U21Global sets its sights on Europe

Graduate school establishes regional office to address the growing corporate training market

France, 26 November, 2008 - U21Global, the world's premier online Graduate School has further extended its global presence with the opening of a regional office in France.

The new office will operate as U21Global's European regional headquarters. This will allow U21Global to develop its brand in Europe, to better serve its existing students in the region and to raise awareness particularly within the corporate sector. Dr Francois Therin, coming with 12 years as Associate Professor at Grenoble Ecole de Management, is a pioneer of eLearning in Europe and will serve as U21Global's Associate Dean, Executive Education for Europe. U21Global Europe will also benefit from the 35 years experience of the founder and former CEO of Grenoble Ecole de Management, Dr. Jean-Paul Leonardi, who will serve as Scientific Advisor to the graduate school's European establishment.

"Higher education is seen as a major economic driver and an economic asset throughout the world and the higher education systems in European countries are at the forefront of creating the model for world higher education through the Bologna Process," said Nick Hutton, U21Global's CEO.

"As companies worldwide today struggle not only with the growing pressures from globalisation but also an increasingly deepening gloom of the global economy, they should seek opportunities that will enable them to gain a competitive edge. Building an organisation's human capital is one key avenue that delivers a tremendous return on investment and with online programmes such as U21Global's, having employees 'learn while they earn' is an attractive proposition," he added.

U21Global's unique approach to learning provides tremendous amount of flexibility, enabling working executives and professionals to effectively balance work, study, travel and family commitments. The programmes also present participants with the opportunity to connect to an international community of professors and students with different cultural and industry backgrounds.

"Our preliminary discussions with multi-national corporations here indicate that employers recognise the growing importance of investing in people and talent during a crisis and are looking for alternative training solutions to address these challenges," said Dr Francois Therin.

"Online options, such as U21Global, are allowing more working professionals to keep their full-time jobs while they attend graduate school and will provide companies with a good retention strategy particularly for middle management talent. I look forward to working together with the team to establish U21Global as a premium brand in Europe." Dr Therin added.

Since its inception in 2001, the Singapore-headquartered graduate school has placed great emphasis on providing students and companies with a quality educational experience. U21Global's programmes are backed by 17 of the world's leading universities. In 2005, U21Global was awarded the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) TeChnology Enhanced Learning (CEL) accreditation for its MBA programme. In addition, U21Global's MBA has been listed in the Financial Times' guide to the top distance-learning and online MBA providers for three consecutive years (2006-2008). The school has attracted more than 5,000 students from over 60 countries since it launched its flagship MBA programme in 2003.

About U21Global

Established in 2001, U21Global is the world's premier online Graduate School that offers globally recognised graduate programmes. The graduate school is backed by an international network of leading research-intensive universities in 11 countries. U21Global combines the traditional quality of its founders with innovative modes of delivery on the Internet, providing students with substantial learning advantages, while balancing work, travel and family life.

U21Global has successfully enrolled students from 60 countries around the world including those from Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. The graduate programmes draw upon the best practices in online learning and pedagogy and have been approved by U21pedagogica, an independent quality assurance body which ensures that the curriculum meets the rigorous academic standards of all the affiliated universities. For more information on U21Global, please visit our campus at www.u21global.edu.sg

U21Global's affiliated universities include: North America: Tecnológico de Monterrey, University of Virginia; Europe: Lund University; University College Dublin, University of Birmingham, University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, University of Nottingham; Asia: Fudan University, Korea University, National University of Singapore, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, University of Delhi, University of Hong Kong, Waseda University; Australia: University of Melbourne, University of Queensland.