U21Global Celebrates Its Graduating Students

Graduate school announces second cohort of graduates from over 20 countries

Singapore, June 02, 2008 - U21Global, the world's premier online Graduate School, announced its second cohort of graduates today. A special ceremony was held in Singapore to mark the graduation of 192 students, an increase of more than 100 over the previous year. The graduating class consists of working executives from 22 countries including Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Korea, China, Hong Kong, USA and Singapore.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Professor Sir Colin Campbell, Chairman of the U21Global Board and President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Nottingham said, "It gives me great pleasure to congratulate this year's graduating class. At U21Global, we take pride in our reputation as pioneers in providing the highest quality of education in an online environment and the fact that our programmes are quality assured by leading international universities. We are confident that the education that has been provided towards this degree will allow our graduating students to surge ahead in their careers."

At the ceremony, U21Global presented the Academic Excellence Award, an award that recognises Master degree graduates who not only achieved academic excellence but demonstrated high standards of social responsibility and ethics throughout their degree. This year five students were chosen from the graduating class to receive the award.

One of the graduating students, Alan Gey, Vice President, Finance of Haikui Pte. Ltd. said, "Undertaking the MBA has been a truly enriching experience and I am very proud to be graduating from U21Global.  With the skills and business know-how that I have acquired from the well-structured and rigorous programme, as well as tackling numerous case studies, I am now better equipped to meet the challenges at hand and work towards becoming a better business leader.  Through interactions and collaborations with students of different nationalities, I have also been able to widen my network of business associates and gain a wider perspective that will be a boon in this competitive environment.  I would like to congratulate all my peers who are graduating today and wish them all the best as we take on the exciting business challenges that lie ahead."

Another graduate, David Arumaisingam Kandiah, Professorial Director for the Department of Rheumatology at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital and the University of Queensland, Australia added, "Lively interaction with my peers and professors from around the world has renewed my passion for cross cultural communications - a very important element in my medical profession. The online MBA programme has provided me with interesting challenges as my organisational skills had to be finely-honed to keep up with the work demands of the programme as well as holding down a full-time position. I am confident that the applications of the many learned principles will help the business world, encourage the use of ethical business practices, while maintaining global social responsibility and corporate sustainability."

Both Alan Gey and David Arumaisingam Kandiah were recipients of this year's Academic Excellence Award.

"This is indeed a momentous occasion and it gives me immense honour to congratulate all our graduates on their academic accomplishments. I take this opportunity to also wish them success in their chosen fields and personal pursuits," said Nick Hutton, Chief Executive Officer, U21Global.

"Jobseekers today are facing an extremely competitive global labour market. Our programmes are aimed at improving skills base of working professionals and to address the skills gap to meet the changing needs of both employers and employees. As testament to the success and acceptance of our programmes, we are proud to say that to date we have recruited over 5,000 students and companies are sponsoring thousands more employees," added Mr Hutton.

Future plans for U21Global include launching a dual degree Master of Business Administration programme in Public and Private Sectors with University of Birmingham's School of Public Policy. The partnership will offer students a programme which combines studies on public administration and business management to bridge the knowledge gaps for executives working across the sectors.

As the world market for eLearning is projected to exceed USD52.6 billion by 2010, according to a report by Global Industry Analysts, U21Global is set to leverage on the growth and opportunities presented in online education. "As more businesses and individuals recognise the value that a flexible online programme delivers and as awareness of U21Global increases, we expect our student base to continue growing to meet this global demand," concluded Nick Hutton.

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.