While the Union Jack Classic took all the headlines, something else was brewing inside ASU's international operations.
The ASU London Centre for Advanced Learning, the University's newest official learning center, opened its doors Wednesday for its first year, admitting 320 students from across the world.
This isn't the first time ASU has partnered with a global institution; in fact, through Cintana Education, the University has partnered with over 30 institutions worldwide.
What makes ASU London unique is its connection to the United States. Other universities 'powered by ASU' offer degrees local to their country, while ASU London offers students a pathway to obtain degrees from both the U.S. and the United Kingdom.
Cintana Education chairman and founder Doug Becker said this is an important distinction and believes the blend of the U.S. and the U.K. education opens up more opportunities and options for students looking to complete their education.
This combination allows students to engage in global education at their own pace, opening up long-term study opportunities for ASU students, Becker said.
"Most American students come for a semester, for a summer or for a year — that's that junior year abroad that's so popular," Becker said. "We're interested in students who want the U.K. degree, which means they could come and spend two or three years here, and then come to the U.S. for their master's degree."
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Becker emphasized that opportunities for short-term studies will still be available, but the aim is to create a "global mix of students" from across the world.
Global outreach is nothing new to the University, with over 14,000 international students enrolled at ASU, making it the No. 1 public university chosen by international students, per an Institute of International Education rating.
The end goal for ASU London, Becker said, is to have an even split of students from the U.S. and U.K., with countries across the globe making up the rest.
For now, the majority of students remain from the U.K., Becker said. Around 200 of the 320 students came over from ASU's previous London enterprise, The Engineering and Design Institute, London, which opened in 2020.
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Vice President of Academic Enterprise Enrollment Matt López said the ASU-Cintana Alliance allows the University to implement its own ideas. That ensures a hands-on approach to the learning process with ASU's flipped learning model, said Lisa Brodie, the ASU London chief academic officer and executive dean.
This is where the University differentiates itself from other educational institutions in the U.K. and was a major personal motivator for Brodie to join the ASU London initiative, she said.
"I came over because I want to disrupt the traditional approach to education in the U.K., because I love what ASU do," Brodie said. "I believe in the mission that we should be measuring ourselves on who we include, not who we exclude, and we are unique in the U.K. in that offer that we make."
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Brodie said she appreciated the non-traditional entry criteria, removing standard boundaries that often prevent students from joining STEM programs. This creates a more diverse cohort, Brodie said.
She also said she was frustrated by the limited ability to create change within the traditional U.K. programs, which is where Cintana Education comes in. Its partnership with the University creates more opportunities for change, a welcome experience for Brodie and Managing Director Mike Goodwin.
"The world around us is changing really rapidly," Goodwin said. "That means we have to change what we do just as quickly to make sure that students who do our programs exit with the right skills to be successful in the future."
ASU London's future is ambitious and leaves room to grow. Its current partnership with City St George's, University of London means expansion is possible, Becker said.
While current facilities should allow for at least 1,000 students, Becker said more space inside the City St George's campus would be needed to grow beyond that.
That expansion is, in part, reliant on the U.K. parliament, López said. Unlike the U.S., student visas are handed out through universities, with each school getting a certain allotment from the government each year.
López said that while ASU is an American institution, ASU London is still considered a U.K. entity, meaning that students from the U.S. must apply for a student visa.
"Being a new school, we have a small number of allotments," López said. "Every year we can ask for more, and we have to prove that we can bring in those numbers of students."
Edited by Dhemi Bell, Carsten Oyer and Sophia Keeling.
Reach the reporter at aldeutsc@asu.edu and follow @AlanDeutschend3 on X.
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Alan Deutschendorf is a Managing Editor at The State Press. This is his fifth semester, and he previously worked as a sports editor and sports reporter. Alan also works as an event assistant at ASU Health and spent two years playing D1 club roundnet.
