Regional

Spanish Language Distance Learning, an Established and Growing Model

The Fundación Universitaria Iberoamericana (FUNIBER) is a Barcelona-based international alliance of approximately 50 universities that has been offering tertiary distance-education programs in Spanish for over a decade. The alliance is made up of universities from Spain, Portugal, Italy and Latin America. It currently offers some 25 masters, 60 continuing education and two doctoral programs through its member institutions. A U.S. office opened in New York last year with an initial goal of setting up operations, reaching out to the booming Spanish-speaking population in the United States and establishing partnerships with Hispanic organizations. To date, approximately 170 Spanish speakers in the United States have signed up for programs through FUNIBER at its member institutions abroad. The non-profit alliance recently signed an agreement to provide scholarships for the study of health fields with the nation’s preeminent Hispanic advocacy organization, the National Council of La Raza. FUNIBER does not award degrees, rather it acts as marketing, technology, operations and customer service platform for its member universities, which pay a fee for those services and award the degrees. All profits are redistributed in the form of scholarships for students. The alliance has yet to establish partnerships with institutions in the United States; however, it plans to do so this year.

— InsideHigher Ed
Dec. 19, 2006

Brazil

Brazil Reaches Target for Professional Degrees

The Brazilian Ministry of Education Foundation for Improvement of Higher Education Students (Capes) reports that last year Brazil met its proposed target of graduating 10,000 doctoral students and 40,000 master’s students. Capes also released figures on Brazilians studying abroad, of which there are currently 2,400 scholarship students studying in 30 countries around the world.

— Brazil-Arab News Agency
Jan. 11, 2007

Two Brazilian Universities Develop Exchange with Two in the U.S.

Pontifica Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro and Universidade Federal do Paraná in Curitiba will exchange students with two universities in the United States as part of a program funded by the U.S. government to support the international exchange of business students. Fordham University in New York and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst will host students from Brazil as well as send their own students to the South American country beginning in academic year 2008. The four-year, US$209,000 federal grant funding the international academic exchange is part of the U.S.-Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program jointly administered by federal education officials in each country.

— Fordham University News
Jan. 2007

Canada

Provincial Government to Crack Down on Private Colleges after Chinese Warning

The government in British Columbia announced in January plans to tighten regulations governing the operation of private colleges in the province. The move came just a few weeks after the Chinese government warned students against studying at private postsecondary institutions in Canada, saying hundreds of international students have been cheated by dishonest private colleges. Education officials in the Pacific province have also called for national regulations to better govern private English-language schools.

— Vancouver Sun
Jan. 9, 2007

Iranian Refugee to Have Credentials Recognized after 13-Year Fight and Landmark Ruling

Fatima Siadat fled Iran to Canada 13 years ago after alleged government persecution, and she has been seeking an evaluation of her Iranian teaching credentials ever since. Until now, the Ontario College of Teachers had refused to evaluate her credentials for lack of original documentation, which Ms. Siadat says were unobtainable because of her refugee status. The Superior Court of Ontario made an unprecedented ruling to require the professional council to find “innovative” ways to assess her qualifications in January. The ruling has been hailed as a victory by those fighting to change the way credentials of foreign-trained professionals are evaluated, especially when official and original documentation cannot be produced for political reasons. Ms. Siadat’s lawyers have recommended the college put together an expert panel of Iranian teachers who are certified in Ontario to interview her client and evaluate her qualifications. In addition, the college could also test Ms. Siadat’s teaching skills by tasking her to develop a lesson plan and instruct students, her lawyers said.

— The Globe and Mail
Jan. 18, 2007

Mexico

University in Talks with US Institutions to Create Joint Medical Program and Alleviate Doctor Shortage in Nevada

The Autonomous University of Guadalajara (UAG) and four institutions of higher education in the U.S. state of Nevada have entered into negotiations over a possible agreement to create a joint medical school program. If the cooperative program is agreed upon, Nevada will become the second U.S. state, after New York, to implement a “Fifth Pathway” program that would allow students to pursue medical degrees in a different country while performing their residency period in the U.S. The proposed agreement is designed to alleviate an overall shortage of doctors in Nevada, especially bilingual doctors to serve the state’s growing Hispanic population. Students participating in the program would begin their undergraduate studies in Nevada, pursue a medical degree at UAG in Mexico, and return to Nevada to complete a year-long residency period.

— Las Vegas Sun
Jan. 22, 2007

Peru

Tuition Proposal Angers Students, Politicians

Peruvian student organizations and opposition politicians have rejected a bill proposed by conservative congresswoman Martha Hildebrandt that would require graduates of private secondary schools to pay tuition to the nation’s universally free state universities.

— Prensa Latina
Feb. 2, 2007

United States

GAO Urges Greater Efforts in Recruiting Foreign Students

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in January released a report summarizing a meeting it organized on the challenges of recruiting foreign students. The report, “Global Competitiveness: Implications for the Nation’s Higher Education System,” contains discussion on the need to develop a national strategy to recruit foreign students, possible changes that may be needed in the visa system, and new sources for students from other countries.

— GAO
January 2007

Alabama Officials Look to Crack Down on Unaccredited Institutions

State officials in Alabama announced in January their intention to strengthen licensing requirements in a bid to crack down on the number of institutions operating in the state without federally approved accreditation. The announcement follows approval last year of legislation in Mississippi that allows district attorneys the right to take to court any institution based in the state offering degrees not approved by the Mississippi Commission on College Accreditation. The southern neighbors are two of a small handful of states with weak laws or lax means of enforcement that have been considered safe havens for unaccredited institutions hoping to attract students online from around the world. In Mississippi, the new legislation seems to be reaping results. Since the new legislation was approved, seven of the 11 institutions on a list of those operating in Mississippi without state approval have said they ceased operations in the state, according to state officials.

— Inside Higher Ed
Jan. 18, 2007

Chinese Government to Sponsor 5,000 U.S.-Bound Students Annually

The Chinese government is to provide annual scholarships for 5,000 graduate students looking to study in the United States, on condition they sign and honor an agreement to return to China after graduation. The program, which begins this year, is administered by the China Scholarship Council and is worth approximately US$15,000 in living and travel expenses to students accepted under the program. To qualify, students must have acceptance letters and tuition waivers from a U.S. university. Those studying in disciplines designated by the government as high priority – mainly technical fields – will receive primary consideration. Winners will be selected from three groups: students sent overseas by the state under existing programs; those headed to the U.S. under cooperation programs between Chinese and U.S. universities; and students applying to U.S. colleges on their own.

— Rednet.cn
Dec. 26, 2006

NAFSA Issues Roadmap to Boost International Enrollments

The lead government lobby for the internationalization of education in the United States issued a proposal to Congress in December that it says would help boost student mobility to and from the country. NAFSA: Association of International Educators released “Bipartisan Legislative Agenda for the 110th Congress,” a set of three recommendations calling for new laws designed to promote U.S. competitiveness as a host country for foreign students; the implementation of the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program, which would encourage U.S. students to study overseas; and reform of the country’s immigration laws to make it easier for overseas students to study and work in the United States. In January, NAFSA renewed calls for visa reforms in coalition with organizations such as the Alliance for International Educational and Cultural Exchange, the Coalition for Employment through Exports, the Heritage Foundation and the National Foreign Trade Council.

— NAFSA
Dec. 18, 2006
— NAFSA
Jan. 31, 2007

US Business Schools Again Top World Rankings

American business schools continue to dominate the rankings for global MBA programs, according to the latest Financial Times poll. For the third consecutive year the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton school was followed by Columbia, Harvard and Stanford. The London Business School maintains its ranking in fifth position, but the French school Insead, which now has a branch campus in Singapore, is the only other European school to make it into the top ten.

The Global Top 10

1. Wharton School, U. of Penn.
2. Columbia Business School
3. Harvard Business School
3. Stanford Business School
5. London Business School
6. University of Chicago
7. Insead
8. Stern School, NYU
9. Tuck School, Dartmouth
10. Yale School of Management

— Financial Times
Jan. 29, 2007