Reinventing global education through cross border campuses

The inflection point everyone can see – and too few are planning for

Two numbers explain the strategic bind for US higher education. In 2001, about 2.1 million students studied outside their home country, and roughly 28% chose the United States, according to IIE’s Global Atlas.

By 2024, global mobility had tripled to 6.4 million, yet the US share slipped to approximately 16%. Mobility did not decline; it regionalised – especially across Asia –driven by affordability, accessibility, and modality. Families who once accepted the friction and cost of long-haul‑ study now ask a different question: can a world‑class degree be earned closer to home without sacrificing outcomes?

We can’t wait for the world to come to us – we must take our strongest assets, educational content, intellect and credentials, to where talent lives

The question for institutional leaders is not whether this shift is real; it is whether our operating models reflect it. A recruitment only approach – no matter how sophisticated – cannot by itself sustain mission or margin in a market that is reorganising around regional access and industry proximity.

What we need is university architecture that puts quality, affordability, and pathways within reach of learners where they are (glocalisation), and then expose those learners to globalisation through curricular and co-curricular experience, research, mobility, and employment pipelines. That is the strategic logic driving  cross border campuses.

From a global campus to a global university

Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) did not stumble into this moment. Internationalisation has been part of our historic ethos, not an isolated initiative. Earlier this year, The New York Times identified Illinois Tech as the most internationalised university in the United States by student share, and Illinois Tech has seen rapid and sustained enrolment growth in the past four years.

But scale for its own sake is meaningless: scale that improves learning and employability is an asset when you take education to where talent lives. Illinois Tech is doing just that. In May 2025, Illinois Tech became the first US university approved by India’s University Grants Commission to establish an independent, degree‑granting campus in India.

How a cross border campus works when it works

A campus abroad rises or falls on standards, services, and outcomes. Our approach in Mumbai is to mirror the Chicago curriculum and quality controls, not dilute them. Opening in fall 2026, Illinois Tech–Mumbai will occupy a 90,000‑square‑foot facility in Vikhroli supported by alumnus and trustee Jamshyd Godrej and will launch with four undergraduate and four graduate programs in computing, engineering, and business, delivered to Chicago’s pedagogical standards and powered by our mission to be an engine of opportunity for our students.

Students enter an identical academic spine but experience it alongside industry projects grounded in Mumbai’s tech and financial ecosystems. The university’s Elevate model – our guarantee of access to experiential learning including internships, research, and industry collaboration woven into every program – travels with the learner so students build professional capital from day one.

For employers, geography becomes an advantage rather than a barrier. The Mumbai–Chicago axis connects students to local industry briefs in India while exposing them to global standards and networks. For the home campus, cross border nodes internationalise at scale. This is why internationalisation is not a revenue hedge but a research and teaching strategy. It is also why Illinois Tech was recognised in 2025 by ACE and the Carnegie Foundation as one of only a handful of “Opportunity Colleges and Universities” – a signal that access and outcomes can be scaled together.

We’ve globalised our economies. We’ve globalised our industries. The question now is: why hasn’t education followed cross-boarded democratisation?

No time to wait: redesigning higher education for a glocalized world

There are credible reasons to hesitate: compliance complexity, currency risk, faculty pipelines, and student service replication. But the opportunity cost of delay is higher. The world will not return to a single, US-centric mobility model. The institutions that prosper will design for distributed excellence: multinode, high assurance, employer connected delivery that makes place work for the learner instead of against them.

At The PIE Live North America this year, President Raj Echambadi and I will unpack our experience as the first US university approved for a degree granting campus in India and share practical lessons for leaders considering similar moves.

About the author: Mallik Sundharam is vice president for enrolment management and student affairs and senior international officer at Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech). He leads global enrolment strategy and student experience and has been instrumental in establishing Illinois Tech Mumbai and scaling transnational programs across China and Kazakhstan. Previously, he held senior roles at Northeastern University and ELS Educational Services.

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