Company: CENTRAL COLLEGE

State: NEW SOUTH WALES

Sector: EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

Central College, a Sydney-based private vocational education and
training institution offering courses in business, accounting, information
technology and tourism, has also tapped the Indian market successfully.
Also accredited as an English College and high school, in the second
semester of 2001, Central College had 980 students, 48 per cent of whom
were from South Asia, with Indian student enrolments growing by 8 per cent
per annum.

Central College's involvement with the Indian student market began
about eight years ago, when some education agents in India faxed their
details through to the college and offered to act as representatives.
After some preliminary and in-country research, Central realised the
sizeable opportunities the Indian market offered. It selected a group of
preferred agents and began running a regular seminar program in India.
Over time, Central increasingly focused its efforts on the southern
regions of India, particularly Hyderabad, in Andhra Pradesh and Chennai,
in Tamil Nadu. In more recent times, more students have come from the
northern state of Punjab.

These efforts paid off handsomely, with Indian student numbers
increasing from 20 in 1995 to over 200 in 2000. The bulk of initial
student interest focussed on business and management courses, but recently
course demand shifted strongly towards information technology and related
courses. However, student growth levelled off in recent semesters as
authorities in both countries enforced tighter controls on student
qualifications and entry requirements.

Central College emphasises the importance of agent choice. Careful
research into the agent's business experience and previous positive
links with other foreign education institutions provides a very good
pointer to performance. Central notes it is necessary to be comfortable
with the choice of agent and recommends looking for people with whom
Australian educational institutions have a close business and product
affinity.

Unfortunately, Central College is not optimistic about their Indian
business' s future; they expect shrinking Indian revenue due to the
impact of tighter student visa requirements for India. However, the higher
education sector offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses may not
be so affected.

Source: Central College, 2001.