The University of Malta is gearing up to offer a series of international Masters programmes (IMPs) on a one-year full-time basis in partnership with a number of American universities. The programmes will be delivered from the University's historic campus - Old University Building in Valletta.

Prof. Albert Caruana, the University rector's delegate for IMPs told The Sunday Times in an interview that "the decisions to partner with American universities, to run the IMPs, on a full-time basis, and to offer them from the Old University Building were all deliberately taken."

"The University wanted to offer a different product to those already being offered in Malta and while US universities are perceived very positively, some students may be unable to travel to the US. It is far cheaper to study here than in the US. Malta is percieved as safe, English-speaking and closer to the main target markets," Prof. Caruana said.

The programmes are mainly aimed at attracting international students from North Africa, eastern Europe and beyond, though local students are welcome. "The more nationalities there are in the cohort of students, the better, as this will promote an interesting cross-fertilisation of ideas between the students themselves," he said.

Prof. Caruana explained that the idea was "to revive the Old University Building and return it to its roots, and former stature," adding that the Cabinet had agreed in principle to a University request for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to vacate the building's second floor, thereby freeing up additional space that could be used as lecture rooms.

The building's neo-classical Doric Gate in St Paul's Street, featuring the enigmatic Greek inscription Propylaion tes times he mathesis (Learning is the gateway to honour), evokes a sense of the building's stature and educational vocation. The IMP logo on its marketing material features another of the building's notable features - a stone clock-tower.

The first IMPs launched are a Master of Science in Sustainable Environmental Resources Management (SERM), in partnership with James Madison University in Virginia, and a collaborative Masters degree in Marketing and Integrated Marketing Communications, in partnership with San Diego University in California.

The Masters programmes will lead to the award of two Masters degrees, one by the University of Malta, which is recognised throughout the EU, and one by the American universities concerned.

Prof. Caruana revealed that the University was currently also in negotiations with three other American universities to launch other IMPs in future, as well as specialised short courses and summer schools.

Prior to the University's transfer in the 1960s to its current campus at Tal-Qroqq, Msida, the Old University Building, which straddles a whole block in the heart of Valletta, between Merchants' Street and St Paul's Street, had for some 400 years been a buzzing seat of learning - first as the Jesuit-run Collegium Melitense, founded in 1592, and as from 1769, as the country's public university - one of the first to be established outside of the UK.

Half of the tuition to be delivered in the IMPs will by American lecturers brought over to complement the University of Malta's department staff where the latter do not offer the specialisations the programmes require. The tuition fee for the current IMPs on offer is €12,500 (Lm5,366), and to break even, they need to attract between 15 and 20 fee-paying students. Local students can apply for financial support under Malta Government Scholarship Scheme (MGSS).

Besides the IMPs' revenue-generating aspect, the University of Malta and American universities value their internationalisation aspect. Drawing up and jointly teaching the study units, conducting joint research in a cross-cultural Mediterranean environment, and comparing US expertise and practices with those of the Mediterranean environment is an extremely enriching experience for all the faculty staff involved.

For further information on the programmes, view the website www.um.edu.mt/imp ; e-mail: info.imp@um.edu.mt , or call tel: (+356) 2133 1734.