OK, so it started with the Open University of Mauritius. I looked at that and it's interesting but nothing to blow you away. If someone wanted to take a shot at applying, etc. they might find a good program. But then I scratched a little deeper and found the Mauritius Institute of Education, the Mahatma Gandhi Institute, the Rabindranath Tagore Institute, the University of the Air (I love that name but is it possible that this was the name of OUM before it was OUM?), and the University of the Indian Ocean. They all have some sort of DL programs (which might not work for most people). But the diamond in the rough was the University of Mauritius which has a whole bunch of postgrad degrees by research that are explicitly open to international students. Fees are clearly listed. University of Mauritius
Unfortunately, these programs appear to be available on campus only - F/T or P/T. No mention of distance study for these. However, if you can afford to go to Mauritius and study, you might well find the experience interesting. J.
BTW - "Open to International Students" usually means people from other countries can study at the school. It does not, of itself, mean they can do so via internet etc. unless specific mention of DL is made. J.
Yeah, but you know what? That was all true (once upon a time) of all those South African universities too. But it all started to change once people started to make inquiries, contact researchers, etc. PhDs by research are custom made for DL. So don't be discouraged. It could be the best email you ever sent.
like the Open University of Mauritius, the University of Mauritius is pretty pricey, so not ideal for cost conscious students. Mauritius has been on my radar for while as a place for a working vacation.
Residency requirement means you have to be in Mauritius for class. You can clearly live there as an international student. So why would you have to live on Diego Garcia, where the only inhabited island in the atoll is a US military base? Because you want to? OK, but I'd have thought you'd want to live nearer to the University, with no daily commute by boat. Besides, Diego Garcia isn't part of Mauritius. It's part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. Detached from Mauritius in 1965. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Garcia J.
IIRC correctly, Mauritius was one of the countries that accepted the fake medical degrees of the Johann Keppler School of Medicine, as Dr. Bear mentioned in the BG's.
True enough. I think that was around 33 years ago (1984?) and there was no shortage of American phonies who got fake medical degrees in the same scam(s) uncovered by the "Dipscam" investigation. I don't think Mauritius deserves to be singled out, here. It's a progressive place and has some good schools. On the bad side, it has more than its share of hard-drug problems and the resultant crimes, partially due to being at an easy-access crossroads for importing drugs, going back as far as the days of Chinese opium. It offers some good distance opportunities, but I doubt it'll ever be like South Africa - it doesn't offer the advantage (to foreign students) of a terminally debased currency. I don't believe the schools get the same type of government subsidies for offshore students, either. That's another factor that makes South African fees so low at its public universities. Johann (not Kepler)
