Australia
Australians Want Foreign Graduates of Australian Universities to Stay in Country
Nearly three-quarters of Australians believe international students should be encouraged to stay in the country after completing university studies, according to a survey [1] recently released by Universities Australia [2].
Approximately 80 percent of 300 business representatives surveyed and 72 percent of 1,000 members of the public said international students should be encouraged to stay in Australia on completion of their studies, particularly if sponsored by an employer.
“However, some stakeholder respondents have voiced concerns that the university system is perceived to be too heavily reliant on income from international student enrollments,” the report said. ”Participants were generally comfortable about the proportion of international students, at roughly 20 percent.”
– Newcastle Herald [3]
February 26, 2013
Study: Australia More Expensive Study Destination than UK, U.S.
The cost of tuition and living for international students in Australia has increased 166 percent since 2002, according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group [4] (BCG).
This marks a reverse of fortunes from the first decade of the new century when Australia had a cost advantage versus its two main English-language education exporting rival nations. The study estimates that total annual costs for the average international student in Australia is US$44,000, compared to $37,000 for international students in the U.S. and $30,000 for those studying in England.
The exchange rate is seen as the main culprit, with tuition increases also playing a role. After a decade of “highly favourable trends” – including the student-unfriendly U.S. market following the 2001 terror attacks – Australia faces a “less favourable strategic context” over the next decade, the BCG report says.
– The Australian [5]
March 12, 2013
Full-Time Ranking Professionals Hired at Some Australian Universities
Inside Higher Ed is reporting that some Australian universities are employing full-time managers to work with ranking agencies and to develop strategies for performing well in league tables, to the tune of something close to $100,000 a year.
The University of New South Wales recently advertised for a manager of strategic reputation, while La Trobe University was seeking a manager of institutional rankings. For $100,000, responsibilities included maintaining relationships with ranking agencies to “maximize” or “optimize” their positions in rankings.
Observers say such positions highlight the growing importance of rankings in influencing research and teaching plans. But there are concerns that the professionalized management of rankings risks warping university strategies and may prove more a marketing effort than an effort to boost the substance of an institution’s performance. Spokespeople for the universities mentioned in the Inside Higher Ed report say the positions are nothing new, and an extension of teams dedicated to compiling and reporting institutional data.
– Inside Higher Ed [6]
March 20, 2013
China
Government-Approved Recruiting Agencies in Shanghai See Drop in Interest for Overseas Study
The number of students who went to study abroad in 2012 through Shanghai-based government-approved recruiting agencies fell 20 percent year-on-year to 10,442, even as the total number of students studying overseas continued to rise, according to Chinese media reports.
The 15 agencies approved by the Ministry of Education attracted fewer clients last year in the face of stiffer competition from unauthorized agencies, and an increase in the number of students submitting their own university applications without third-party help. In addition, many international high schools and local universities now have international studies departments where students can get help if they want to study abroad, according to a Shanghai Evening Post report.
Recent years have seen an increase in the number of agencies that don’t have government approval. There are now more than 100 study abroad agencies in Shanghai, including the 15 sanctioned by the government. The agencies charge anywhere from 20,000 yuan ($3,216) to 100,000 yuan per client, according to a report in the Shanghai Evening Post.
– Shanghai Evening Post [7]
March 7, 2013
China’s Scholarly Research Output Greatly Outperforms Other Rapidly Developing Nations
In the first decade of the new century, China’s production of scholarly papers increased more than 600 percent, ranking it second behind only the United States. The overall number of papers produced by the United States is still more than double that of China—354,486 to 156,574 in 2011—but some experts predict that China will become the top producer within the next seven years.
A recent report from Thomson Reuters, Building Bricks: Exploring the Global Research and Innovation Impact of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Korea [8], looks at how China and other so-called BRICK countries in the developing world are increasingly impacting global science research.
While increased research does not necessarily mean better research, there is no doubting China’s output. In a bid to understand the impact of papers being produced by the BRICK nations, the Thomson Reuters report has used the frequency with which papers are cited in other papers as a proxy. The number of highly cited papers from China now equals that of Britain, the report says, even if the volume greatly exceeds British output. The inference being that Chinese research output is volumous, but typically not that relevant. On the innovation side of the equation, China has surpassed the United States in the number of patents filed. In 2011, 526,412 patents were filed in China, compared with 503,582 in the United States.
The report says the Chinese government will continue to push for increased production from its researchers. It plans to increase the proportion of its gross domestic product spent on research and development from 1.75 percent in 2010 to 2.2 percent in 2015, after nearly tripling its research spending as a proportion of gross domestic product since 1996 even as its GDP was growing rapidly.
– Thomson Reuters [8]
February 18, 2013
Top Universities Drop English-Language Requirement for Admissions
China’s leading universities are dropping English as one of the required subjects on their freshmen admissions examinations, according to local media reports. At most universities, English is being dropped as a requirement for the test taken by prospective science and engineering majors (who will be tested in math and physics) and for art students (who will be tested in Chinese and math). Yu Han, an enrollment officer at Tsinghua University, told the Xinhua news agency that English was eliminated in order to attract more students with exceptional talent in the subjects they plan to study.
Independent university entrance examinations are held three months before the national Gaokao central admissions examination so that these universities have the opportunity to recruit more talented students. This year, 27 top Chinese universities will hold one of the three early recruitment examinations.
– Xinhua [9]
March 17, 2013
University in New Jersey Earns Approval for China Campus
Kean University has been granted permission by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, a regional accreditation agency, to operate a branch campus in China. The accreditor had previously raised concerns about the university’s plan, after not being sought out for approval to establish the campus. The commission signed off on the operation in March, pending a site visit by the agency.
The Kean campus in southeastern Zhejiang province is being financed by the Chinese government, university officials said. Under the partnership agreement, the Chinese government has control of the campus through a board controlled by its own appointees, but all academic decisions will be made by Kean. When completed, the campus will cover more than 200 acres, and have a student capacity of 5,000 full-time students.
– The Star-Ledger [10]
March 28, 2013
Hong Kong
University Admissions Tighter Than Ever
Only a small fraction of those applying to get into Hong Kong’s publicly funded universities this fall will be accepted, and their chances of entering local universities are slimmer than ever.
A total of 82,198 candidates have registered for the university entrance examination this year, up from 71,000 last year, according to the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority [11]. The rise is due largely to a tenfold increase in independent candidates, many of whom are retaking the exam.
However, despite mounting public demand, the number of openings for first-year university students will remain unchanged from last year – about 15,000, which means just 18 percent of students applying for admission will get in. The growing number of applicants from international schools – many of whom study for the International Baccalaureate, which local universities like – makes the competition even harder, reports the South China Morning Post. The University of Hong Kong, for example, reserves about 20 percent of its first-year degree places for students who study international curriculums.
– South China Morning Post [12]
March 4, 2013
India
Drop in Demand for Business Education Leads to School Closures
A recent report from the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India [13] (ASSOCHAM ) cites poor teaching standards, absence of industry collaborations, a slowing economy, in addition to oversupply of places for the closure of hundreds of management and engineering institutions in India over the past few years.
The study, B-schools and Engineering Colleges Shut Down – Big business struggles [14], which was published in late January, found that the number of MBA places across the country grew from 95,000 in 2006-07 to 360,000 in 2011-12. However, job opportunities for MBA graduates have not increased at the same rate, with on-campus recruitment by companies down by 40 percent in 2012 compared to 2009. Additionally, just one in 10 students – not including graduates of the country’s top 20 business schools – secured a job just after graduating, compared to 54 percent of business school graduates in 2008.
More than 180 business schools closed down in 2012 in major metropolitan areas because they could not attract enough students, the study found, while another 160 institutions are struggling to survive and are expected to close in 2013. The rapid expansion of tier-2 and tier-3 management education institutes without adequate quality controls, and industry irrelevant curricula, was the primary reason behind the closures, according to ASSOCHAM officials.
– University World News [15]
February 23, 2013
British Leader’s Visit Brings India-UK Credential Equivalency Issues to Fore
The visit of British Prime Minister David Cameron to India In February brought a number of Indo-UK academic mobility hurdles into the limelight. The first, and perhaps most important for UK institutions wishing to attract Indian students, is the tightening of the rules on the UK’s post-study work visa for non-European students. The second relates to the non-equivalence of UK masters degrees in India.
The visa issue, related to stringent new post-graduation work rules which stipulate that students can stay for three years post-study only if they find ‘graduate-level jobs’ on salaries of £20,000 (US$30,600) or higher, have been blamed for a 23.5 percent overall decline in the number of Indian students who enrolled in UK higher education last year. Working after graduation helped Indian students pay off loans used to cover expensive tuition fees and living expenses. They are now reportedly looking at more affordable options with better post-graduation work opportunities; Canada and Australia, in particular. Australia and Canada now have clear-cut and attractive policies on post-study work for foreign students, while the U.S. is also considering a proposal to grant more green cards (residency permits) to international graduate students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Indian students may also be shunning one-year UK masters degrees, which are not regarded as equivalent to two-year masters degrees in India. An expert panel recently set up by the education ministry has advised the Indian government against accepting a British request to recognize the one-year masters as equivalent to the two-year masters degrees awarded by Indian institutions. The findings mean that Indians with British one-year master’s can only work in the private sector, unless they earn additional credits from an Indian university.
– University World News [16]
February 20, 2013
Building Partnerships with Indian Institutions of Education: 3 Lessons
Writing for the Chronicle of Higher Education, Cheryl Matherly, the University of Tulsa’s vice provost for global education, offers three lessons for American universities looking to build partnerships in India, based on her university’s recent experiences there.
The University of Tulsa began its efforts in India in 2010 when it was selected as one of 10 institutions for the International Academic Partnership Program India [17], run by the Institute of International Education. The rate of progress has been slow, but the learning curve steep, reports Matherly, whose first lesson learned is to ‘leave room for informed improvisation’ from original plans. She states that, ‘absent a national system for quality assurance, it is very hard to evaluate Indian institutions without spending time on the ground,’ adding that to ‘understand the quality of a particular institution requires that you spend time on the campus with Indian colleagues in order to separate promise from reality.’
The second lesson is that, ‘the complexities of the Indian higher-education system demand that foreign institutions prepare for a long-term investment…for institutions new to working with Indian institutions, it is best to start with small projects, such as faculty or student exchanges that sow the seeds for familiarity, trust, and experience between institutions before entering larger, more complex agreements.’
The final lesson relates to India expertise on home campuses by ‘cultivating campus leadership with the recent and relevant experience in India to evaluate opportunities, including faculty educated at Indian institutions. It also means generating interest among students in study abroad or other academic programs related to India to support these efforts.’
– The Chronicle of Higher Education [18]
February 26, 2013
French Presidential Delegation Signs Higher Education Collaboration Deals
A French delegation led by President François Hollande announced a raft of higher education and research joint ventures with India during a high level visit to the country in February. Hollande was accompanied by his higher education and research ministers, among others.
A joint statement by India and France announced “an ambitious education plan, including twinning of higher education institutions, mutual recognition of degrees, research collaborations and training of teachers.”
Among the French agreements signed in New Delhi were research collaborations in the space sector, and expanding ongoing collaboration in the peaceful uses of nuclear. Seventeen university collaborations were also signed including exchanges of doctoral students, and collaborations between: Delhi University and SciencesPo, Paris; the French research agency CNRS – Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique – and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore; École Centrale de Nantes and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur; and ParisTech and a consortium of seven Indian Institutes of Technology. The collaborations cover student exchange programs, scholarships, and mobility for researchers to promote joint research.
– University World News [19]
March 12, 2013
New Ranking of India’s 10 Best Institutions of Higher Education
The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISc) has been rated the best in the country by a new ranking of Indian higher education institutions based on their global academic prestige.
The Times Higher Education India Reputation Rankings [20], published for the first time this year alongside the full Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings ranked five specialist institutions as the best that India has to offer. Following IISc in the top five are the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. The first fully-fledged comprehensive university on the list is the University of Delhi, in sixth.
The Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings [21] list the world’s top 100 universities based on the results of a survey of more than 16,600 academics from all over the world. Those surveyed were asked to name a small number of the “best” institutions in their field for both teaching and research. Of the so-called “Bric” countries with rapidly expanding economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China), India is the only nation lacking a single representative in the overall world top 100.
Times Higher Education revealed that if the THE World Reputation Rankings were to list more than just the top 100, India’s top-ranked institution, IISc Bangalore, would be 130th. IIT Bombay would sit in 192nd place, but all other Indian institutions would fall outside a global top 200.
– Times Higher Education [20]
March 4, 2013
Foreign Providers Bill Passes Parliamentary Committee
Key education-related bills, including the foreign education providers bill that would allow overseas universities to open campuses in India, have been cleared by a parliamentary committee comprising members of several political parties – after a delay of more than two-and-a-half years.
Now the bill needs to be passed by the full parliament. The Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry is hoping the committee’s consensus will enable this to happen this year. Due to bottlenecks in parliamentary business over the past year, however, more than 30 bills are still pending in parliament.
– University World News [22]
March 23, 2013
Record Number of Students Caught Cheating in Bihar
More than 1,600 students have been expelled for cheating in school examinations in the northern Indian state of Bihar, officials say, with over 1.3 million students from 4,000 schools sitting the exams.
Cheating in exams is fairly common in Bihar, but the number of students and teachers caught this time is unprecedented. Officials said improved vigilance by teachers, police and surprise visits by “flying squads” of officials headed by area magistrates to examination centers were the main reasons why such a large number of students and parents were caught cheating.
The five-day examination, held by the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB), took place in March.
– BBC [23]
March 20, 2013
Japan
Japanese Universities Look to Double Overseas Enrollments By 2020
Japan’s national universities have set a goal of doubling overseas enrollments by 2020, in addition to doubling the number of programs they offer in English. The goal would be to increase the proportion of international students to 10 percent of the total student body, and offer 24,000 courses in English.
The targets, which were agreed by the Japan Association of National Universities, are aimed at reinvigorating foreign enrollments after a couple of years of stagnation following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and the strengthen of the yen against other currencies.
– The Japan Times [24]
March 10, 2013
New Interest in Overseas Study
The New York Times has reported about a renewed interest among Japanese students for study-abroad programs, particularly among young women.
While the number of overseas students from other major Asian countries like China and India has boomed, there has been a sharp drop in the number of Japanese studying abroad in recent years, from 83,000 in 2004 to fewer than 60,000 in 2009. However, experts say the downward trend is reversing, partly because of demands by major employers, which are seeking to globalize.
The turning point was around fall 2011, said Yukari Kato, executive vice president of Ryugaku Journal [25], an overseas study agency. “The government was beginning to realize they must globalize their human talent, and companies like Rakuten and Uniqlo were introducing in-house English-language policies,” she said, referring to a major online retailer and an internationally known clothing chain. Ryugaku Journal says the number of college students it arranged to send overseas rose 12 percent to 3,500 in 2012, and the number of high school students grew 94 percent.
While more Japanese students still go to the United States and China, Canada has emerged as a new popular destination for language study, college and working holidays. According to the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo, the number of student participants in study-abroad fairs at the embassy jumped to 3,643 in 2012, from 2,375 in 2010. According to the Canadian government, 3,546 Japanese students required a study visa in 2011, up from 3,238 in 2010.
The number of Japanese students going to the United States has also risen recently, after having fallen sharply over the past decade and a half. The number of Japanese students studying on U.S. campuses hit a peak of 47,000 in 1997, and then fell to 19,000 in 2011. But the number of new visas issued by the U.S. State Department to Japanese students rose 10 percent to 18,668 in 2012, from 16,811 in 2011.
– The New York Times [26]
March 24, 2013
Myanmar
British Universities Visit Myanmar, Explore Collaboration Opportunities
A group of UK universities led by the Training Gateway [27], the UK Higher Education International Unit [28] and supported by the British Council [29] visited Myanmar in February in a mission to identify opportunities for UK higher education to support the reform and development of the Myanmar higher education sector.
According to Amanda Selvaratnam, Training Gateway’s Head of Corporate Training, the overwhelming observation of the British visit was that “education is a key priority for Myanmar and that engagement with foreign universities is an approach they see as being fundamental in raising the standards of Myanmar higher education.”
Key issues that the government has already recognized after years of neglect in the higher education sector include a need to raise the age of entry into higher education from 16 to 18 in line with most western nations, improve staff skills in both teaching and research, improve the general infrastructure and develop curriculum to meet their future economic and social needs.
The UK delegation reported that all institutions they met with expressed a very strong desire to engage with international universities as a way to raise quality. This would include attracting foreign academics for short-term visits for teaching and research, supervise and examine PhD candidates, and develop plans for joint research projects. In teaching, the government wants to encourage foreign universities to run programs in Myanmar. Opportunities exist to develop joint degrees, but in the short term delivering short courses, certificate and diploma programs may prove to be the best starting point for partnerships between UK and Myanmar universities, according to Selvaratnam, who concludes that:
“The Myanmar higher education sector is open for business and is keen to engage with the UK and, at least initially, it will be those small institution to institution partnerships that will reap immediate benefits.”
– International Focus [30]
February 2013
New Zealand
Student Visa Issuances Drop 25 Percent
New Zealand has been working hard to attract more students to its universities in recent years, but the number of students being issued visas to study in the country declined by a quarter in the period between 2009 and 2012, new figures reveal. Overall, visa issuance for new and existing students was down by 10 percent.
A total of 34,700 first-time student visas were issued last year, down from 46,000 in 2009. The data excludes those who enroll in short-term English language programs on visitor visas. Officials blame the Christchurch earthquakes of 2011, the state of the global economy, questionable immigration employment policies, and a strong New Zealand dollar for the decline. There has been a decline of 36 percent in the number of international students in the Canterbury region since 2011.
New Zealand has an “ambitious target” to double its $2 billion export education sector by 2025, and has recently reformed health screening processes (saving students money), sped up visa processing and extended work rights to English language students in earthquake-hit areas.
– New Zealand Herald [31]
March 8, 2013
South Korea
University of Utah to Open Korea Campus
The University of Utah has announced that it will go ahead with plans to open its first international branch campus in South Korea.
The project is being subsidized by the South Korean government, and will be part of Songdo Global University [32], a multi-institution campus blending Korean, American, and European academic departments. The project has suffered setbacks in getting off the ground with several of its initial American partner institutions scaling back or suspending planned operations because of the global economic downturn.
Among other benefits, the South Korean government will provide the university with at least US$1.5 million a year over the first four years of operations there, in addition to a rent-free location on campus for at least five years. Utah aims to start with about 100 undergraduate and 25 graduate students studying social work, psychology, communications, writing, or English language. Degrees in bioengineering and mathematics teaching are planned for 2016. Twenty percent of the students would be from Utah studying abroad in Songdo.
“This is an opportunity that is about as risk-free as you can have,” Robert Muir, the university’s director of international operations and financial analytics, told the The Salt Lake Tribune. “We feel comfortable that we will be able to do this with no investment from the state.”
– Salt Lake Tribune [33]
March 14, 2013
Sri Lanka
Youth Protesters Demand More University Places
More than 100 protesters marched to the Higher Education Ministry in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo in March, calling for an increase in the number of public universities and university places.
According to news sources, more than 144,000 students pass the university entrance each year, but there are only spots for 22,000. The protesters were calling for the government to increase capacity to accommodate 140,000 new enrolees per year.
The Sri Lankan government is attempting to push through new legislation to allow private universities to enter the sector but so far have faced stiff opposition from leftist political parties and affiliated student unions that charge such a move would negatively impact public universities. Last year, university teachers staged a three-month strike demanding that 6 percent of gross domestic product be allocated to education. The demand was never met.
– Xinhua [34]
March 12, 2013