Attending TNE courses allows students to access high-quality education without leaving their home country. Traditionally, English-speaking countries have dominated the TNE market. However, Germany has developed a particular TNE model based on a collaborative approach between the institution abroad and a local partner. Both parties benefit from these projects: in the host country new higher education infrastructure is established and new study opportunities are available to a growing student population. The partners from abroad benefit from an improved position on the international education market.

German universities are encouraged to get involved in TNE through support offered by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with financial assistance from the German Ministry of Education and Research. German TNE projects range from individual degree programmes to full bi-national universities. Among the best-known German TNE projects are the German-Jordanian University, the German University in Cairo and the degree programmes offered by German institutions in China.

The seminar on 2 December in Brussels offered an opportunity to learn more about these particular projects as well as to discuss the TNE approach with directly involved stakeholders, among them the president of the German-Jordanian University and the vice rector of the University of Applied Sciences in Lübeck, which is particularly active in China. DAAD Secretary General, Dr. Dorothea Rüland presented the German approach to TNE. Moreover, topics, such as the benefit of TNE to host countries and their student population or the role of TNE in the internationalisation process of European institutions were discussed, and our experts and the audience asked: Is TNE an alternative to physical mobility and do we need European cooperation in this area that is currently primarily dominated by bilateral projects?