Re-thinking the "School"

The concept of a “school” has historically been associated with a physical, brick-and-mortar location providing instruction in a particular discipline.

However, there are few private school mission statements which explicitly require the institution to deliver educational services to exclusively to students from its immediate geographical area.

American education is an established and valued commodity throughout the world. However, access can be difficult. Boarding school and homestay programs involve human migration, visas, high tuition/housing prices, etc. As the consumption of private education in local U.S. markets remains in continual declines, schools must be willing to adapt how it can deliver its product to the consumer.

The addition of boarding and homestay programs were historical adaptations specifically designed to provide educational access and opportunities to students regardless of their home and location. Today, the dawn of the internet has certainly accelerated this concept through e-learning platforms — particularly in Higher Ed sector.  Online education remains the most efficient means of reaching new markets and consumers, but the matter of quality control persist.

As parents overwhelming prefer enrolling their children in traditional classroom settings, programs such as international partnership schools, branch campuses, and sister school programs are perhaps the best means of expanding a U.S. school’s reach into new markets. These collaborations also allow schools to monitor the quality of the education and provide an assurance that the enrolled students are receiving a mission-appropriate and institutionally backed education and diploma.

While the internationalization of U.S. institutions is a fairly recent phenomenon, U.S. colleges pioneered branch campuses as early as the 19th century with the American University in Beirut (1866).