From The Australian:
Melbourne University and its university partners in Universitas 21 are to take a step back from their disappointing foray into online learning, Singapore-based U21 Global.
Under a new business plan being developed, Indian education and healthcare company Manipal Group is expected to assume a controlling stake in the joint venture as Universitas’ 50 per cent stake is partly diluted, including Melbourne’s 20 per cent interest.
… Melbourne has channelled about $15 million into the loss-making business since it started in 2001 and doesn’t plan to invest any more.
… The brain child of former Melbourne vice chancellor Alan Gilbert, U21 Global was established amid high hopes it could capitalise on an anticipated boom in online education.
An original business plan had predicted the business growing to 27,000 students by 2005 with the potential to rise to a wildly ambitious 500,000 by 2011. But student numbers have only reached something over 5,000…
December 13th, 2009 at 11:49PM
The situation at U21 is not being handled well. The administration has been less than open about the problems, and as of yet has made no public announcement to the students. Accreditation has been long promised but was never delivered upon…
They continue to "recruit" new candidates into the program with false advertising by claiming that they still have the support of major universities.
Lastly, the professors seem rather apathetic…taking an exceptionally long time to reply to queries, not posting grades for weeks on end…
U21 should be ashamed of themselves, the credentials are worthless now that the major universities are pulling out. The worst part is they are "suckering" people by selling brand names when in fact they no longer represent the universities that were a part of the consortium.