Country-branded universities: a framework for country brand authenticity in transnational higher education

Country-branded universities, which include a country in their name, are a type of higher education institution found in many countries globally. We consider these universities as transnational higher education institutions, for they ‘borrow’ or ‘transfer’ elements of the affiliated country across national borders. Surprisingly, there is very limited research on this phenomenon. The aims of this research are to identify what exactly in practice crosses national borders from the affiliated country to a country-branded university, and to develop a framework for country-brand authenticity in transnational higher education (TNHE). The data used in this research was provided by expert informants, who were individuals holding a senior or middle management position at a country-branded university. The proposed framework for country-brand authenticity in TNHE has four main dimensions, namely affiliated country connections; teaching and learning; governance and human resources; and student experience and development. These four dimensions are supported by eleven themes. The most often mentioned concepts were related to the curricula, pedagogy/didactics, and foreign accreditation themes. We offer suggestions for further research using our country-brand authenticity framework.