studies (CIPS). In association with the Florida International University, CIPS offers both Associate and post-graduate degrees, and are currently working on their undergraduate degree programme. Mr. Francis suggested that the reason the schools may have an edge over the local universities, is that they offer programmes that the other institutions do not. Engineering is only offered to the degree level at the UTech, while not at all at the UWI, Mona. CIPS offers an accredited 18 month master degree programme in Engineering for a cost of US$17,000.
DEGREE
If the subsidies are removed from tertiary level education, the approximate cost for a degree at the UWI and the UTech will be similar to those overseas universities that are so actively courting Jamaican students.
Currently, the tuition for students from non-contributing countries at the UWI is US$11,147. This is the approximate fee that Jamaicans will have to pay if the subsidies are removed. The tuition fee for non-Florida residents at the University of Florida is US$13,800, only US$2,653 more than the UWI. The tuition fee at Midwestern State University is US$5,365.25 per semester.
What may also make these schools more attractive to students, is the fact that they offer various cost-saving packages for international students. These universities also have a wider range of study options than schools in Jamaica.
The subsidies have not been removed yet, but the local universities will not be caught unprepared. According to both the UTech and the UWI, application and acceptance numbers are not falling. Despite this fact, however, both have indicated that in the near future they will implement plans to step up efforts in advertising and marketing.
Also, there will be more publications and more expos both in Jamaica and abroad, directed towards positively marketing the institution.
