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Regional

SARS, an IDP Australia report on the impact on the international education market

As the SARS virus seems to be coming under control — a June 3 World Health Organization update cited that the average number of new probable cases in China per week has declined from 166 during the first week in May to 2.5 in the latest days — IDP Australia has published a report on the implications for the international education industry in Australia and other competitor countries.

• The impact of SARS will be reflected in the number of visas issued in the most affected countries. To date, no numbers are available.
• As an industry, international education has already been affected but it may be some time before the full effects are understood.
• The Asian Economic Crisis had least effect on the higher education sectors. This is seen as a positive sign for the effects of the current crisis on the industry.
• Most institutions expect Semester 1, 2004 will be the most severely affected recruitment period.
• In key recruiting areas such as Hong Kong and China, where local examinations and English-language competency tests are being delayed, students reliant on these results for confirmation of their enrollment in foreign institutions will impact on visa application numbers.
• Some institutions have expressed specific concerns in relation to China, commenting that there are always lengthy delays in processing visas in China, and
• the SARS situation will result in an enormous backlog once these students are ready for visa processing.
• Postponements of English-language tests will delay international intakes, but once things calm down, it is expected that a higher number of sittings and dates will occur.
• In marketing services, the industry is focusing on alternative ways of contacting students while travel advisories to affected areas are in effect.

United Kingdom

• Thousands of Chinese students whose English-language tests have been cancelled may have to defer taking up places for a year unless UK universities take over the process, the British Council warned.
• Abut 12,000 students a month who would normally sit the IELTS examinations at British Council centers in China are having to wait for the lifting of the ban on large public gatherings before they can take the tests.
• A number of recruiting events and festivals have been postponed until later in the year.
• IELTS test sittings in China were cancelled by the British Council in April and May. China IELTS Network (CIN) has taken the decision to resume IELTS testing on June 21 in selected cities.

United States

• Schools in the U.S. have cancelled a number of Asian summer study programs and researchers have shelved a number of cooperative projects with Chinese scholars. Asians enrolled in American colleges have abandoned plans to return home after final examinations.
• NAFSA states that it is the responsibility of each institution to determine its own policies. In the well-publicized case of UC-Berkeley, who closed summer courses to students from affected areas, classes are scheduled to resume as usual for the fall semester with a full student body.
• ETS said in a media release dated 25/4 that it will not offer the Test of English as a Foreign Language, the Test of Spoken English, or the Graduate management Admission Test in China until further notice.
• Colleges across the U.S. decided to bring students home early from study-abroad programs in Asia and canceled plans for summer courses, particularly in China and Hong Kong.
• Some universities are deciding to quarantine and screen students coming from China.

Canada

• Canada is the country with the highest number of SARS-related deaths outside the Asian region.
• According to a media release on 15/5 from the University of Toronto, “based on current public health advice there are no grounds for alteration of University activities such as classes, examinations, symposia or other gatherings.”
• In a further media release dated 5/5 the institution states that “by most accounts, SARS has had little impact on student interest”

Australia

• Events/fairs/exhibitions in the Asian region have been cancelled or postponed.
• Lower numbers have inquired about studying in Australia.
• English-language tests have been postponed. Travel to affected areas has been postponed.
• Institutions have imposed self-quarantine restrictions on international students after arriving in Australia and health-checks.
• There is “Business as usual” in the Australian Embassy in China, for enrollment and visa enquiries.
• The countries most affected by the outbreak have been key source countries for the Australian international education industry.

Long-term implications:

According to the IDP report Global Students Mobility 2025, the demand for international higher education in Australia is forecast to increase from 68,405 in 2000 to 562,000 in 2025. If the SARS outbreak is not contained in the medium and long term it will impact on the forecast numbers of international students in the Australian international higher education sector.

Australian international education managed to survive the Asian economic crisis of 1997-98. In 1997, there were 131,696 Asian students in Australian institutions at all levels. As a result of the Asian crisis, in 1998 there were 129,424 representing a decline of 2,272 Asian students or 1.7 percent. The following year, 1999, the numbers went up again to 138,107. The higher education sector was the least affected area.

As in the Asian economic crisis, trade and business will continue through the short-term complications, and prospects are good in the long term. The international education industry as a whole will no doubt suffer from the outbreak, but the industry should be able to find a way to sort out the crisis in the short and medium terms to lessen the blow in the long term.

Afghanistan

University of Kabul Graduates Computer Specialists

Six women and 11 men graduated from the University of Kabul’s new Cisco Networking Academy, earning the first industry-standard certification for computer networking ever offered in the country.

The United Nations Development Program and network hardware vendor Cisco Systems launched the academy in October to create a core of Afghan specialists who can help move the country onto the digital highway. Three new classes began at the university in May, and the first all-women classes were scheduled to begin this month. Those classes will be taught by women trained at the academy.

In March, the country gained control of the “.af” domain for Afghan Web sites and e-mail addresses.

— UNDP Newsfront
April 17, 2003

Fulbright Program to Return

The U.S. State Department announced in May that the Fulbright Program will be re-established in Afghanistan after a 24-year absence. The program was canceled in 1980 after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

The program will initially focus on a one-year, nondegree program bringing 30 to 40 Afghan students to study in U.S. colleges and universities this fall. The program will emphasize the teaching of English-language skills and “priority themes” that include American studies, journalism, economics and business, social studies, computer science and the fine arts.

Not yet reciprocal, it is hoped that U.S. scholars will be working in Afghanistan later this year.

— The Chronicle of Higher Education
May 1, 2003

Australia

NTU to Become Charles Darwin University

Northern Territory University (NTU) plans to merge with Centralian College to form a new institution, Charles Darwin University. The restructuring follows a year of reforms for NTU and a A$3 million (US$2 million) commitment by the commonwealth to help it overcome financial troubles. Legislation to establish the new university will go before the Territory Parliament by mid-year.

Initially, the new institution will have four campuses: Casuarina (Darwin), Palmerston, Alice Springs and Katherine, with study centers at Nhulunbuy, Jabiru, Yuara and Tenant Creek.

— Department of Education Science and Training news release
April 9, 2003

Education, Research Center Opens

The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) has launched RMIT Hamilton, an education and research center with nursing and computer laboratories, textile centers and an art studio.

The new institution offers a range of programs, from certificate to postgraduate degrees, as well as professional development courses.

— Campus Review
April 23-29, 2003

New South Wales Clamps Down on Dodgy Degree Providers

New South Wales, which attracts more than 60,000 overseas students a year, has introduced new laws to protect the reputations of legitimate universities operating in the state.

New legislation passed in May includes increasing penalties from A$550 (US$363) to a maximum of A$22,000 (US$14,500) for any higher education provider found to be offering bogus degrees. A new register of all education providers will be set up, along with a new Web site to help students report unaccredited institutions.

According to Education Minister Andrew Refshauge, fake degrees are readily available from more than 40 sources in Australia. A pamphlet, “Is That Degree Genuine?” will be distributed to high schools, employer groups and embassies to help people identify the holders of fake degrees.

In Queensland, the operations of all new universities will be reviewed after the first five years. Interstate universities will have to comply with national standards, and foreign universities will undergo rigorous approval processes.

— The Australian
June 4, 2003

Bhutan

Looking for Closer Ties with Australia

Australia’s first ambassador to Bhutan, Penelope Wensley, in her first meeting with King Jigme Singye Wangchuck on May 7, said education will continue to be the basis and priority of Australia’s development cooperation with Bhutan.

The ambassador said Australia will make more of an effort to attract Bhutanese students to Australia. She said she would like to see Australia playing a special role in the development of the government’s plans to set up a university in Bhutan. There are currently 87 Bhutanese students taking undergraduate and graduate courses in Australia, 32 of them on AusAID scholarships.

Formal diplomatic relations between Australia and Bhutan were established on Sept. 14, 2002.

— Kuensel
May 9, 2003

China

University City Being Built in Guangdong

A complex of university campuses is under construction in the southern province of Guangdong. The project, dubbed “University City,” aims to train graduates to meet the country’s growing needs.

The project will be home to 10 already-identified tertiary institutions, and will be in the Panyu district of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong. It will have an area larger than 43 sq. km, according to Hong Kong’s Ming Pao Daily News.

University City will reportedly accommodate as many as 200,000 students and will hire 20,000 lecturers and 50,000 other staff. The most optimistic plans see the first batch of students arriving in September 2004.

— The Straits Times
March 22, 2003

Overseas Student Numbers Rising

Accelerated by its accession to the World Trade Organization, China is experiencing an increase in the number of overseas students.

Statistics from the Ministry of Education indicate that China hosted 85,829 foreign students from 175 countries in 2002. These students were dispersed among 395 institutions of higher education in 31 provinces. Of the foreigners, 93 percent (6,074) were self-supporting. Sources from the Ministry of Education said they were working on regulations to help provide work-study opportunities, which are likely to include part-time jobs.

In 2002, 77 percent of overseas students were from Asia, 10 percent each from the Americas and Europe, 2 percent from Africa and 1 percent from Oceania. South Korea, Japan, the United States, Indonesia and Vietnam were the top five sending nations and accounted for the majority of overseas students in China.

Beijing ranked first in receiving foreign students, followed by the municipalities of Shanghai and Tianjin; and the provinces of Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shandong, Jilin and Heilongjiang.

— People’s Daily
April 15, 2003

Elite Institutions’ Reforms Follow U.S. Example

Students at Beijing, Qinghua and Nanjing universities are now able to take a core curriculum in their freshman year of study that comprises the social sciences, philosophy and psychology, history, language and literature and the arts.

The more than 10,000 students affected by the reforms do not have to choose their major until their second or third year, which, like the U.S. system, exposes them to a wide range of subjects before specializing.

All 12 faculties at Qinghua University, often cited as a leader in educational reforms, have switched to the new system. At Nanjing University, seven of the 12 faculties have adopted the changes.

A radical departure from the traditional university system, the reforms allow high school students to declare a department, not a major, rather than having to list their top three preferred colleges and a corresponding major and then begin training in their chosen specialty from the first year with little or no hope of being able to change their major.

Beijing University’s administrators are even toying with the idea of allowing third-year students to switch majors if doing so better matches their interests.

Many faculty members and students welcome the changes and believe that other schools in China should follow suit as China pushes to modernize and integrate its system of education.

— The Straits Times
March 11, 2003

Community College System Gains Interest

At an international conference on community colleges held at Shanghai Teachers University, professor Li Yixian, a leading Chinese educator and president of the Community Education Association of China, called on his colleagues to press forward with the establishment of community colleges.

The conference also endorsed a proposal by T.P. Shao, chairman of the U.S.-China Education Foundation, to establish a leadership-training institute for China’s future community college educators. Shao pointed out that the Chinese Ministry of Education has identified the development of community colleges as one of its “five urgent tasks” in educational reform.

The recently concluded Community Colleges in China Project worked with seven schools to design programs developing credit systems, career counseling and student-centered curriculums. In addition, each school selected mid- to high-level administrators to participate in internships at U.S. community colleges.

A study tour of U.S. community colleges was conducted in 2001 for a leadership group of Chinese education officials and college leaders, and a second visit was sponsored in 2002, which included a delegation from the Tertiary Technical and Vocational Education Research Association of China. The project also instigated discussion in China with two workshops in Shanghai.

Ministry of Education official Liu Junyi said in his conference opening remarks that “China needs community colleges to meet the needs of regional economic development, to provide lifelong learning opportunities and to meet the needs of an urbanizing rural sector.”

— Community College Times
March 4, 2003

Nottingham Breaks New Ground in China

The cooperation agreement signed between the University of Nottingham and University Center of Wanli in Zhejiang province will result in mainland China’s first branch campus of an internationally recognized university.

Based on the British university model, the institution will occupy approximately 67 acres within the Ningbo University campus. Students from all over the world will be admitted when recruitment starts next year, but priority will be given to Chinese students. The Ningbo campus is the University of Nottingham’s third foreign branch campus; the others are in Malaysia and Singapore.

The University of Nottingham will provide the teaching materials, and the faculty will essentially be composed of British professors. Diplomas will be mutually recognized.

— People’s Daily
April 3, 2003

University Evaluations Set to Begin

A new teaching evaluation system is being established for all higher education institutions this year. Evaluations will be performed on a five-year cycle, and the results of the first round of inspections and observations will be available to parents and members of the general public by the end of the year.

The Ministry of Education may form an intermediate agency, China Higher Education Evaluation Center, to take up the exercise. This evaluation will gradually develop into a professional evaluation system. It is hoped a database of teaching quality at higher education institutions will be established and made open to the general public.

— China Youth Daily
April 10, 2003

India

Scottish University Links with Indian Institution

Queen Margaret University College in Edinburgh is offering a post-basic bachelor of science degree in nursing studies with Omayal Achi College of Nursing (OACN) in Chennai.

The two institutions had agreed recently to look at the development of mutually beneficial education programs, including the post-basic nursing degree.

Professor Alan Gilloran, dean of the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences at the Scottish university, said, “Lecturers from Omayal Achi College of Nursing will have the opportunity to come to Scotland to observe and experience our approaches to learning and teaching. However, the degree will be taught in the cultural context of India and delivered by Indian staff.”

Gilloran also hopes the agreement will help British nurses learn from their Indian counterparts, who “have substantial practical experience and are extremely good at community health care.”

The OACN will offer the new course in September to those who hold a diploma in nursing and have worked a minimum of two years. The degree will be awarded by Queen Margaret University College.

— Queen Margaret University College News Release
May 2003

Declining Foreign Enrollments Highlight Educational Inequalities

At a seminar on “Internationalization of Indian Higher Education – Quality Dimensions,” the Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Vallabhbhai R. Kathiria, said the globalization of education is leading to inequalities in the field.

Kathiria said the number of foreign students studying in India has declined in the last five years, from 11,888 to 6,988. In contrast, the number of foreign students in Australia doubled. In the United States, it increased from 415,000 to 514,000, and in the United Kingdom to 220,000. More than 54 percent of the foreign students in the United States were from Asia, including 42,000 from India. Conversely, only 707 Americans studied in India, he added.

Kathiria said there is hope for increasing foreign enrollments, but drastic changes are needed in the approach to higher education. He added that the quality of higher education varies greatly in India.

The director of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, spoke recently of the problem of ensuring quality, saying that 5,000 out of 12,000 colleges in India are not under the purview of the University Grants Commission.

— The Hindu
April 24, 2003

Foreign Institutions Face New Regulations

The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has set new regulations for all foreign universities and institutions offering technical and business degrees in the country, including the authority to set fees and intake, bar unapproved institutions and block repatriation of profits.

The move comes as the number of foreign institutions offering degree programs in recent years has mushroomed. A majority of those providers are offering engineering or business courses, and regulatory bodies have long wanted a program that ensures the interests of Indian students are protected.

The new AICTE regulations state that no foreign university or institute can operate in the country and award diplomas, degrees and doctorates without the permission of the council and the concerned embassy in India. The institute should also submit a detailed project report to the AICTE, after which the council will inspect the facilities and grant permission.

In creating the regulatory framework, the council wanted to make sure that all foreign institutions would be held accountable to the same regulations as those for Indian institutions. The council also wanted to ensure that all accreditations are genuine and that the accrediting bodies themselves are internationally accepted.

— The Hindu
June 12, 2003

Japan

Junior Colleges Struggling for Survival

In the past four years, 17 junior colleges and at least one four-year university stopped enrolling freshman students, effectively ending their tenure as educational institutions.

Declining birth rates and a dwindling pool of freshman students have hit postsecondary institutions (see WENR March/April, 2003) hard as the population of 18-year-olds has declined from approximately 2.05 million to approximately 1.5 million in the past decade.

Of the 17 junior colleges, two – Nano College in Ishikawa and Meizen Junior College in Kagawa – have yet to decide their future, two have already closed and the remaining 13 are expected to close once the current crop of students graduate. Officials at Seishin Gakuen Women’s Junior College in Ibaraki, which stopped enrolling students in 2002, said the only junior colleges that can still attract students are those that offer courses in elderly care and welfare or child-care programs, as they apply directly to in-demand jobs.

In an attempt to overcome the declining popularity of junior colleges, some schools have converted to four-year institutions. Since 1998, 10 to 20 junior colleges have made the switch annually. This approach does not necessarily guarantee survival. Risshikan University, which converted in 2000, became the first four-year college to announce closure plans.

According to the Promotion and Mutual Aid Corporation for Private Schools of Japan, about 197,000 students applied to private junior colleges in 2002, about one-fourth the number of applicants a decade ago. As a result, 48 percent of private junior colleges are unable to fill their enrollment capacity.

— The Asahi Shimbun
March 15, 2003

Malaysia

Technical Instruction to be in English by 2008

The policy of teaching technical subjects in English will be implemented fully at all polytechnics in Malaysia by 2008, the Ministry of Education says.

The government says it will equip all institutions with such essential communication tools as laptops and LCD screens. The move is in line with recent legislation that mandated English-language instruction for science and mathematics classes in Standard One, Form One and Form Six at high schools across the country, effective this year.

— The Straits Times
March 19, 2003

Study: Recruit from Indonesia, China, Gulf

Malaysia’s plans to attract 50,000 foreign students by 2010 and establish itself as a regional education hub hinge on attracting students from China, Indonesia and Gulf states, according to a recent study.

The report, prepared by international consultants and commissioned by the National Economic Action Council, shows that the number of higher education providers had grown from 291 in 1995 to 720 in 2001. The foreign student population in public universities grew 8.65 percent year-to-year between 1997 and 2000. In the same period, international student enrollment in private colleges and universities grew a remarkable 60.1 percent year-to-year.

The study recommends that students be allowed to seek employment during and after their studies. It also suggests tweaking immigration rules to make it easier for Malaysia’s 691 private colleges to hire teaching staff from abroad.

Comparative studies of higher education suggest costs are about 30 percent lower in Malaysia than in Singapore, which should help attract students from such markets as China and Indonesia.

This month a delegation from Malaysia Multimedia University is touring various Iranian universities, and meeting with the Iranian Minister of Higher Education to discuss educational cooperation between the two nations.

— The Star
Feb. 27, 2003

University Quota System Tossed Out

The Malaysian government announced in January that student placement at the country’s 17 public universities will be granted according to merit, rather than on the current ethnic quota system, which favors Malay students over Chinese and Indian students.

The 31-year-old quota system has been controversial for some time, as many academically able Chinese have seen their places granted to less able ethnic Malays. Many Chinese students, as a result, have gone overseas to study. Malaysian universities hope the change will encourage more students to stay and study at home.

— Muzi news
May 10, 2003

Japanese Degrees Recognized

The government has approved and now fully recognizes 240 Japanese degrees, in line with the government’s “Look East” policy.

The move is an effort to halt the brain drain to Japan. In the past, many students, having studied in Japan, remained there because their degrees were not recognized back home. The Ministry of Education says approximately 450 Malaysians annually travel to Japan to study.

Recognized universities include Akita, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Gifu, Gunma, Hiroshima, Kobe, Kyoto Institute of Technology and Tokyo Institute of Technology.

— Education Intelligence Asia
April 2003

Myanmar

Schools and colleges closed

The ruling junta of Myanmar, formerly Burma, closed all schools and colleges indefinitely on the first day of a new semester June 2, two days after detaining pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The government ordered closed all institutions that fall under the auspices of the Ministry of Education until further notice, making it unclear when the universities might be ordered open again.

Universities in Myanmar have often been the center of civil unrest and pro-democracy rallies and have as a result experienced many bouts of closure and reopening. In 1988 thousands of students were murdered by the military and closures have been commonplace since then. For the last three years universities had been operating a fairly consistent schedule until this latest period of unrest.

— The Guardian
June2, 2003

Nepal

Chinese Universities Seek More Nepalese Students

More than 1,000 Nepalese students are currently studying in China, 813 of whom started their studies in 2002. A recent two-day China Education Exhibition in Kathmandu hosted 29 Chinese universities looking to attract students from Nepal.

The Chinese government has made scholarships available to 800 Nepalese students in the last four decades.

— People’s Daily
April 14, 2003

New Zealand

Schools Seeing Significant Drop in International Student Numbers

New Zealand has been awash with international students in recent years, but recent warnings from education insiders suggests that the flow of language students could drop as much as 50 percent by the end of the year and worsen further in 2004.

New Zealand welcomed more than 80,000 international students in 2002, and export education earned an estimated NZ$1.7 billion (US$1 billion) in what has grown to become the country’s fourth-largest industry. The Ministry of Foreign Trade has said it is investigating the dropoff, particularly in students from China, but some education experts believe the government remains unaware of the seriousness of the problem and the implications it could have.

Factors that may have contributed to the downturn include the SARS virus; lingering terrorist concerns, the strengthening of the New Zealand dollar, negative reports in the Asian media about language schools in New Zealand and local attitudes toward foreigners and rising unemployment among Chinese graduates.

— New Zealand Herald
May 14, 2003

Singapore

Polytechnics Introduce Aerospace Courses

Singapore Polytechnic is launching a three-year diploma course in aerospace electronics, and Ngee Ann Polytechnic will offer a course leading to a diploma in aerospace technology, beginning this year.

The three-year program at Ngee Ann will admit up to 60 students and will offer courses in the basics of engineering as well as aircraft systems, structures and processes. The diploma will work as a foundation for aerospace-degree courses at universities in Singapore, Australia, the United States and Britain, thus allowing students to skip certain modules.

— Education Intelligence Asia
April 2003

New Benchmark for Private Schools

Furthering Singapore’s desire to be competitive in the world education market, the Economic Development Board has introduced a new quality-assessment system for private institutions of higher education.

There are more than 300 private information technology, fine arts and language schools in Singapore. These schools, which cater to more than 100,000 local and foreign students, had no system for quality control and assessment until now.

Under the new system, private schools can apply for the Singapore Quality Class (SQC) for Private Education Organizations (PEOs). Based on the Singapore Quality Award Framework, PEOs that qualify for the SQC will have access to shorter student processing times, inclusion in International Enterprise Singapore and Singapore Tourism Board promotions overseas and, for students from China, exemption from an interview at the Chinese Embassy in Singapore.

The Economic Development Board hopes to qualify at least 20 private schools for the program by the end of the year.

— Channel NewsAsia
Feb. 23, 2003

Stanford, ESIEE Sign Agreements with NTU

Stanford University and the Engineering School of Electronics (ESIEE) in Paris signed partnership agreements with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in February and March, respectively.

The Singaporean institution will implement two double diploma programs, a master’s degree in environmental engineering with Stanford, a field that Stanford ranked first in the United States last year, and a master’s in microelectromechanical systems engineering with ESIEE.

— Nanyang Technological University media releases
Feb. 25, 2003, and March 5, 2003

New Australian Institution Gains Foothold in Increasingly Crowded Market

James Cook University (JCU) has entered into a joint venture with PSB Corp., a commercial spinoff of the Singaporean government, to open a campus that will place the Queensland-based university in the hunt for a slice of the offshore Asian market.

The initiative is part of the university’s aggressive internationalization strategy, which hopes to attract 5,000 international students by 2010. Vice Chancellor Bernard Moulden describes the new campus as “a unique and secure beachhead in Asia,” and hopes the university will help the Singaporean government achieve its ambition of establishing the city-state as an Asian educational hub.

JCU Singapore will offer courses in five fields: business, education, engineering, information technology and psychology, with 20 programs, ranging from certificate to doctoral, on offer in 2003. Students will be able to complete a substantial part of their education in Queensland, and the university hopes the new agreement will encourage the recruitment of students to Australian campuses.

— JCU media advisory
March 25, 2003

South Korea

Declining Enrollments Worry Institutions of Higher Education

According to The Chosun Ilbo newspaper, 199 four-year universities and 156 junior colleges have set new records in their failure to fill entrance quotas, to the tune of 85,000 openings for the 2004 academic year. Close to 30 schools have failed to fill even half the places available and face the prospect of permanent closure.

The problem dates back to 1996, when the Education Ministry chose to allow the creation of new schools that could choose their own enrollment quotas. Unfortunately, student numbers were already decreasing at the time, and at least one report warned against the decision.

The solution, according to the article, lies in mergers and specialization. The ministry recently told Korean press agencies that some institutions would soon be facing closure.

— The Chosun Ilbo
April 23, 2003

Ohio College to Offer IT Course Online

Owens Community College (OCC) is expanding its distance-learning curriculum, creating a pilot program that will offer online courses throughout South Korea, marking the first international partnership between Owens and another country.

OCC will offer its information technology (IT) course to South Koreans beginning this summer. The college is also developing additional courses. Registration for the IT course will be made online, while representatives from South Korea will facilitate entrance requirement coursework through an in-country portal service. Owens will collaborate with a third-party service provider based in Australia.

The northwest Ohio institution chose South Korea to launch its pilot program because of the advanced Web technology that exists on the peninsula.

— Community College Times
April 15, 2003

Thailand

Mahidol University Offers New IT Degree

Mahidol University is offering a new bachelor’s degree in information and communication technology. The program offers four majors: database management, intelligent systems management, multimedia systems and computer science.

— Bangkok Post
March 17, 2003

Vietnam

Guidelines Issued for Foreign Schools

The Ministry of Education and Training has issued guidelines allowing foreign-owned, for-profit cultural and educational establishments in Vietnam.

An application for a license must be made to the ministry, and the institution must register with the local People’s Committee and advertise its license details in five consecutive issues of a local newspaper. If the establishment does not start operations within 12 months, the ministry may make a submission to the prime minister to have its license revoked.

— Education Intelligence Asia
April 2003