Dual higher education at Asian U

The problem is well known: Too many Bachelor graduates from Thai universities are almost unemployable, and about half of all graduates remain without a job in their field after graduation. A freshly graduated engineer, for example, will need more than 3 years until becoming fully productive.

Asian University developed its Dual Higher Education Model that is going to cut down the learning curve on the job to zero – students learn from their real job environment while they study.

Overview

Dual higher education aims to reduce the time needed for a freshly graduated Bachelor to become productive on the job. Students do guided internships in their company when they do not have classes at the university. The internships are aligned with the course content wherever possible. Curricula, courses and course content are adjusted to employer requirements within the policy framework of the Ministry of Education.

The internship accompanies the undergraduate programme over 4 years, and the projects, individual studies and thesis of the student may relate to the work environment. Grown into the corporate culture this way, and with his/her own personal network already built, the dual higher education student is expected to be productive on the job at the time of graduation.

Dual education

A dual higher education student studies for a degree and learns practical environment and corporate culture by internships in parallel over the full course of studies.

Internships and course contents are coordinated between the HR Manager of the company and the Programme Leader at Asian University.

Dual higher education is especially gainful for employers in the fields of engineering and technology, contemporary media, and business studies.

Customizing the degree programme

The undergraduate programmes at Asian University allow for custom-tailored higher education on curriculum, course, and course-content level.

1. Customizing the curriculum
   The first two years of study cover the basic education in the field of study. The third year of study focuses on specialization, and the fourth year on the application of the specialization in independent projects and thesis writing.
   This way, the student may spend the 4th year of studies almost fully in the enterprise, do work-related projects and write the thesis about job-related issues.
   
   
2. Customizing the course
   If an employer has special requirements that are not currently covered by mandatory courses, elective courses or free electives, an additional elective can be added to the curriculum to meet such requirements. The course would be offered to all students in the programme.
   
   
3. Customizing the course content
   Employers may sponsor particular courses, for example by allowing the university to use their laboratories for lab courses. Part of the coordination process between HR Manager and Programme Leader might be that the HR Manager suggests particular foci for individual courses, which in turn should make the courses lead to higher employability options for the student.
   Any project work, independent study and thesis can directly relate to the work environment of the student.

Opportunities for the employer

The employer gets a fully qualified graduate who meets the particular requirements of his/her future job and is familiar with the corporate culture, thus reducing the costly and time-consuming learning curve to zero.

Employees with technical specialist status, who currently hold only a Bachelor degree, can join the Master or Ph.D. programmes and write their thesis in their field of specialization. Thesis topics that are considered corporate confidential would be treated as such over the whole process.

Employers have access to students during the full course of studies and can even send academically qualified employees to teach subjects in their field of expertise, thus intensifying the relationship between company and student.

If the student spends the 4th year of studies, which focuses on the application of the specialization studied in the 3rd year, with the employer in his/her real work environment, the employer has much earlier access to a much higher qualified employee than by hiring a graduate of conventional undergraduate education.

Opportunities for the student

By doing, the student learns in the internships why the content of the university courses is to be studied. This leads to higher motivation and lower dropout rates. The student can be quite sure to find a job after graduation due to high much better qualification as compared to a student who only studied theory until applying for a job. This is independent of the question whether the internship-granting company eventually off ers the graduate a job contract.

At the time of graduation, the student is capable of making informed decisions on his professional future and has already a personal network of specialists in place. Since students from different companies study together, such a network has the potential to be extended industry-wide.

For inquiries on dual higher education, please contact our Head of International Development, William-Nipone Sirinuntananon, at nipone.s@asianust.ac.th.

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