02/01/18 

HAYS, Kan. – Westford Education Group, Al Nahda, United Arab Emirates, has joined Fort Hays State University in a strategic partnership to bring affordable, high-quality business education to the Middle East.

“The collaboration leverages the local market intelligence and student support services of Westford Education Group with the academic content and faculty of the Fort Hays State University MBA program to offer an online and on-ground supported MBA program from an American university,” said Dr. William Painter, dean of the Westford Group.

“This partnership reflects the next step of the university’s ‘World Ready’ efforts,” said Dr. Mark Bannister, dean of Fort Hays State’s W.R. and Yvonne Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship. “The university is partnering with one of the world’s leading publishing and training companies in order to benefit students. In doing so, we will enter an important economic region that is seeking quality English language graduate education.”

The educational model combines the transfer of some credits, local instructional support, and direct instruction by FHSU’s MBA faculty. Westford will recruit students for the 34-credit-hour program and provide instruction for six credit hours. The FHSU Virtual College will provide 28 credit hours.

Students will be in the UAE’s Dubai area. The target audience is expatriates and students who are citizens of nearby countries, but living and working in the UAE.

“To reach international students, most American universities either build a branch campus or work with a third party to attract international students to the United States,” said Painter. “This model allows students to remain in their jobs, where they can contribute to the local economy and still receive a high-quality experience at a very affordable price. The costs to both the student and the university are significantly reduced to their mutual benefit.”

“We are committed to improving access to quality higher education programs for those students who are talented but who cannot quit their jobs and leave their families for several years to attend a U.S. university,” said Painter.

The Westford Education Group is an award-winning institution with seven campuses and currently has partnerships with two British universities, Cardiff Metropolitan University and Wolverhampton University, and Marconi University in Italy.