Australia

China Now No.1 University Partner

China has overtaken the United States as Australia’s biggest “knowledge partner” for the first time, according to a recent study by Universities Australia.

The study looked at the number of links Australian institutions have with those overseas and found that the connections with China have increased by 72 percent since 2003. With 885 university agreements with Chinese institutions, China has overtaken the U.S. (with 876 links) as Australia’s leading partner.

The survey looked at academic or research collaborations, student and staff exchanges, and overseas study programs. It found Australian institutions had 7,123 of those links with counterparts in more than 100 other countries. Almost 90 percent of the agreements with China included academic or research collaboration. Almost half included staff exchanges while a quarter incorporated student exchanges.

– Sydney Morning Herald
November 26, 2012

China

Government May Regulate Agents

The Chinese government has indicated that it may impose new rules on agents who recruit students for colleges overseas. Reports circulating in China say the Chinese education ministry is seeking opinions on possible restrictions that would let provincial authorities prevent foreign agencies from entering the market, and strengthen state supervision of domestic agents. According to reports, the first sector the government is looking to regulate is foreign-owned agents. However, the regulations are still in the proposal stage.

Increasing numbers of American colleges have been hiring agents, but the use of those paid in part on commission remains highly controversial. Chinese media outlets have recently been reporting on unscrupulous agents who have taken advantage of students.

– Voice of America
November 28, 2012

Clinical Practice Added to Medical Curriculum

Chinese authorities have said that they are to upgrade the education and training of doctors and medical practitioners who serve rural areas, to include a period of on-the-job training, under a 10-year program designed to improve medical students’ clinical practice.

It will require students to go through a two- or three-year formal residency and training in medical ethics before they can qualify to become doctors. In rural areas, as part of their training, students will be required to assist general medical practitioners. Currently, the majority of China’s medical students go straight to work as practitioners after graduation, so that the quality of their practical training is highly dependent on individual hospitals or rural medical mentors, with no uniform system for training in place across the country.

According to the official Xinhua news agency the government has made efforts to standardize medical education by publishing national standards on clinical education and by increasing cooperation between domestic medical schools and overseas institutions to learn better teaching methods.

Currently, undergraduate medical education in China is overwhelmingly theoretical, while the focus of advanced medical training has been to produce medical researchers rather than practitioners. Some 125 universities in China have been designated as the first batch of institutions to train medical students under the new scheme, some of them in collaboration with teaching hospitals, the ministry said.

Medical degrees can last from five years for a bachelor degree to eight years for an MD. The shorter degrees are for rural primary care practitioners.

– University World News
November 29, 2012

1,000 Top University Officials to Train Overseas

The Chinese government is sending some 1,000 university presidents and vice presidents of public universities overseas for training, in the hope that the nation’s institutions will soon compete with world-class systems and top universities internationally.

The officials, who began arriving in December, are going to the United States, Britain, Australia and Germany for leadership training programs, under a new 80 million yuan (US$12.8 million), five-year initiative.

Groups of leaders will be visiting institutions such as Oxford University and the University of Michigan, both of which have been training Chinese university officials for a number of years already. Officials under the current initiative will be coming mainly from poorer inland and western regions.

– University World News
December 9, 2012

2012 Study Abroad Trends

China Education Online (EOL) published a trends report in December with data related to the numbers of Chinese studying abroad in 2012. The report found that an estimated 400,000 Chinese student were overseas in 2012, with 16,000 on government scholarships and the rest self-funded or on foreign scholarships. The total increase in mobility versus 2011 was approximately 63,000.

The report also found that students are studying abroad at a younger age, with the number of TOEFL test-takers under 18 years old expanding by 30 percent in 2012. Meanwhile, SAT test-takers increased 100 percent versus 2011, and the number of high-school students continued to increase also. The number of self-funded students maintained its growth pattern, but the report predicted an oncoming slowdown.

The most popular study destinations for Chinese students in 2012 were the United States, the UK, Australia and Canada, which jointly accounted for 35 percent of the total market. In 2012-13, 30 percent of self-funded Chinese students were at U.S. institutions of education, with 21 percent in the UK, 13 percent in Australia, and 10 percent in Canada. According to a survey by EOL, 44 percent of the respondents have used agents, 43 percent didn’t use or plan not to use agents, and 13 had not yet decided.

– China Education Online
January 2013

Duke University’s China Campus Gains Government Approval, Announces Next Steps

Duke University took another step towards finalizing the deal on its proposed Kunshan, China campus after gaining preliminary approval from the Chinese government in December. Provost Peter Lange said Duke will submit its final plan for a campus on the outskirts of Shanghai to China’s education ministry by its April 2013 deadline.

The proposed Duke Kunshan University is a collaboration between Duke University in Durham, N.C., Wuhan University and the city of Kunshan. The New York Times reports a Dec. 19 ceremony marked preliminary approval of Duke’s Kunshan campus, which was initially awarded in August. Classes are expected to start there in the 2013-2014 academic year.

“Duke Kunshan University is a bold project to drive innovation in Chinese international education,” said Liu Jingnan, DKU’s designated chancellor, at the ceremony, according to a release. “It represents a real chance to explore new models of higher education in China and sets an example for other Sino-international cooperative schools.”

– The Huffington Post
January 2, 2013

Hong Kong

Students from Hong Kong to Enter Chinese Universities Without Taking Admissions Exam

A program designed to allow Hong Kong students to attend universities in mainland China without taking part in the competitive national entrance examination, the gaokao, is to be extended to more Chinese institutions despite criticisms that degrees from China are not recognized for many jobs in Hong Kong’s public sector.

Close to 1,000 Hong Kong students were permitted to attend any of 63 universities in mainland China in 2012 under an initiative announced in August 2011. The scheme will now be expanded to a total of 70 mainland institutions, after China’s Ministry of Education announced in December that seven prestigious universities – including Tsinghua, Remin, Nanjing, Zhejiang, Xi’an Jiaotong and Shanghai Jiaotong – would be allowed to recruit a proportion of their students independently of the gaokao. They join others including the universities of Peking, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Yunnan, and a number of medical schools, fine arts institutions and music conservatoires, that participated under last year’s scheme.

The scheme has been welcomed by the Hong Kong authorities as a way of relieving pressure on Hong Kong’s universities at a time when the higher education system is changing from a three-year degree system to a four-year degree system, leading to a double cohort on many Hong Kong campuses in 2012.

– University World News
December 13, 2012

China to Recognize Foreign Degrees Taught in Hong Kong

Hong Kong plays host to a large number of degree programs awarded by foreign institutions and bodies, especially those from the UK and Australia, and they are soon to be recognized in mainland China, potentially opening up a huge new market for overseas universities.

Chinese officials told delegates at a British Council conference in Beijing in January that they are close to expanding a mutual recognition agreement to cover overseas qualifications, which would attract more students from the mainland to study in the semi-autonomous region. UK institutions currently offer approximately 70 percent of the overseas programs taught in Hong Kong.

With the growth of ‘third-country’ international students – such as mainland Chinese students studying for UK degrees in Hong Kong – recognition of foreign qualifications by governments becomes essential.

– Times Higher Education
January 6, 2013

India

Just 1 in 10 Indian MBA Graduates ‘Employable’

There are an estimated 3,300 business schools in India and tens of thousands of management graduates each year. But only a small fraction of them are “employable,” or possess basic skills necessary to work in sectors ranging from marketing to finance, according to a study by a Gurgaon-based talent management firm.

The study, National Employability Report-MBA Graduates, 2012, found that India’s business schools don’t teach their students basic skills like communication, which are essential for getting management jobs. Aspiring Minds based its conclusions on a so-called “employability test” it conducted on 32,000 MBA graduates from 220 business schools across India. The test, which quizzed graduates on topics ranging from grammar to quantitative analysis, found that only 10 percent of those tested had skills that recruiters typically look for while hiring management graduates.

The study found that less than half of the students tested had some knowledge of key industry terms and concepts in their areas of specialty. For instance, a third of the surveyed students who had majored in finance, did not know what IPO – short for initial public offering – stood for. A third of all students tested lacked basic English grammar skills, a prerequisite for working in the corporate environment.

Other studies also point to how difficult it is to employ MBA graduates in India.  Earlier this year, Bangalore-based education consultancy MeritTac conducted a study of 2,264 MBA students in the country and found that only 21 percent of them were considered fit for employment. Some industry experts say that these findings are evidence that India’s MBA curriculum is flawed because of its emphasis on rote learning rather than hands-on experience.

– Wall Street Times
December 12, 2012

India to Begin Tracking International Students

As India looks to attract more foreign students to its universities, it is looking to balance state security. In doing so, the Indian government is going to begin tracking international students studying in the country, starting in April 2013.

Universities that want to admit foreign students will need to register with a new home ministry program – to be called the Foreign Student Information System (FSIS) — and will need to provide regular updates on these students.

Currently, there are approximately 25,000 foreign students in Indian higher education, with most students coming from Iran, Ethiopia, the UAE, Nepal, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.

Unlike the U.S. and the UK, India does not currently track students through a dedicated immigration regulation system. The FSIS — like the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System (SEVIS) used by the U.S. department of homeland security — will give each foreign student a unique ID number. Every three months, universities will need to provide details of every foreign student enrolled with them. These will include details of their academic performance, general conduct, and any change in academics.

– Hindustan Times
December 18, 2012

University Construction Booming

An article last year from the Hechinger Report looked at the college building boom occurring in the rural state of Bihar in describing a broader national picture of rapid infrastructure expansion in the university sector, especially in the country’s impoverished regions where India’s vast population of young people is concentrated.

Of 1.2 billion Indians, one third is under the age of 14. In Bihar, 1.7 million children under the age of six were added to the population over the past decade, a 10 percent increase. Realizing that the country’s demographic profile could be an asset in its efforts to become a world power, or a disaster that drains its resources and fuels social unrest, the Indian government has responded with an ambitious university building spree.

Dozens of new public universities are opening in India’s cities and towns, and officials say 374 new “model” colleges will be constructed in more remote areas. In 2009, the Indian government estimated that 13.6 million students were enrolled in post-secondary schools, compared to 19.5 million in the U.S. If India reaches its goals, 40 million students will be enrolled in higher education by 2020, surging past the 22 million American students expected to be enrolled by then.

The government is doubling the number of its renowned and selective Indian Institutes of Technology to 16. IIT Patna, in Bihar, opened in 2008 and is waiting to expand into a 500-acre campus in a nearby village. The Central University of Bihar, one of 15 new government-sponsored universities that aim to compete with the global elite, opened in 2009 and has been allocated 1,000 acres on the edge of Patna, the sprawling capital of Bihar. Administrators plan to grow enrollment over the next decade from 200 students to as many as 40,000.

Nonetheless, officials in Bihar and in the federal government acknowledge that the rapid expansion of public institutions will not come close to meeting growing demand for post-secondary schooling in India. Privately run colleges and universities offering distance education are filling the gap, and often their offerings are of lower quality. India also faces a faculty shortage as educated Indians opt for better-paying jobs in the private sector or teaching opportunities abroad, and it’s unclear where the country will find professors to fill its new schools.

– Hechinger Report
January 2, 2012

Malaysia

Malaysia Opens Vocational Training to Foreign Institutions

Under new plans announced by the government in December, foreign education providers will soon be permitted to offer programs in Malaysia’s vocational education sector as it looks to greatly increase economic growth and alleviate major skills shortages in the next decade.

The reform will allow for 100 percent foreign ownership of technical and vocational schools, however, international institutions will have to hope that the government’s focus on the vocational and technical sector will help boost enrollments in a country where just 10 percent of secondary students go into vocational and technical streams, well below the OECD average of 44 percent.

– The PIE News
December 29, 2012

China Recognizes 70 Malaysian Universities Under Mutual Recognition Agreement

The Chinese government has formally recognized 71 Malaysian degree-granting institutions, under an agreement that will enable Malaysia to attract many more Chinese students to its universities. Before the formalization of the agreement, which was initially signed in April 2011 between the two governments, China recognized just half a dozen Malaysian universities.

Currently there are approximately 10,000 Chinese students in Malaysia, a number the government would like to grow by at least 50 percent over the next few years. Malaysia has recognized 820 higher education institutions in China under the agreement. There are estimated to be between 3,000 and 4,000 Malaysian students in China.

– Daily Star
January 18, 2013

Chinese University to Establish a Branch Campus

Xiamen University in Fujian Province announced in January that it would open its first overseas campus in the Malaysian state of Selangor in September 2015.

According to local media reports, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak said that the branch would initially enroll 10,000 students. The student body would be divided into thirds, consisting of Chinese nationals, Malaysians and others. The primary mode of instruction will be English, though there will be a department dedicated to Chinese language and literature.

– The New York Times
January 28, 2013

New Zeland

Prioritizing Recruitment Markets

The agency responsible for promoting New Zealand education worldwide has announced that prioritizing markets will play a critical role in its strategy to grow New Zealand’s education exports.

After industry consultation, analysis of growth potential and current gaps in education provision, and ease of market access and development, Education New Zealand (ENZ) has decided to prioritize its resources in the following markets in 2013. Tier 1: China, India, Indonesia; Tier 2: Malaysia, South Korea, Middle East, Thailand, Brazil, Chile, Vietnam

For the Tier 1 countries, the agency has commissioned three market research reports – two for India and one for Indonesia. One from each country was released before the end of 2012. The second India report, and another on China, will be released in early 2013.

Japan and Europe have been targeted for further investigation to understand industry needs. In these “mature” markets ENZ will support initiatives where there is strong industry support and a clear return on investment.

– New Zealand International education news
November 16, 2012

Degree Programs Ranked According to Graduate Earning Potential

University degrees in New Zealand are being ranked by officials according to their graduates’ earning potential. A Ministry of Education report, Moving On Up – What young people earn after their tertiary education, compares what graduates earn after studying different subjects and at different levels in New Zealand.

It coincides with the launch of a tool on the http://careers.govt.nz website that uses up-to-date tertiary qualifications data and information from the Inland Revenue to give potential students a frank outlook of different careers. Five years after leaving university, a medical graduate is earning about three times the average $35,500 (US$29,869) salary of a performing arts graduate, according to the report. An engineer earns $58,287.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce said the new report and website offered important, real information about New Zealand’s industries. “The data highlights the large variation in earning potential for different types of graduates, with those studying in in-demand areas earning the most.” He said it could herald a move away from fine arts and performing arts to more career-oriented areas.

– Stuff
January 22, 2013

Singapore

University of Nevada to Fold Singapore Hand

The University of Nevada at Las Vegas said in January that it will not be renewing its contract with the Singapore Institute of Technology to offer a bachelor of science in hospitality management to SIT’s students. The university will honor its contract through 2015 by accepting one additional class of students into its two-year accelerated program.

According to Richard C. Linstrom, UNLV’s associate dean for Singapore and managing director for UNLV Singapore Limited, the two institutions couldn’t agree on tuition rates and the academic direction of the program. Under the arrangement with SIT, UNLV delivers its hospitality management program to graduates of five different polytechnic institutions, who typically transfer in between 9 and 24 credits toward a UNLV degree.

Concerns over academic equivalency to the U.S. three-year program and the financial viability of the program were cited by Linstrom as reasons for deciding not to renew the contract.

SIT was established by the Singaporean government in 2009 to provide a pathway for polytechnic graduates to earn government-subsidized four-year degrees offered by overseas universities. SIT has partnerships with 10 overseas institutions that offer one to six programs each. UNLV first set up its branch in Singapore in 2006 and operated as a stand-alone institution for several years before associating with SIT. UNLV came to Singapore under the auspices of the “Global Schoolhouse” initiative, which was launched in 2002 with the goal of attracting offshore universities and bringing 150,000 international students to the city-state. At last count, the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education identified 18 foreign branch campuses in Singapore.

However, some high-profile universities have opted to close their branches in Singapore, including the University of New South Wales, Johns Hopkins University, and, most recently, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, which announced this past fall that its Singapore campus was financially unsustainable and would be closing at some point over the next couple of years.

– Inside Higher Ed
January 16, 2013

Taiwan

Taiwan Tries Again to Enforce University Mergers

The Taiwanese government announced in November that six of the country’s national universities would merge into three. The mergers are designed to downsize the higher education system in Taiwan to reduce costs in the face of steady declines in student enrollment and a falling birth rate.

The mergers will take place between the following pairs of schools: National Taiwan University with National Taipei University of Education; National Tsinghua University with National Hsinchu University of Education; National Pingtung University of Education with National Pingtung Institute of Commerce

Previous efforts to merge institutions have failed due to institutional disagreements on a variety of issues. The Ministry of Education has now put together a screening committee to look at merger plans filed by national universities, and has released a set of regulations designed to govern the process. It is estimated that at least a quarter of Taiwan’s universities could face closure by 2020 for lack of students.

– The China Post
November 20, 2012

Government to Recognize Credentials from Additional Mainland Universities

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou said in January that the government is planning to expand the number of mainland Chinese universities from which Taiwan will recognize academic credentials, as part of efforts to attract more Mandarin-speaking students to Taiwan’s under-enrolled higher education system.

The president, who made the remarks while opening the National Conference of University and College Presidents, said the initiative is a key component of government efforts to bolster Taiwan’s higher education sector. These include encouraging academic-industrial cooperation and nurturing competitive talents, according to the president.

While there is not yet a start date for the initiative, the president hopes it will be implemented this year. Once underway the number of recognized mainland Chinese universities will be increased from the current 41 to all 112 of the top-ranking universities under China’s ‘211 Project’.

– Taiwan Today

Vietnam

Over 100,000 Vietnamese Studying Abroad

In academic year 2011/12 there were 106,104 Vietnamese studying abroad, up from 98,536 in 2010-2011, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Education and Training released in January.

The top host countries were Australia, the U.S., China, New Zealand, the UK, and Singapore. Almost 36,000 students were in Asia, while nearly 40 percent were in Australia and the United States. Approximately 90 percent of students were self-funded, a ten-fold increase compared to a decade ago.

Nguyen Xuan Vang, Director of the ministry of education’s Vietnam International Education Development said privately-funded students often prefer majors in economics and finance, while those who benefit from state-funding often choose technical, technology and management majors.

– dtinews
January 16, 2013

Regulations for Study Abroad Consultants Tightened

A number of recent scandals and demands from the public for closer scrutiny of education agents has led the government to apply tighter regulations to the business of advising international students from Vietnam.

According to Decision 05/2013/QD-TTg, proposed by the Minister of Education and Training (MoET) and issued by the Prime Minister on January 15, 2013, agencies will have to meet a number of new requirements from March 10, 2013. They will have to have VND 500 million ($23,800) in a commercial bank, while owners and agents will be required to have a university qualification and also be proficient in at least one foreign language. They will also have to be certified by MoET, and the consultancies must publicize all information about the schools and colleges with which they work in foreign countries, among other requirements. Local departments of education and training (DoET) will be responsible for implementing these requirements.

– Vietnam News
January 28, 2013