Canada

University Group Condemns Private University

A private university, awarded degree-granting status by the government of British Columbia (B.C.) three years ago, is a failed experiment that should be terminated before causing the province “further embarrassment,” says a group that represents B. C.’s public university professors.

World Trade University has yet to open for business and its founder is rarely heard from anymore. “Something smells” at World Trade University, said Robert Clift, executive director of the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of B. C. (CUFABC), in a November news release.

Situated an hour’s drive southeast of Vancouver, WTU was established by a Bangladeshi-Canadian. Sujit Chowdhury has told legislative committees and media that, among other things, his school has campuses around the world, that it is formally tied to global institutions and that he has been nominated for a knighthood.

“From the day this institution was first announced in the 2005 Speech from the Throne, questions swirled around the institution and its founder,” noted the CUFABC. “At various times, it was suggested that Mr. Chowdhury held a doctorate, which is not the case, and that his institution was a project of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, which it is not.”

The CUFABC is calling on the B. C. government to rescind the school’s extraordinary enabling legislation. The World Trade University Canada Establishment Act arose from a private member’s bill and was passed in November of 2005, after little debate, and without a rigorous assessment of WTU’s principles and finances, which is normally required.

The school has no UN mandate. It has no students. It has just the furnished, one-storey building in Chilliwack that it moved into three years ago. The building was renovated for C$1-million, at the City of Chilliwack’s expense, and is leased to WTU for $1 a year. The university was to have started offering graduate degree classes in 2007, to business students able to pay a US$32,500 tuition fee. The opening was postponed to January 2008.

In February, it withdrew an application before B. C.’s Degree Quality Assessment Board, the body that determines whether a school may offer university degree programs in the province. While WTU cannot operate as a university, it can still call itself one. The CUFABC wants that privilege revoked.

– The National Post
November 4, 2008

University Group Calls for Increased Overseas Graduate Enrollments

Canada needs to attract more foreign graduate students to staff research departments, which are facing future shortages, warns a recently released report.

According to the report, produced by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), about half of Canada’s approximately 41,000 researchers and teachers will have left their jobs by 2016. But replacing them will be more difficult than before because government and industry are competing harder to attract people with graduate degrees. Meanwhile, emerging economies like China, India, Brazil and Russia are starting to spend more money on research, increasing the global demand for highly educated workers.

To cope with this increased competition, Canadian institutions will have to both produce more graduate students and recruit more from other countries, said Michelle Gauthier, the AUCC’s director of research and policy analysis.

– AUCC news release
October 21, 2008

McGill University Sits Atop University Rankings Again

McGill University has been ranked as the top Canadian university in the medical-doctoral category of the annual rankings issued by Maclean’s magazine.

The latest results mark the fourth consecutive year that McGill has topped the rankings. The University of Toronto moved up from fourth to tie with Queen’s University for second, pushing the University of British Columbia into fourth.

In the comprehensive category, which includes universities with significant research programs and a wide array of both undergraduate and graduate programs, the University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University tied for first. In the mainly undergraduate category, Mount Allison University topped the list for the second year.

– Maclean’s
November 10, 2008

Immigration Procedures for In-Demand Workers/Students to be Fast-Tracked

The Canadian government announced in late November that it plans to welcome up to 265,000 new permanent residents in 2009, and to speed up the processing of applications for potential new Canadians in dozens of high-demand occupations —at a time when other important immigrant-admitting countries such as Australia, Germany and England are cutting back.

Under the plan, those wishing to move to Canada who work in one of 38 skilled areas, including health, finance and the oil industry, will have their applications fast-tracked. Applicants with in-demand skills could have their visas processed in six to 12 months, rather than the current five to six years. Currently, there is a backlog of 900,000 residency applications, up from 50,000 in 1993, according to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. In an interview with CanWest News Service, the minister added that 600,000 of those waiting to have their applications processed are in the skilled-worker category.

The minister said the government also will accelerate the immigration process for people who have an offer of arranged employment or have already been living legally in Canada for one year as a temporary foreign worker or international student.

– CanWest News Service
November 28, 2008

United States

International Enrollments Hit a Record High in 2007

The number of international students enrolled in American institutions of higher education hit all-time record highs in academic year 2007-08, with the largest one-year increase in many years, according to new data from the Institute of International Education’s annual Open Doors report. A total of 623,805 international students studied in the United States last year, an increase of seven percent from the year prior.

Commentators point to more welcoming student-visa policies, improved recruitment efforts, and increased government support, in addition to a weak dollar (in 2007), increased absolute numbers of internationally mobile students, and inadequate capacity in the higher education systems of key sending countries.

For the most part, the increase in enrollments has come from English-language programs, which saw a 23.5 percent jump in enrollments. As a leading indicator for degree enrollments this is a very bullish sign, as many graduates from language programs will go onto enroll in degree programs. In addition, the number of new international students rose 10.1 percent over the previous year, another good leading indicator. However, overall growth in degree program enrollments was a much lower 4.8 percent for graduate programs and 4.6 percent at the undergraduate level. The number of students seeking associate degrees fell 3.7 percent in 2007.

Among individual source countries, China (2nd in absolute numbers) saw a huge 9.8 percent increase, while India continued to send the most students, and saw an enrollment increase of 12.8 percent. Enrollments from South Korea (3rd largest source) grew by 10.8 percent. Enrollments from Vietnam grew 45.3 percent on top of a 31.3 percent increase the previous year. Driven by an extensive government scholarship program, enrollments from Saudi Arabia increased by 25.2 percent, and Nigeria jumped into the top 20 sending countries with an increase of 4.7 percent.

The bullish enrollment numbers do, however, come with a caveat. Some of the growth reflects better reporting on the part of colleges. The University of California at Los Angeles reported an 18 percent foreign-student enrollment increase in 2007, but Bob Ericksen, director of the university’s Dashew Center for International Students and Scholars, said that the actual rise was about 5 percent.

Better reporting also accounts for some of the increase in national Optional Practical Training (OPT) numbers, according to IIE. The OPT program allows students to stay on and work for up to 12 months after graduation (or 29 months if they are in certain fields, such as science or technology). Although no longer students, these workers are counted as such for government tracking purposes and accounted for 9.1 percent of international-student numbers in 2007. According to IIE, participation in OPT in 2007 grew 36.3 percent over the previous year.

– Institute for International Education
November 17, 2008

More Americans Study Abroad in 2006

A record number of American students spent a period studying abroad in 2006. After a decade of impressive growth, there was an increase of 8 percent in study abroad numbers, according to the Institute of International Education’s annual Open Doors report. Over the past 10 years, the number of students participating in overseas-study trips for academic credit has increased nearly 150 percent, to almost 241,800 in the 2006 academic year.

Western Europe continues to be the most popular choice, however, less traditional destinations saw impressive growth. The number of U.S. students studying in Argentina, China, Ecuador, India, and South Africa each increased by more than 20 percent over the previous year. China, which enrolled 11,000 American students in 2006, now ranks as the fifth-most-popular destination. Shorter trips also continued to rise in popularity, with 9.8 percent of students who study abroad going for eight weeks or less, up from 9.5 percent. By contrast, the share of study-abroad students who go for a full academic year dipped from 5.3 percent to 4.3 percent.

– Institute for International Education
November 17, 2008

Growth in International Graduate Enrollments Slowing

International student enrollments at U.S. graduate schools is growing, but at a slower rate than in recent years, according to new survey results from the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS).

The latest report from CGS is the last in its annual series of three reads on international student activity. In line with the two earlier reports, which showed a slowdown in growth of international student applicants and admissions, the Council’s latest survey found that first-time enrollment of international graduate students increased by 3 percent from 2007-8, compared to 4 percent growth last year and 12 percent the year before.

Because most foreign students are in the United States for long programs, statistics on first-year enrollments are the best leading indictor of future trends. By country, there were drops in first-time international students from India (-2%) and South Korea (-4%). Meanwhile, the number of first-time students from China and the Middle East rose by 14 and 8 percent, although these gains still represent slowing growth compared to increases in 2007.

The survey had a 37 percent response rate, with 181 institutions participating — including all 10 institutions with the largest international graduate student enrollments and 43 of the largest 50.

– The College of Graduate Schools
November 10, 2008

Online Enrollments Skyrocket in Tough Economic Times

According to the results of the 2008 Sloan Survey of Online Learning, enrollments on distance learning programs rose by more than 12 percent year-on-year through 2007. The study, now in its sixth year, found that nearly four million students were studying at least one online course by late 2007. Staying the Course: Online Education in the United States, 2008 surveyed more than 2,500 colleges and universities nationwide, and was a collaborative effort between the Babson Survey Research Group, the College Board and the Sloan Consortium.

The study found that online enrollments “have continued to grow at rates far in excess of the total higher education student population, with the most recent data demonstrating no signs of slowing”. A 12.9 percent growth rate for online enrollments was far higher than the 1.2 percent growth of the overall student population, while more that 20 percent of the U.S. student population was estimated to be taking at least one online course.

The study attributed strong growth in online enrollments, in part, to the poor economy, and projected increased growth as the economy continues to head south. The report also noted that heavily inflated transportation costs had also contributed to students wanting to study from the comfort and proximity of home.

– The Sloan Consortium
November 2008

Barack Obama: Good for International Enrollments?

According to Britain’s Guardian newspaper, British universities might have to fight harder for international students with the election of globally popular Barack Obama.

The Guardian pointed out, “universities in the UK have benefited from the negative perception of America around the world since the September 11 terrorist attacks and the tightening of visa requirements that followed. But it is thought “4/11” could be just as significant as “9/11” in terms of its impact on international student recruitment, with many now choosing to attend American universities.”

With the recent easing of tough student visa restrictions, American universities are increasing their overseas recruitment efforts.

– The Guardian
November 5, 2008

Student Visa Issuances Continue Upward Trajectory

In fiscal year 2008, the U.S. Department of State issued a record 710,631 F, J, and M student and exchange visitor visas, or a 9.1 percent increase from the year prior; and a more than 26 percent increase over fiscal year 2001.

This is the third fiscal year in a row the State Department has broken records in this area. The State Department continues to issue student and exchange visas well above pre 9/11 highs.

By country, 40 percent more student and exchange visitor visas were issued to Chinese nationals than in fiscal year 2007, and that is after an increase of 40 percent from fiscal year 2006. The State Department is also continuing to see significant increases in student and exchange visitor visa issuances from the Middle East, which saw a 26.2 percent increase.

– State Department
November 18, 2008

Policy Group Produces Online Ranking Resource

The Institute for Higher Education Policy, a research group, has put together an online resource devoted to university rankings, which now exist in more than 30 countries. In addition, there are several international university rankings.

The Ranking Systems Clearinghouse provides links to rankings, articles and other rankings-related material. In 2006 the institute was a host of a meeting in Berlin that resulted in the formulation of the Berlin Principles on Ranking of Higher Education Institutions, a set of best practices for rankings organizations.

– IHEP news release
October 8, 2008

Boeing Gets into Ranking Game

America’s largest airplane manufacturer, the Boeing Company, plans to make public its internal assessments of college graduates’ alma maters. The ranking will reveal which college engineering programs Boeing deems to have produced the highest quality graduates. The evaluations will include both technical and non-technical skills.

Boeing also plans to offer specific critiques to engineering deans, based on the work record of their graduates. Boeing plans to use the data in three ways: to shape its recruiting and hiring; to help guide its choice of partners for academic research; and, to help it decide which colleges it will invite to share in the $100-million annually that it spends on course work and supplemental training for its employees. Results are set for release this month.

– Collegiate Times
September 30, 2008

Venezuela

Venezuela, Iran Team to Produce New Political Programs

Venezuela and Iran plan to start a new university program in the South American country with a focus on teaching socialist principles. Venezuela’s government says it plans to establish the University of Civilizations under accords recently signed with Iran.

Deputy Minister for Academic Development, Tibisay Hung, said that the program will begin in Caracas at the existing, tuition-free Bolivarian University. Hung told the state-run Bolivarian News Agency that the aim is to promote discussion of “21st century socialism.”

– Associated Press
November 17, 2008