Transnational Education
Transnational Education
As Ireland’s Global University, UCD seeks to bring the best of the world to Ireland and the best of Ireland, including its distinct cultures, to the world. In pursuit of this vision, UCD has established a range of programmes which enable students outside Ireland to access a UCD qualification.
UCD refers to programmes delivered outside Ireland as offshore programmes. The university has over twenty years of experience in the delivery and quality assurance of programmes outside Ireland.
UCD is the only Irish university to have approval from the Chinese Ministry of Education to run three joint international colleges in China, each in different academic disciplines.
Similarly, via its partnership with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland to run the RCSI-UCD Malaysia Campus, UCD is at the heart of the only Irish Foreign University Branch Campus in Malaysia.
Offshore Programmes
Working in collaboration with partner organisations, a range of UCD programmes is available to students in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Sri Lanka.
| Country | University | Information |
|---|---|---|
| Malaysia | (opens in a new window)RCSI-UCD Malaysia Campus | The RCSI-UCD Malaysia Campus (RUMC) offers students a unique medical programme where they study in both Malaysia and Ireland. Wholly-owned by UCD and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), RUMC became the 10th institution awarded Foreign University Branch Campus status in Malaysia in 2018. Since its establishment in 1996 (as Penang Medical College), RUMC has graduated nearly 1,900 medical students, with the majority of these graduates now practising in the Malaysian medical system. |
| Singapore Hong Kong |
UCD Business International Campus | The UCD College of Business offers a range of Business majors via the Bachelor of Business Studies delivered in partnership with Kaplan in Singapore and in Hong Kong. |
| China | Beijing-Dublin International College | Established in 2012, the Beijing-Dublin International College (BDIC) is a joint institution run in partnerships between UCD and Beijing University of Technology (BJUT). Located on the BJUT campus in Beijing, BDIC offers dual-degree programmes in Computer Science, Internet of Things Engineering, Electronic and Information Engineering, and Financial Economics. BDIC students graduate with degrees from both UCD and BJUT. |
| China | Chang’an-Dublin International College of Transportation | Opened in September 2020, the Chang’an-Dublin International College of Transportation (CDIC) is a joint institution run by UCD and Chang’an University. Located in Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi province in central China, CDIC offers dual-degree programmes in Civil Engineering Infrastructure, Automotive Engineering, and Transport and City Planning & Environmental Policy. |
| China | Guangzhou-Dublin International College of Life Sciences and Technology | Run in partnership with South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province in south China, the Guangzhou-Dublin International College of Life Sciences and Technology (GDIC) offers dual-degree programmes in Horticulture, Biological Sciences, and Food Safety & Security. |
| Sri Lanka | UCD Business International Campus | The UCD College of Business offers the Bachelor of Science programme in Sri Lanka in association with the National School of Business Management. |
Quality Assurance
UCD has a strong Quality Assurance Framework in place to enhance the effectiveness of its core activities of learning, teaching, research and their management. This includes the University's collaborative and transnational arrangements which are subject to cyclical review, publication of review group reports, and benchmarking against international best practice and comparator institutions.
In the most recent (opens in a new window)quality review of UCD undertaken by Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) in 2019, UCD was commended for its framework for collaborative provision. The review team welcomed UCD’s robust approach to transnational quality assurance, noting that “transnational taught partnerships are subject to the same QA arrangements as taught programmes delivered at UCD’s home campus in Dublin”.
In addition to UCD’s own quality assurance, a number of its professional programmes are subject to external professional accreditation. These include programmes delivered by the UCD College of Business which are triple accredited by AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA.