Brazil

German Language Training in Brazil

Brazil has signed a memorandum of understanding with Germany on a program to promote the role of German in the Brazilian higher education sector. “Sprachen ohne Grenzen – Deutsch” complements an already existing academic exchange program run by the Brazilian government.

The memorandum featured in the first German-Brazilian government consultations in late August, when it was signed by Brazilian Education Minister Renato Janine Ribeiro and the German Academic Exchange Service, or DAAD.

The new program enables the DAAD to provide the Brazilian Ministry of Education with 6,000 online placement tests for German as a foreign language, as well as 1,000 licenses for online German courses at Brazilian public-funded higher education institutions. Sprachen ohne Grenzen – Deutsch is to be run up to late 2018.

Sprachen ohne Grenzen – Deutsch complements Ciência sem Fronteiras, an extensive grant program that Brazil’s President, Dilma Rousseff, announced in July 2011. Ciência sem Fronteiras seeks to internationalize Brazilian higher education and accelerate the country’s scientific and technological development by enabling stays for students in Europe and North America. The government provided funding for around 75,000 students, accompanied by private sector support for a further 26,000 students.

– University World News
September 3, 2015

Canada

Canada Urges Outbound Study

As the federal election approaches, Universities Canada has called on the country’s next government to “encourage a culture of mobility” among Canadian students. Investing in a “bold program of support” for short-term domestic and international student mobility is one of the key recommendations outlined in a policy brief released by the organization before the October 19 election. The brief, entitled ‘Crossing borders, opening minds’, describes a student leaving their home province as a “transformative experience” which “too few Canadian students” have.

In 2012-13, just 3.1% of full-time Canadian undergraduates undertook a short-term international placement, while just 2.6% had a for-credit experience abroad, and there has been little change in these figures over the past eight years. This is despite 92% of Canadian universities having exchange agreements with foreign institutions, and 97% offering international experiences such as academic coursework, field schools, work-terms and community service learning, according to Universities Canada.

An emphasis on new study destinations should be an integral part of the government’s mobility strategy, the brief says, highlighting the differences between student study destinations and student source market. An emphasis on new study destinations should be an integral part of the government’s mobility strategy, the brief says, highlighting the differences between student study destinations and student source market.

– The PIE News
September 28, 2015

Chile

Chile to Improve Technical-Professional Education

Chile will implement a program to improve the relevance, quality and efficiency of its technical-professional education system with a $90 million loan approved by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The Program to Strengthen the Technical-Professional Education was designed specifically to develop institutional ways to bring together all the actors in the field to guarantee its relevance, quality and effectiveness; adapt offerings to the needs of the productive sectors; strengthen and adapt mechanisms to guarantee their quality; and expand technical-professional education to selected regions and sectors.

“This program, on the one hand, signals the importance that Chile puts on the development of its human capital, and therefore on education, as key factors for sustaining and accelerating its development and as a tool for promoting learning throughout life – and therefore as an engine for productive development that also contributes to social mobility and inclusion,” said Marcelo Pérez, head of the IDB’s project team. “On the other hand, it is the fruit of an intense dialogue and effort to identify the possibilities of collaboration on these issues between the country and the bank.”

– Inter-American Development Bank
September 22, 2015

United States

Graduate School Enrollment is Rising in the US Thanks to Foreign Students

International students continue to fuel enrollment growth at US graduate schools, a study out this week by the US Council of Graduate Schools found. The council reported a 3.5% one-year increase overall in first-time graduate enrollment last autumn, the largest since 2009, including an 11.2% increase among temporary residents and a 1.3% increase among domestic students.

From 2004 to 2014 international students accounted for more than two-thirds of the growth in first-time enrollment headcounts at US graduate institutions, suggesting that they are becoming increasingly critical to US graduate education. The findings are based on surveys of more than 600 institutions, who reported receiving more than 2 million applications, extending more than 850,000 offers of admission and enrolling nearly 480,000 first-time graduates in autumn 2014.

A council analysis of applications by foreign students to specific academic programs this autumn found that nearly two-thirds were for admission to masters and certificate programs, challenging a long-held assumption that most are pursuing doctoral degrees. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employers will add nearly 2.4 million jobs requiring a graduate or even more advanced degree between 2012 and 2022.

– University World News
September 21, 2015

Strong Support for IIE’s Generation Study Abroad

Higher education institutions, study abroad organizations and other partners in the US have so far committed US$185m over the next five years to increase access to outbound study abroad through the Institute of International Education’s Generation Study Abroad initiative.

In addition, of the 450 colleges and universities who have joined the initiative, 84% plan to create or expand scholarships specifically for underrepresented students including minority and first generation college students.

The initiative was launched in response to the low numbers of internationally mobile US students, which IIE says make up less than 10% of the higher education population. The initiative calls on education institutions and related organizations to commit funds to expand opportunities for study abroad.

The majority of institutional partners (91%) are creating or expanding for-credit international programs, while two thirds of US institutions are increasing the number of programs that require or offer the option of study abroad.

– The PIE News
October 1, 2015