University wasted £600k on a campus in Mauritius

A UNIVERSITY has been accused of wasting money after opening a sister campus in Mauritius – only to close it two years later due to a lack of demand.

Aberystwyth University hoped the overseas site would accommodate 2,000 students, but only 40 enrolled in its first year and 106 the following year.

The institution made a loss of nearly £200,000 from the venture during the first 12 months, according to its latest figures.

The campus opened in 2015 to provide degree courses for both British and international students. Degrees included criminal law, business finance and computer science. The university has spent about £600,000 on the venture, mostly on staff.

In October, it was announced 11 academic jobs were to be lost at Aberystwyth in a bid to make £6million savings. And this week it emerged the institution will ‘not enrol further intakes of students’ at the branch campus from March 2018.

Cen Llwyd, of Ffrindiau Pantycelyn, a campaign group for the university’s Welsh language halls of residence, called the venture ‘a waste of money’. The university did not comment.