Regional

University Ranking Based on Career Outcomes Crowns Carnegie Mellon

Online professional network LinkedIn (LI) has announced its first ever university rankings based on career outcomes across the USA, UK and Canada for specific programs. The results offer differentiation from the typical table toppers.

Employment patterns of over 300 million LinkedIn members were analyzed across eight professional categories: accounting professionals; investment bankers; finance professionals; marketers; media professionals; designers; software developers and software developers at start-ups.

Challenging existing preconceptions that an Ivy League school education delivers the best job prospects, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in the USA came out on top for most software developers and designers in the country.

In Canada, Neil Bearse from the Queen’s School of Business, which ranked first for investment bankers and marketers and second for finance professionals, commented: “LinkedIn’s data-mining is a novel approach to help paint a more representative picture. As the dominant ‘professional’ social network, LinkedIn probably has the most robust data set about graduate employment and the hiring practices of top firms.”

The London School of Economics (LSE) won out in three UK categories: marketers, investment bankers and finance professionals.

– The PIE News
October 9, 2015

Canada

McGill Continues to Dominate Maclean’s Ranking

The Maclean’s University Rankings has crowned McGill University as the top Medical Doctoral institution for the 10th year in a row—these institutions have a medical school and a broad range of research and Ph.D. programs. The University of Toronto moves back to second place.

In the Comprehensive category, which includes schools with significant research, undergraduate and graduate programs as well as professional schools, Simon Fraser regained the top spot over the University of Victoria.

In the Primarily Undergraduate category, Mount Allison in tiny Sackville, N.B., has had a firm grip on first place since 2007. The University of Northern British Columbia moves to second place from third.

– Macleans
October 30, 2014

Study Permit Issuances On Track for Record Year

Canada is on track to welcome a record number of foreign students this year, Canada’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Chris Alexander announced in November.

103,999 study permits were issued from January to September this year, an 11 percent increase from the same period in 2013 (93,717) and a 26 percent increase for the same period in 2012 (84,207).

More than half of international students entering Canada in 2013 were citizens of the following five countries: China (29,414), India (13,758), South Korea (7,284), France (7,045) and the United States (4,847).

– Government of Canada News Release
November 7, 2014

International Student Numbers Increase 11% in 2013

The Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) released its annual global report on the state of international education in Canada – A World of Learning: Canada’s Performance and Potential in International Education – in November, finding that in 2013 international student numbers had increased 11 percent over the previous year to 293,505.

The report is based on over 3,000 responses from a cross-Canada sample of 25 of CBIE’s 150 member institutions. Among other findings it was reported that 50 percent of international students intend to apply for permanent resident status in Canada in the future, while 55 percent intend to pursue additional studies in Canada following their current program.

The survey also revealed a failure to integrate among some internationals – half the students surveyed said they had made no Canadian friends. However, 90 percent of survey respondents said they were either satisfied or very satisfied with their study abroad experiences, and 61 percent said they would recommend Canada as a study destination.

China remains the top sending country with 32 percent of enrollments, followed by South Korea, India and Saudi Arabia. The top four countries combined account for 59 percent of all incoming students, while Nigeria and Russia head the list of fastest growing sending countries, up 29 percent and 24 percent respectively. Conversely, students coming from South Korea, which was once the top source country for Canada, have fallen by 16 percent in the last two years.

When asked why they chose to travel to Canada, safety (80%), the quality of its education system (78%) and a tolerant and non-discriminatory society (76%) were among the top answers.

– Canadian Bureau for International Education
November 17, 2014

United States

International SAT Test Taker Numbers Double in 8 Years

The number of international students taking the SAT doubled in the past eight years, with more than 300,000 international students taking SATs in more than 175 countries last year, according to the College Board, which administers the test.

At the same time, student visa numbers have grown, suggestive of growing international interest in the United States as a study location. Last year, about 534,300 F-1 visas were issued, roughly 47,000 more than in 2012. Ten years ago, only about 219,000 F-1 visas were issued, according to data from the U.S. State Department.

The trend has proven especially profitable for test prep companies. The Princeton Review saw a steady growth in international students seeking assistance, said international Vice President Steven Chou, especially in China, India and South Korea.

International SAT testing took place at about 1,000 test centers outside the U.S. Foreign students take the same exam as domestic students, with questions and answers both in English.

– IB Times
November 4, 2014

Chinese First-Year Enrollments at U.S. Graduate Schools Drop For First Time as India Surges

New international-enrollment numbers released in November by the Council of Graduate Schools, show that for the first time since the council’s study began, in 2004, first-time enrollment by Chinese students in graduate programs at American universities decreased this year.

In April 2013, the council reported that Chinese applications to U.S. graduate schools fell 5 percent after seven consecutive years of double-digit growth. The drop was so unexpected that the council’s then-president, Debra W. Stewart, didn’t believe it at first. The possibility that the dip was an aberration was proven unlikely this year, when the council reported applications from China fell again.

Enrollment followed suit, declining by 1 percent, according to the latest study. Followers of trends in international enrollment believe the drop is due to Chinese spending on improving its own research universities, a move that could persuade promising doctoral students to stay at home.

Overall international enrollment increased 8 percent this year, according to the latest study. That’s largely because of Indian students, whose enrollment has boomed over the past two years. It was up 40 percent last year, and grew by 27 percent this year

– The Chronicle of Higher Education
November 12, 2014

Overall International Enrollments Continue Upward March, Led Again by China

The total number of international students enrolled at U.S. universities increased by 8.1 percent, to 886,052 in 2013-14, according to the Institute of International Education’s annual Open Doors report, released in November. Meanwhile, the number of Americans studying abroad increased by 2.1 percent, to 289,408 in 2012-13.

International student enrollments at U.S. universities increased for the eighth consecutive year, with much of that growth once again being driven by a big increase in the number of students from China (up 16.5 percent), far and away the number one source of international students in the U.S. Chinese students now account for 31 percent of all international students, with huge recent growth at the undergraduate level. A decade ago, more than 80 percent of the Chinese students in the United States were at the graduate level. Today the split between undergraduate and graduate students is nearly 50-50.

While data released a week before the IIE numbers by the Council of Graduate Schools (see above) showed that the number of first-time students from China at U.S. graduate schools dipped by 1 percent this fall, the Open Doors data — which are for not this academic year but for the last — showed increases in total enrollments from China at both the undergraduate and graduate levels (up 17.9 and 11.8 percent, respectively).

To compare reports with similar time frames, IIE’s researchers note that the 11.8 percent increase in Chinese graduate-level enrollments reported by Open Doors for 2013-14 in fact closely parallels CGS’s finding from a year ago that total graduate enrollments from China (as opposed to first-time enrollments) increased by 11 percent in fall 2013. (For this current fall, CGS reported that total graduate enrollments from China increased by 3 percent despite the slight drop in first-time enrollments. The first-time enrollments are seen as an indicator of future trends as many programs take longer than a year.)

The Council of Graduate Schools has also reported big gains in enrollment from India, a finding that Open Doors is beginning to reflect as well. The number of students from India, the second-largest sending country after China, increased by 6.1 percent in 2013-14 after three years of declines, with that increase driven by growth in enrollment at the graduate level.

Rounding out the top five countries of origin for international students in the U.S., the number of students from the third-largest sending country, South Korea, dropped (down 3.7 percent) while the number of students from Saudi Arabia jumped by 21 percent. The number from Canada increased by 3.5 percent.

Outside the top five, and from smaller bases, there was double-digit growth in the number of students from Brazil (22.2 percent), Iran (16.6 percent), Kuwait (42.5 percent), and Venezuela (14 percent). Kuwait, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia all have major government-sponsored scholarship programs to send students abroad, making them increasingly important recruitment markets for American colleges.

– Inside Higher Ed
November 17, 2014

NYU Surpasses USC as top U.S. Destination for International Students

For the first time in 13 years, the University of Southern California (USC) is not the leading recruiter of international students among U.S. universities, according to the findings of the Institute for International Education’s Open Doors report (see above).

Despite an 11 percent increase in enrollments versus the previous year (10,932), USC was eclipsed in academic year 2013-14 by New York University which saw an almost 20 percent year-on-year jump in international enrollments to 11,164. The University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign also saw a double-digit percentage increase, enrolling a total of 10,843 students, while Columbia University became the fourth U.S university ever to register more than 10,000 international students, also with a close to 20 percent increase. Close behind as the fifth most popular institution was Purdue University with 9,988 international students.

– IIE Open Doors
November 2014

President Obama’s Immigration Plan Would Help Millions of Undocumented Students

President Obama’s decision to extend limited legal status to up to five million of the United States’ 11.4 million undocumented immigrants will open the doors to college to more people, if Republican governors who are opposed to the plan don’t try to stand in the way.

Beneficiaries of Mr. Obama’s executive actions will be eligible to apply for cheaper, in-state tuition and state scholarships in many more states, but federal student aid will still be off the table. Many will also be eligible for driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, and work authorization, making it easier to commute to campuses and participate in internships and work-study programs, according to experts.

Most recipients will be parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents who have been in the United States at least five years and have not committed serious crimes. Many of them are above the traditional college-going age, but some are likely to pursue a higher education to get better jobs and provide financial security for their families.

Another group to benefit are the siblings of the so-called Dreamers, young people who were brought to the United States illegally as children. A 2012 executive order known as DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, gave them a temporary reprieve from deportation and allowed them to get work permits and Social Security cards. But the program applied only to those under the age of 30 who arrived in the United States before they were 16. The president’s actions will lift those age restrictions. People can obtain deferred action by enrolling in college, so community colleges may see an influx of new students who are interested in adult basic education, certificate programs, and degree programs.

At least 18 states already offer in-state tuition to such immigrants, and a smaller number provide them with financial aid. The order would extend those tuition and scholarship benefits to the rest of the states. Some Republican governors, however, have vowed to block benefits like tuition breaks.

– The Chronicle of Higher Education
November 21, 2014

Joint Degrees Enroll Primarily Foreign Students

A recent report from the American Council on Education shows that while joint and dual degree programs with foreign institutions are often described as mechanisms for achieving deep internationalization of the curriculum, the reality is often different.

Enrollment in these programs, in which a student earns two degrees from two separate institutions in the case of a “dual” (also called a “double”) degree, or a single credential endorsed by the two institutions in the case of a “joint” degree, is heavily skewed toward non-Americans – suggesting that the programs are primarily being used for the purpose of recruiting international students to American institutions. Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of joint and dual degree programs surveyed exclusively enroll non-Americans, while 34 percent enroll a mix of foreign and domestic students and just 4 percent enroll only American students.

A total of 134 U.S. institutions responded to ACE’s survey, with 89 of those providing detailed information about the specific joint and dual degree programs offered by their institutions. Respondents described joint degree programs as more challenging to administer than dual degrees, and identified issues related to academics – such as determining course equivalencies, language and cultural differences, and teaching and grading methodologies — as more challenging to navigate than those relating to administrative “nuts and bolts” issues such as legal/regulatory and health/safety issues.

For U.S. universities with dual and joint degree programs, China was the most popular partner country, followed by France, Turkey, Germany and South Korea. Dual or joint programs in business or the physical and natural sciences made up 60 percent of all programs included in the survey.

Survey respondents identified a number of challenges that speak to issues of the sustainability of the programs, many of which have been launched within the last five years: these include challenges in regard to student enrollment, shared commitment level and expectations with the partner institution, overdependence on key faculty and administrators who originated the partnership, and shifting institutional priorities and goals.

– Inside Higher Ed
November 12, 2014