We’ve been getting a lot of inquiries lately about how our academic partnerships with the Universidad Azteca (UA) and the Universidad Central de Nicaragua (UCN) work.  Each of these institutions are accredited by their respective country’s federal departments of education and they are both listed in the International Handbook of Accredited Universities that is published by the United Nations and the International Association of Universities (IAU).

The Intercultural Open University Foundation (IOUF) signed partnerships with UA and UCN a year ago to extend the academic and cultural offerings we could make to our learners. The IOUF is an international educational foundation focused on social change and we were pleased to find a fit with two other internationally-focused universities that are also intent on making the world a better place.

Under the terms of our partnership arrangement, UA and UCN review and ultimately approve the degree work our learners complete. As long as our learners meet the academic standards our partners expect, they receive diplomas from these two institutions in addition to their IOUF degree. None of our learners have ever been turned down.

We work with our learners to ensure the degree program they choose has a compatible degree program at our partner institutions. Both UA and UCN are extremely conscientious about ensuring degrees are awarded in areas in which they are accredited.

It’s becoming clear that academic partnerships and online education are the future of university education and while the IOUF is fairly new to the world of academic partnerships, we have been in the business of providing online education for decades. We are leaders in the evolution of the field of education.

Case in point: Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) created a partnership to develop an online educational program just this year. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, “They will join an emerging arena in which other research universities, Stanford among them, and private ventures around the world, are trying to stake out territory.”

The London School of Economics (LSE) has also marched into the academic partnership arena with enthusiasm and now offers double Masters degree programmes with:

• Fudan University (Shanghai)
• Hertie School of Governance, Berlin
• National University of Singapore (Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy)
• University of Southern California (Annenberg School for Communication)

It has developed joint degree programmes with:

• London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
• HEC School of Management (Paris) and NYU Stern School of Business
  (New York)

Academic partnerships are not limited to prestigious universities alone, however. England’s Cumbria University has developed partnerships with other academic institutions in an effort to broaden the educational experience of students and allow them to benefit from the collaborative opportunities such partnerships provide.

Canada’s Wilfrid Laurier University currently has academic partnerships with 68 universities around the world.

In short, the list of educational institutions that have discovered the value of academic partnerships is lengthy and the IOUF is pleased to be sitting at the cutting edge of the future of education.

If you would like more information about how an IOUF degree will help you meet your career goals in a supportive, inspiring way, please contact us today.

We’re standing by to help you succeed.