Student attitudes to the physical environment and shared facilities of purpose-built transnational education hubs

Purpose – Since the early 2000s, a number of purpose-built education hubs have been established globally, where students from different higher education institutions may share sports and recreational facilities, food courts, student accommodation and health services. The purpose of this study is to assess, from the students’ perspective, the effectiveness of the shared campus concept. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopted an inductive qualitative research design that involved a non-generalisable purposive sample. The data were obtained from semi-structured interviews with 38 undergraduate students who studied in a purpose-built transnational education hub in Malaysia or the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Findings – It was found that students were largely satisfied with their experience of studying at a shared campus. In some cases, students’ preference for a solely-owned university campus appeared to be more of a psychological desire, rather than being based on any failure of the hub to provide the necessary facilities, resources and activities. Practical implications – The findings of the research suggest that, within a three-level nested servicescape, purpose-built education hubs may provide a viable solution for institutions to successfully establish a branch campus in a foreign country. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that has explored the theoretical concept of a three-level nested servicescape (institution/purpose-built hub/town) in a higher education context, and specifically, in relation to student attitudes and experiences at purpose-built education hubs.