The last decade has witnessed the emergence ofa new type of player in primary and secondary education inthe Asia Pacific. This type is the transnational corporation(TNC) specializing in schools. I refer to these organizationsas Education TNCs, which I define as private firms thatoperate for-profit schools in multiple countries. This paperexamines the rise of Education TNCs that run internationalschools in Asian countries. While a great deal has beenwritten about for-profit education in Western countries,edu-business in the Asia Pacific has received less attention.This paper works to fill that gap. I trace the rise of theregion’s major Education TNCs and analyze their efforts toexpand. Against the expectation of ‘‘school choice’’advocates that for-profit schooling should bring diversitythrough competition, I find that the growth of EducationTNCs in the Asia Pacific has been a story of a few large,marketing-oriented players offering similar packages.Educationists in the Asia Pacific should pay attention toEducation TNCs for two reasons. First, the activities ofEducation TNCs in the international school sector can shedlight on what for-profit schools would look like if gov-ernments in the region were to allow school choicereforms. Second, since these firms are large, influential,and motivated to succeed in the lucrative Asia Pacificmarket, they may have a greater and greater impact on theeducation landscape in the region

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• The Rise of Transnational Education Corporations in the Asia Pacific