More than half of the 20 Cayman Brac Dual Enrolment students have indicated an interest in continuing their studies on the island after high school, the University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI) said in a statement carried on the Cayman Islands Government's Radio Cayman news site on 11 September.

The figure appeared in UCCI's account of its orientation events for the 2026-2027 academic year, including a session at the Brac campus on 8 August. More than half of a cohort of 20 means at least 11 students. The Dual Enrolment programme allows Year 12 students at government high schools to begin college-level courses while completing high school, according to UCCI's programme page.

The Caymanian Journal (TCJ) checked the figure against what the Cayman Islands Government pays for the campus. The Brac campus is bought as a separate output under the 2026 and 2027 Purchase Agreements, the budget documents, prepared under section 30 of the Public Management and Finance Act (2020 Revision) and published on 6 November 2025, that set out what Cabinet buys from UCCI and at what price.

"Our students in Cayman Brac are an important part of the UCCI community, and it is essential that they feel connected to the full University experience," Nanalie Cover, UCCI's President and Chief Executive Officer, said in the 11 September statement.

What the Money Buys

The agreement lists five services under the Brac campus output: tertiary-level professional programmes, associate degree programmes, adult and continuing education, vocational and certificate programmes, and dual enrolment. Its cost is CI$967,006 in 2026 and CI$993,072 in 2027, against a 2025 forecast of CI$826,052, paid in monthly instalments of CI$80,584 in 2026. The document gives these figures with a bare dollar sign; Cayman Islands Government budget documents are denominated in CI$.

For that money, the agreement sets targets of 80 to 100 student enrolments in academic programmes and 25 to 75 enrolments in adult and continuing education over three semesters in each year. The same targets applied in 2025. One of its quality measures, set at 100%, is that "Programmes/Courses meet the social and economic needs of the country and its workforce and engage the support of the private sector" (page 796).

The agreement requires UCCI to invoice the Minister for Education monthly, with a status report on the number of students in each category, and to report three times a year on enrolment trends in a report titled "Institutional Effectiveness" (page 797). The agreement itself carries targets and a forecast cost, not the number of students actually enrolled on the Brac.

TCJ emailed UCCI and the Ministry of Education and Training on 30 September asking for the Brac campus's actual enrolment against those targets, and whether the 20 Dual Enrolment students count towards the 80 to 100 target. Neither had responded by the time of publication.

Plans for the Brac Campus

UCCI established its Cayman Brac satellite campus in 2008, according to its academic catalogue. At a meeting at the campus on 27 January 2023, UCCI committed to working with businesses, community members and the high school to broaden what it offers on the island. Its statement on the meeting, dated 3 February 2023, said it offered a full-time dual enrolment programme for Layman E. Scott High School students and daytime and evening part-time courses in areas including tourism and construction.

Juliana O'Connor-Connolly MP, then Minister of Education, District Administration and Lands and now the Opposition Member for Cayman Brac East, used the same event to set out plans for UCCI to move into the Layman E. Scott campus over the next few years once the high school moved to its new site on the Bluff, according to UCCI's statement. The same statement said an expanded facility was expected to allow workforce skills training on the island, including training in conjunction with the neighbouring Public Works department.

That move is now closer. Rolston Anglin MP, Minister for Education and Training, said at a press briefing on 29 August 2025 that the new high school campus on the Bluff had an expected completion date in 2026, according to a Cayman Islands Government release of that date. A Cayman Islands Government news item of 25 August 2026, reporting Mr Anglin's remarks at the Education Professionals' Welcome on 21 August, said "The new Layman E. Scott High School campus is nearing completion". TCJ asked the Ministry on 30 September whether the plan for UCCI to take over the existing Layman E. Scott site remains in place. The Ministry had not responded by the time of publication.

Bachelor's degrees are not listed under the Brac campus output. The agreement buys them under a separate output, "Teaching of Baccalaureate Degree / Postgraduate Programmes", costed at CI$1,877,936 in 2026, which lists BSc programmes in accounting, management, computer science, social sciences, primary education, nursing and social work and gives its location as "Cayman Islands and International Partner Locations" (page 795). The document does not say how much of that output, if any, is delivered on Cayman Brac.

What the Brac students who stay would be able to study on the island is therefore not settled by the budget documents. The purchase agreement commits UCCI to report Brac enrolment to the Ministry every month, and the Ministry has not said whether the site plan set out in January 2023 will be carried through when the high school leaves the old campus.