Australia

India Added to List of Study Abroad Destinations Under New Colombo Plan

Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott is keen to see “hundreds and thousands” of Australian students studying at Indian universities, according to comments made at the launch of the country’s Indo-Pacific study abroad initiative, the New Colombo Plan (NCP), in India in September.

“Presently there are thousands of Indian students studying in Australian universities, but there are very few Australian students here,” Abbott remarked, adding that this would change under the study-abroad plan.

He added that it was time to “return the favor” after some 14,000 Indian students came to study in Australia through the first iteration of the Colombo plan in 1950.

India is now Australia’s second largest source of international students, with more than 30,000 students receiving visas in 2013-14.

According to Australian government officials, 100 new university partnerships have been developed since 2012 between Australian and Indian institutions, and under the Colombo plan these partnerships will be leveraged to place Australian students in India. A further 34 neighboring countries are included in the overseas scholarship program, set to begin in 2015.

– The PIE News
September 4, 2014

Bangladesh

Foreign Universities Formally Allowed to Set Up in Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s Education Ministry has formalized a rule that allows foreign universities, branch campuses or study centers to operate in the country. Education Ministry officials said a number of foreign universities had expressed interest in establishing branches in Bangladesh. But the government had delayed the process as private university owners opposed moves to allow in foreign institutions for fear that low-quality providers would flood the market.

Reports last year indicated that some foreign universities had already been operating in violation of the law and had advertised in local newspapers to recruit students. Under the Private University Act 2010, foreign universities or their branches cannot operate any academic activities or confer degrees in Bangladesh. But the law states that government can formulate a separate rule for foreign universities and their branches.

The rule – titled “Foreign university, its branches or study centers operating Rule 2014” allows foreign universities, or their local representatives, joint venture initiatives with any local university or investors to establish and operate branches or study centers in Bangladesh.

To gain permission from the University Grants Commission, a foreign branch campus must have 2,323 square meters of floor space in rented premises or its own building, or space that can accommodate every student. It will be required to have full-time teachers for every department, program or course, a library of at least 140 square meters, and required laboratories. There are also differing financial requirements depending on the nature of the operation.

Bangladesh currently has 78 private universities with over 512,000 students, with the numbers rising dramatically in the last six years, indicating pent-up demand for higher education that cannot be absorbed by the country’s 34 public universities.

– University World News
June 12, 2014

China

71 Beijing Student Recruitment Agencies Audited, Results to Be Released

Consumer reports on quality education agencies in Beijing are set to be released by the China Consumer Commission following a first-of-its-kind audit commissioned by the Beijing Municipal Education Commission (BMEC) of the 71 state-licensed education agencies operating in China’s capital.

The Beijing Overseas Study Service Association (BOSSA) carried out the inspection and has released a report with a list of 62 agencies that passed. Once the results have been formally approved by BMEC, agency feedback will be publicly released. According to BOSSA, 125,198 students traveled overseas to study through licensed Beijing-based agencies last year, an increase of 8.5 percent over 2012 accounting for around 25 percent of all Chinese students who study abroad.

The report also sheds light on the size and type of study abroad businesses operating in Beijing showing that the majority are small to medium-sized operations sending no more than 500 students abroad each year. The audit found nine agencies did not pass muster and are currently undergoing improvements based on BOSSA recommendations. BOSSA expects to release revised reports based on this work in Fall this year.

The inspection, which began last year, follows reports of a potential government crackdown on agencies as demand for study abroad continues to grow. There are around 450 licensed agencies operating in China, but thousands of unlicensed businesses.

– The PIE News
August 28, 2014

Duke University Opens its New China Campus Doors

Duke Kunshan University, a new joint venture in higher education between China and the United States, welcomed its first students in August, joining New York University Shanghai, which opened in 2012.

The university in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, was established by Duke University and Wuhan University in Hubei province. The university said it would blend liberal education with Chinese tradition in a new approach to elite higher education. It offers degree and non-degree academic programs for students from China and around the world.

DKU’s masters programs in global health, medical physics and management studies have attracted 42 graduate students from 11 countries including China, the United States, Russia, Argentina, Kenya and Singapore. They will receive degrees from Duke upon successful completion of their program.

– China Daily
August 25, 2014

English-taught MBA Programs Booming in China

In the past decade China has not only become a magnet for overseas university students, it has also seen the launch of a growing number of management and finance programs in the English language. In fact, in 2012 China was the third most popular destination for globally mobile students at the higher education level, according to the Institute of International Education.

Certainly, provision of business education in English in China appears to be accelerating. This month the Chinese University of Hong Kong will welcome the first students on its Shenzhen campus, just across the border from Hong Kong. All the undergraduate programs will be taught in English, and the university plans to add graduate management and finance programs later.

The Shenzhen initiative follows hot on the heels of London Business School’s announcement in June that it would team up with Fudan University in Shanghai to teach a double degree masters in management program from September 2015. High-flying Fudan also has tie-ups with MIT Sloan School of Management, the Olin Business School at Washington University in St Louis, BI Norwegian Business School, the University of Hong Kong, Korea University Business School, and NUS Business School in Singapore.

Also in June came the news that Cornell University’s Johnson School and Tsinghua University in Beijing would be teaching a double degree MBA together. Tsinghua is known for its 17-year collaboration with MIT, and runs an Executive MBA program with Insead, which has campuses in France, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. Similarly, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business has just launched its first program from its joint venture with Wuhan University in Kunshan in Jiangsu province near Shanghai.

China’s University of International Business and Economics in Shanghai, which is ranked 17th in the FT Global MBA 2014 ranking, attracts large numbers of international students. Established in 1994 as a joint venture between the Chinese government and the European Commission, the autonomous school is also able to pick from among the best Chinese applicants.

– Financial Times
August 31, 2014

UC Berkeley to Open Joint Research Institute with Tsinghua U

Tsinghua University and the University of California, Berkeley, signed an agreement in September to establish a joint institute in the special economic zone of Shenzhen in South China to promote research collaboration and graduate student education. The two universities aim to integrate their research programs to address social needs and global challenges through the partnership, said UC Berkeley’s Chancellor Nicholas B. Dirks at the signing ceremony.

Under the agreement, the Tsinghua-UC Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, to be located on Tsinghua’s Shenzhen campus, will be launched by the end of the year. The institute will start with research centers in three areas: nanotechnology and nanomedicine, low-carbon and new energy technologies, and data science and next-generation Internet.

It intends to start enrolling doctoral students early next year and master’s students in 2016. “There will be about 50 doctoral students, 30 percent of them from abroad,” said Tsinghua University President Chen Jining.

– China Daily
September 8, 2014

Agreement Signed for joint Russo-Chinese University

A founding agreement on the establishment of a joint Russo-Chinese International University has been signed between Russia’s top-ranking Moscow State University and Beijing Polytechnic University. According to MSU officials, this is the first time in the 260-year history of Moscow State University that a joint university is being established.

The idea of establishing a joint institution of higher learning was suggested by the Chinese. A memorandum was signed in September 2013. The university is to be built at the expense of the city of Shenzhen, a special economic manufacturing hub in the south of China. Moscow’s contribution will be in the provision of educational programs and research development. Chinese students will account for about 80 percent of enrollment and those from Russia and Central Asian countries will account for most of the remaining 20 percent of the intake.

– ITAR-TASS
September 5, 2014

India

Four-Year Degree Controversy Spills Over to IITs

The battle to halt the teaching of Delhi University’s controversial four-year undergraduate degrees and revert back to three-year degrees has expanded to include the prestigious Indian institutes of technology (IITs) and private higher education institutions.

Higher education regulatory and funding body the University Grants Commission, wrote to the country’s 16 autonomous IITs and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore in a bid to compel them to change their four-year undergraduate programs. The UGC has also turned to private institutions such as Shiv Nadar University, Azim Premji University and OP Jindal Global University – some of which recently set up American-style four-year undergraduate liberal arts degrees – and told them to conform with UGC rules.

IISc Bangalore was forced in August to change its four-year bachelor of science degree – first offered in 2011 to improve students’ research skills – to a BSc research degree option and offer a three-year BSc as well, to conform to the UGC’s regulations.

However, the move has sparked anger within the IITs – autonomous engineering institutions that are governed by their own act of parliament rather than UGC regulations. IITs are directly funded by the central government, not the UGC. Some institutions are fighting back, insisting such decisions by the UGC impinge on their autonomy.

– University World News
August 28, 2014

State of Kerala Floats Idea of Establishing International Higher Ed Hub

Kerala’s state government is planning to establish an international higher education hub modeled after Dubai International Academic City, the world’s largest free zone dedicated to higher education, to help combat brain drain and attract international students, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has announced.

“The committee has recommended different locations for establishing the Academic City,” he continued. “A suitable location will be identified and necessary follow-up action will be taken.”

Three potential sites are under consideration, close to either the Kerala University campus, the proposed Knowledge City at Thonakkal or the Calicut University campus. The committee has also proposed a global educational meeting at the site every year to position the state as an education hub, along with global road shows and fairs to promote the city in cooperation with the state’s tourism department.

– The PIE News
September 16, 2014

Tertiary Enrollment Ratio Hits New High

The gross enrollment ratio for higher education rose to 16 percent in India last year, as compared to 11 percent in 2008. The ratio is expected to increase to 21 percent by 2021, according to government estimates.

– The Hindu
September 11, 2014

Government Issues Guidelines for Uniformity Among Central Universities

In a bid to create uniformity among central universities, India’s Human Resource Development Ministry has decided to frame guidelines for common admission, common curricula, student and faculty mobility and a national system of credit transfers. The idea of developing a national ranking system of central universities has also been floated.

These decisions were taken in the two-day retreat of HRD minister Smriti Irani with vice-chancellors of central universities in Chandigarh. A committee comprising vice-chancellors of the central universities of Kerala, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Baba Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Tripura, Delhi and Pondicherry University has been constituted to frame the guidelines. The committee has been asked to submit its report within a month.

However, there could be practical problems related to implementation. A former HRD ministry official said: “Attempts to have a common admission during Kapil Sibal’s term also did not materialize. It remained confined to 14 central universities created in 2009. Old universities did not agree.”

– Times of India
September 14, 2014

India Ranks as Least Expensive Study Abroad Location

India is the least expensive foreign education destination for undergraduate students among 15 countries studied, and Australia is the most expensive, according to a survey by the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd (HSBC).

“India has emerged as the least expensive foreign destination for university undergraduate students among a list of 15 countries. Australia, Singapore and USA occupy the top three positions (respectively) in the expenditure chart for overseas students,” HSBC said in its survey titled The Value of Education: Springboard for Success.

The survey found that the average annual costs for an undergraduate international student in India is $5,642, including tuition fees and living costs. In Australia, it is almost seven and half times higher. In Singapore, the average annual expense for a foreign student is $39,229 and in the U.S., it is $36,564.

For a comparison within developing nations, a foreign student spends on average $12,627 in Brazil, $10,729 in China and $9,460 in Mexico for their annual tuition and living costs, the survey found.

– LiveMint
September 10, 2014

New Zealand

International Enrollments Experience Strong Growth

New Zealand’s universities saw significant international enrollment growth in the first three months of the year, with an 8 percent overall increase, an additional 5,100 students, to a total of 67,387 compared to the same January to April period in 2013.

It is estimated that the value of New Zealand’s international education industry has increased by NZ$100 million (US$82.5 million). This figure includes a 10 percent increase in tuition fee income for the industry.

Enrollments from India represented the biggest increase, up 41 percent, while enrollments from China grew by 12 percent.

– Education New Zealand
August 22, 2014 

South Korea

Government Looks to Ease Regulations on Foreign Education Providers

Looking to attract more international students to the country, the Korean government has proposed easing regulations to enable foreign institutions of education to jointly establish schools in Korea.

In August, the Ministry of Education announced the policies, which it hopes will attract top international schools to open campuses in Korea in education hubs and free economic zones – such as Songdo in Incheon – and to also boost the number of foreign students, particularly from Asian countries.

Previously, foreign institutions of higher education were not able to establish campuses in Korea as joint ventures with institutes there. However, the recent change is expected to help attract more prestigious foreign schools to the country, which, in turn, would provide more incentive for Korean students to study domestically.

The government has also proposed allowing private academies and other training institutions, such as language-training or cooking schools, to become eligible to enroll students on study visas. This is currently limited to students at universities.

“The visa policy will be reviewed after a trial-run next year,” an Education Ministry official confirmed.

– Korea JongAng Daily
August 13, 2014

Two Foreign Providers Open University Campuses

Belgium’s Ghent University has opened a branch in South Korea’s Incheon free economic zone (IFEZ) becoming the first European institution to open a campus in Korea – and a ceremony that marked the opening of a branch of America’s University of Utah was held recently in the free economic zone in Songdo.

Ghent University, one of the top-rated schools in the world for bioscience, is expected to offer classes to some 900 local and foreign students, with the University of Utah offering classes to some 270 students in psychology, journalism and social welfare. With the opening of the two new foreign branches, the number of foreign universities in Korea has risen to four. The foreign institutions are partly aimed at attracting foreign investors to the IFEZ located near Incheon International Airport, the main gateway to the capital, Seoul.

– Yonhap
September 1, 2014

Vietnam

Japan Medical University Given Green Light

The Vietnamese government has given the go-ahead for the establishment of the Tokyo Vietnam Medical University, which will operate as a non-profit foreign-invested higher education institution.

The university, to be located in the northern Vietnamese province of Hung Yen, will be backed by Japan’s Waseda Health Sciences Education Corporation and a number of Japanese individuals and organizations.

The university will offer four-year degree programs and three-year associate’s medical degree programs. The institutions will also offer research programs connected to medical technology application.

In July, another Japanese collaboration was approved, Vietnam-Japan University, which will operate in conjunction with Vietnam National University-Hanoi. The estimated investment for the university to be constructed in Hoa Lac High-Tech Park to the west of the Vietnamese capital city is around US$330 million.

– Tuoi Tre News
August 1, 2014