Napier University in name change

 © The Herald
Originally published: 26.02.2009

One of Scotland's leading universities has changed its name in a bid to attract more students from around the world.

Napier University will become Edinburgh Napier to benefit from the popularity of the city around the globe.

The university has also announced plans to become a major international force in higher education with proposals to set up an office in India later this year.

Last year, the university's proportion of students from overseas rose by 15% to 34% and it is now looking to build on that.

Joan Stringer, principal of Edinburgh Napier, said: "There are various ways we can expand and this is one of them. They will be extra students in the sense we can accommodate more, but we also want to grow other areas such as home postgraduate places."

She said a key aspect of attracting overseas students was income, as students outwith Europe paid high fees to study in the UK. More than 100 nationalities study at Edinburgh Napier, with about 500 students from India. There are also 1700 Chinese students studying Napier courses in Hong Kong.

"This name change is an investment in the future because it will help to name, and place, the university better in all the areas we have ambitions," she said. "We are located in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, so we thought we would make that connection explicit."