INTO Knowledge - Market News Bulletin – November 1-16, 2010

November 16- Cable: elite held gun to our heads over fees Vince Cable has claimed that the government effectively was held to ransom on tuition fees, as a group of elite universities would have ―gone private‖ if the cap had not been raised.

November 16- National university access scheme under threat The national programme to get working-class youngsters into England's universities looks set to be axed in the coming shake-up of higher education, the BBC has learned.

November 15- Students retreat from national demonstrations Student protesters plan to switch the focus of their campaign against fee rises to local sit-ins and occupations of university buildings. They are calling for a wave of occupations around the country on 24 November – a move which has split the student movement.

November 15- Higher fees ‘will make more study in the US’ "Rising numbers of British school leavers are choosing to take degrees in America attracted by generous bursary schemes, said a leading headmaster, as the cap on fees at UK universities is set to almost treble.

November 14- Fees hike will restrict access Ethnic minorities and the poor may be priced out of university. It will be a loss for them, for society and for academia, warns Nabil Ahmed

November 13- The students’ storming of Millbank Tower was just a taste of the unrest ahead Fear of disorder played midwife to this Coalition. Cast your mind back to those uncertain days in May after the election: it was the scenes of mayhem in Athens, as rioters protested over the Greek fiscal crisis.

November 10- Student protest: we are all in this together Today's protest against the education cuts was uplifting: students, staff and others from all over the country gathered in their thousands to walk the route between Embankment and Tate Britain, pausing to boo at Downing Street.

November 10- PM: Fees rise should keep foreign students charges lower Increasing tuition fees should mean future rises in foreign students' charges can be kept lower, UK Prime Minister David Cameron has said.

November 5- Sorry, students, but you’re low in the pecking order A student demo is marching through London on Wednesday protesting at university cuts and the steep rise in student fees. But government opponents should be asking themselves this: exactly how angry should we be about graduates paying more?

USA and Canada

November 15- Private-College chiefs see rise in pay Thirty presidents of private colleges each earned more than $1 million in total compensation in 2008, up from 23 the previous year, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education‘s annual salary report. 2

November 15- College study abroad suffer its first decline The number of U.S. students earning college credit abroad dipped in 2008-09, the first decline in the 22 years since the data have been tracked, a State Department-funded report out today shows. The dip is mostly due to the recession.

November 15- China props up foreign students numbers in U.S. When Li Zhou visited Washington last month, he didn't take in the sights. He stuffed envelopes, hundreds of them, addressed to college-admissions directors across the country.

November 11- The Indian Opportunity for American Higher Education The visit to India by President Obama has left us here in New Delhi feeling a little like the guests at the end of a three-day Indian wedding. The festivities were great, and the vows have filled those of us in both families—American and Indian—with great expectations. Nowhere is this truer than in the area of higher education.

November 9- U.S. Institutions see modest increases in International Graduate Enrolments After flat-lining a year ago, the number of new international students in American graduate schools climbed 3 percent this fall, according to a report released today by the Council of Graduate Schools.

Australia and New Zealand

November 15- Minister puts off contentious plans for new regulator Tertiary education Minister Chris Evans has delayed legislation for the new higher education regulator in the wake of university criticism of draft plans presented last week.

November 15- Student visa fees a ‘turn-off’ IT isn't just the high dollar that is turning off international students, but also visa conditions requiring applicants wanting to study for degrees to have about $144,000 in the bank -- more than three times the amount needed by students aiming for the US, Britain and Canada.

Asia

November 15- Malaysia losing talented graduates Malaysians living abroad and in the country give their views on the country's initiative to retain and attract highly skilled workers back home.

November 14- China-UK: New campus for Nottingham in Shanghai Nottingham University has been invited by the Shanghai city government to set up a new British-Chinese university that will be able to attract top students and faculty, the British university has announced.

Cable: elite held gun to our heads over fees By: John Gill From: Times Higher Education, November 16, 2010 http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode= 414300&c=1

Vince Cable has claimed that the government effectively was held to ransom on tuition fees, as a group of elite universities would have ―gone private‖ if the cap had not been raised.

Speaking at a conference in Manchester yesterday, the business secretary added that he does not know whether the proposed cap of £9,000 a year will be enough to ―head off‖ those considering opting out of state financial support.

―One of the reasons we are [raising the fee cap] is precisely to head off Oxford, Cambridge, the London School of Economics, University College London and a few others from going private,‖ he is reported to have said in a speech at the annual conference of the Girls‘ Schools Association.

―If we had not opened up the system, they would have a very strong incentive to do so.‖

Mr Cable‘s comments contradict the public statements made by some of the country‘s leading universities, which have frequently dismissed claims they are considering privatisation.

In a statement on the topic issued to Times Higher Education last month, Howard Davies, the LSE‘s director, says: ―I have so far seen no arguments which convince me that the school and its students would be better off as a result of ‗going private‘.‖

Mr Cable is also reported to have told delegates at the conference that ―a lot of universities are effectively broke‖ and that ―if they were in the private sector they would have been filing for bankruptcy‖.

―Various arrangements have been cobbled together to keep them going, and we can‘t continue to do that,‖ he said.

National university access scheme under threat By: Hannah Richardson From: bbc.co.uk, November 16, 2010 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11765120

The national programme to get working-class youngsters into England's universities looks set to be axed in the coming shake-up of higher education, the BBC has learned.

The threat to the Aimhigher scheme comes as universities are set to treble their tuition fees to £9,000.

Universities minister David Willetts has argued that universities should run their own programmes to improve access.

The government said any changes would be set out in a coming white paper.

Aimhigher is a partnership of 2,500 schools, 300 colleges and 100 universities which attempts to raise the aspirations of low income pupils in the early years of secondary and final years or primary school.

Its work is thought to be particularly important as universities prepare to raise their tuition fees, because those from poorer backgrounds are thought to be less likely to take on larger student loans.

It runs summer schools at universities and one-day master classes given by university staff.

It also offers support to pupils and students seeking to overcome the barriers preventing them from progressing to good exam results and ultimately university.

In 2008-9 it made more than a million visits or contacts with 2,250 schools and 300 colleges.

However, the scheme's £100m annual government funding is only guaranteed until July 2011.

Mr Willetts was asked in a Commons question to guarantee the future of the scheme but would not do so.

Instead he said: "We will place on universities an obligation to achieve the things that were previously being achieved" by schemes like Aimhigher.

Universities themselves were best placed to work out how they could improve access for poorer students, he said.

"We are looking carefully at the best and most effective way in which that can be done, but it should be for individual universities to come up with their proposals for how they can best improve access," he added.

But the head of the Aimhigher scheme in London, Dr Graeme Atherton, said it would not be appropriate for universities to run access schemes themselves, especially in the light of the plan to replace government funding with tuition fees.

"The idea that universities can do it themselves is flawed. In 18 months' time the number of students they get will define the size of their institutions.

"Students need impartial advice and support."

On the expected cuts, he added: "The big fear is that this is happening quietly and the wider public/policy community is not aware of it. 5

"At the same time as trebling fees the government is set to end the national programme to help working-class young people get to university. This decision needs to be publicly debated and discussed."

Students retreat from national demonstrations By: Richard Garner From: The Independent, November 15, 2010 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/students- retreat-from-national-demonstrations-2134196.html

Student protesters plan to switch the focus of their campaign against fee rises to local sit-ins and occupations of university buildings. They are calling for a wave of occupations around the country on 24 November – a move which has split the student movement.

It could usher in scenes reminiscent of the 1960s, when student activists – most notably at the London School of Economics – occupied university administration buildings.

"We would like to encourage students of all ages and backgrounds to take peaceful and creative forms of political protest and direct action," said the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, a coalition of student groups. "University occupations, demonstrations, banner droppings and walkouts are all welcomed as ways to show students' discontent."

Both students' and lecturers' leaders believe it will be difficult to mount another national demonstration along the lines of last Wednesday's – which ended with 57 people arrested after the Conservative Party headquarters at Millbank was occupied and its reception area trashed.

However, leaders of the National Union of Students are looking at a national lobby of Parliament to coincide with the day that MPs vote on government proposals to raise the cap on fees to £9,000 a year.

Aaron Porter, the president of the NUS, has distanced the leadership from planned walkouts and occupations. In an email to members, he said: "I am of the belief that the actions of the NCAFC could now be a risk to our wider objectives at this stage in the campaign following the fringe activities that happened on Wednesday."

Higher fees ‘will make more study in the US’ By: Joanna Sugden From: The Times, November 15, 2010 http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/education/article2807738.ece

"Rising numbers of British school leavers are choosing to take degrees in America attracted by generous bursary schemes, said a leading headmaster, as the cap on fees at UK universities is set to almost treble.

Figures published today by the Fulbright Commission indicate that in the past academic year 8,861 students from Britain studied in the USA, up 2 per cent on the previous year.

It contrasts with a 4 per cent decline in the number of students from other European countries crossing the Atlantic to attend college.

Andrew Halls, headmaster of Kings College School Wimbledon, said he had seen a ―quantum leap‖ in pupils‘ interest in studying in America since higher tuition fees were announced the Government this term.

―If the tuition fee comes in, parents and students are going to look abroad in a way that we haven‘t seen,‖ he said. ―There will be a great deal of resentment in the middle classes about serious university courses which the Government wants people to study but which are going to lead to such huge debt and higher interest rates. America is now looking much more viable.‖

Fourteen per cent of his lower sixth have committed to the US as an option for university, Mr Halls added. ―They like the thought of a liberal arts course and the fact that the best American universities are interested in all of them – not just their grades.‖

A recent US College fair held by the commission in London attracted 50 per cent more visitors than last year with 4,000 British parents and pupils wanting to see what the American higher education system could offer.

Lauren Welch, a director at the commission, said: ―British students and parents are feeling the squeeze between rising tuition and budget cuts at UK universities. The gap is closing rapidly between tuition rates in the UK and US and students are going to study where they can get most bang for their buck. Many students are saying ‗when you‘re already paying up to £9,000, what‘s another £3,000 to study in the States.‖

Hits to its website about studying in the US were up by 30 per cent compared to last year with a peak of interest to their advice centre since the Government announced plans to allow universities to charge up to £9,000-a-year for courses.

Ivy League institutions, such as Harvard and Yale, demand very high fees but because of significant endowment funds they have a large number of bursaries and scholarships to make degrees more affordable. Public universities in the US charge slightly less. The University and College Union has warned that once the new fee is introduced from 2012 England have will the most expensive public university system in the world. Students on the most costly courses will graduate from a three year degree with at least £40,000 of debt once the cost of living is included.

PM: Fees rise should keep foreign students charges lower From: bbc.co.uk, November 10, 2010 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11724431

Increasing tuition fees should mean future rises in foreign students' charges can be kept lower, UK Prime Minister David Cameron has said.

He was replying to a student at Peking University who asked about the impact of the rise on international students.

Mr Cameron said in the past fees charged to foreign students had been pushed up "as a way of keeping them down on our domestic students".

But they had "done the difficult thing" of putting up English students' fees.

The result of this was that "foreign students will still pay a significant amount of money - but we should be able to keep that growth under control".

Mr Cameron delivered his speech on the day thousands of students are protesting outside Parliament about the proposed near trebling of student fees in England.

He began his answer by saying "how much we want to welcome international students to Britain", including the estimated 85,000 students from China currently studying in the UK.

Well-funded

He said it was a "great way of forming a partnership between our countries".

"The links you will form, people to people link as powerful possibly more powerful - in the end our world will be safer and our countries safer if young people form links that make clear will work together in the commons interest of our world," he said.

Asked about the fees rise, which he said the coalition preferred to call "student contributions", he said it would do two things.

"First of all it will make sure that our universities are well funded and well supported, because our universities have to compete with universities in China and India and America.

"But the second thing those additional fees will actually mean, I think, is that we won't go on increasing so fast the fees on overseas students, because in the past we have been pushing up the fees on overseas students and using that as a way of keeping them down on our domestic students.

"So we have done the difficult thing in our government which is to put up the contributions from British students. Yes foreign students will still pay a significant amount of money, but we should be able to keep that growth under control."

Fees hike will restrict access By: Nabil Ahmed From: Times Higher Education, November 14, 2010 http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode= 414251&c=2

Ethnic minorities and the poor may be priced out of university. It will be a loss for them, for society and for academia, warns Nabil Ahmed

When I applied to university five years ago, I felt I had won life‘s golden ticket. Despite my modest household income and ethnic-minority background, I could go to one of the UK‘s best universities, with no tuition fees and only have to pay off my maintenance loan after I had finished. University did indeed change my life – I broadened my horizons and became energised about getting involved in charity work. I realised how this country continues to set academic standards globally by keeping universities accessible to all, with a student population reflecting diverse experiences and backgrounds.

But no longer. Should the coalition government‘s proposals get passed in Parliament, individuals like me will stand no chance of going to university. With the upper limit for tuition fees rising from £3,290 to £9,000 per annum, and with interest no longer set at the rate of inflation but at the market rate, too many teenagers will be terrified of heavy debt, which will balloon with each passing year of study. This will particularly affect the poor and ethnic minorities.

Members of the Browne Review committee and the coalition Cabinet, which includes 18 millionaires and only one non-white member, just don‘t get it. Even with an increased maintenance grant (£3,250), poorer students will still be paying fees that are at least double what they pay now, receiving no more support in real terms than in the present system. This will disproportionately affect Britain‘s ethnic minorities. Seventy five per cent of Britain‘s black communities live in 88 of Britain‘s poorest wards. Thirty five per cent of black children live in poverty. Nearly half of Pakistani and Bengali households live below the poverty line.

Research shows that black students already take longer to pay back student debt and these communities also face an uphill struggle to access higher education. This will only get worse.

A toxic part of the problem is the proposal to charge a market rate of interest on student debts – up to 3 per cent plus inflation. Debts will inflate year on year, and again those who will suffer most are the students from poorer backgrounds. It will particularly affect Muslim students as they have a religious aversion to interest – Islam teaches that market rates of interest are a fundamentally unethical way of dealing with debt.

But the government does not want to hear about these issues. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg had the audacity to state in a meeting with students in London at the beginning of this month that interest rates were ―not an issue‖ for Muslim students, despite most Muslim students being radically opposed to interest rate hikes. Lord Browne did not respond to an approach from Muslim students and the NUS on the same issue.

The lack of consultation, the speed at which the proposals are being rushed through Parliament and the absence of any discussion about future ramifications of the funding review have destroyed the credibility of the coalition government‘s proposals. This week, students from around the country marched in London because this generation refuses to allow an accessible education system to be demolished in Britain.

Muslim student representatives are particularly keen to send a message to Liberal Democrat MPs, who in recent elections have wooed Muslim communities, especially with regard to foreign policy. The arguments the MPs were making against tuition fees just a few months ago are the arguments that we students are making today. We are outraged that they are breaking their promise to vote against a fee increase. And, as we discuss the impact that 10

Liberal Democrat MPs are going to have on education for Muslim youth, we have been relieved and inspired by the serious response of Muslim community organisations and imams.

This is about far more than just fees: principles of accessibility are being broken; poorer and black communities are being priced out of higher education; and social inequalities will be entrenched in the next generation. For British higher education to remain an intellectual powerhouse, its doors must remain wide open to able and determined Britons, not just those that can afford it.

The students’ storming of Millbank Tower was just a taste of the unrest ahead By: Matthew d’ Ancona From: The Telegraph, November 13, 2010 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/matthewd_ancona/8131401/Th e-students-storming-of-Millbank-Tower-was-just-a-taste-of-the-unrest- ahead.html

Fear of disorder played midwife to this Coalition. Cast your mind back to those uncertain days in May after the election: it was the scenes of mayhem in Athens, as rioters protested over the Greek fiscal crisis that focused the negotiations in Whitehall, and impressed upon politicians and mandarins alike the need to reach agreement as quickly as possible, calm market nerves, and establish a stable governing partnership.

So there was a bleak symmetry in last week‘s riots in Westminster, a sharp reminder to ministers of the circumstances in which the Coalition was born six months ago. Another anniversary loomed over the unrest at Millbank Tower, too. Twenty years ago this month, Margaret Thatcher was driven from office, the grim finale to a national drama of which the poll tax riots had been a central part. Civil disorder compels the mighty to raise the iron fist. But it also invariably reminds them that they have feet of clay.

So fashionable has it become to speak of what James Surowiecki calls the ―wisdom of crowds‖ that the darker side of the mob has been all but forgotten. Last Wednesday‘s scenes of violence bore the whiff of the Eighties, and a time when the social order seemed much more frangible. Had the fire extinguisher hurled from the roof of the tower hit and killed the Metropolitan Police officer thus far identified only as ―Stu‖ – and it seems to have been a very narrow miss – the name of PC Keith Blakelock, killed during the Broadwater Farm riots in 1985, would be being invoked this weekend.

Student protest: we are in this together By:Nina Power From: The Guardian, November 10, 2010 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/10/student-protests- conservative-party-hq-occupation

Today's protest against the education cuts was uplifting: students, staff and others from all over the country gathered in their thousands to walk the route between Embankment and Tate Britain, pausing to boo at Downing Street. The weather was bright and clear, and the mood decidedly upbeat. Staff, students and others marched together under banners from colleges all over the country, while drums and chants protesting at the fees rang out for miles. There were a sizable number of Lib Dems protesting against their own party's U-turn on fees, and a sit-in outside parliament – the peace protesters who reside there were happy to give the students a quick lesson in the true meaning of anarchy.

Numbers were massive too, with around 52,000 turning out – more than double the NUS's original estimate. Police helicopters circled above the crowds, as protesters carried giant vultures, carrots, coffins and effigies of Tory politicians. But media reports will inevitably focus on one thing, namely the spontaneous occupation of and protest in Tory HQ at 30 Millbank Tower. Aaron Porter, the NUS president, was quick to condemn the breakaway protesters, describing their actions as "despicable".

As I write, about 200 people have occupied the building, and bonfires burn outside. Some arrests have been made and eight people – protesters and police officers – have been injured. Protesters have broken windows and made their way on to the roof. Twitter reports indicate that some have taken a sofa from inside Millbank and put it outside, with the quite reasonable argument that "if we're going to be kettled we may as well be comfy".

Direct action this most certainly was, the kind writers such as John Pilger have recently been calling for. It is hard to see the violence as simply the wilfulness of a small minority – it is a genuine expression of frustration against the few who seem determined to make the future a miserable, small-minded and debt-filled place for the many.

The protest as a whole was extremely important, not just because of the large numbers it attracted, and shouldn't be understood simply in economic terms as a complaint against fees. It also represented the serious anger many feel about cuts to universities as they currently stand, and the ideological devastation of the education system if the coalition gets its way. It was a protest against the narrowing of horizons; a protest against Lib Dem hypocrisy; a protest against the increasingly utilitarian approach to human life that sees degrees as nothing but "investments" by individuals, and denies any link between education and the broader social good.

The protesters – students and others – who occupied Tory HQ will no doubt continue to be condemned in the days to come. But their anger is justified: the coalition government is ruining Britain for reasons of ideological perversity. The protests in France and Greece and the student occupations here, such as the recent takeover of Deptford Town Hall by Goldsmiths students on the day cuts were announced, are indicators of a new militancy. At this point, what have we got to lose?

The best moments on any protests are when there is a real feeling of common purpose and a recognition that we are all on the same side. This is the true meaning of "big society" – the very thing that the coalition seems set on destroying, despite its rhetoric. This protest – in both its peaceful and more violent dimensions – is a sign of a country unafraid to fight back, for the first time in a long time.

Sorry, students, but you’re low in the pecking order By: Polly Toynbee From: guardian.co.uk, November 5, 2010 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/05/students-low-pain- pecking-order

A student demo is marching through London on Wednesday protesting at university cuts and the steep rise in student fees. But government opponents should be asking themselves this: exactly how angry should we be about graduates paying more? Where on the indignation-o- meter does this belong? There is a limit to how many protests can be heard as jobs, valued services and the whole public realm comes under mortal assault, the effects felt worst by those who make least noise. My own view is that graduates come quite low in that pecking order of pain.

That's not to say it won't hurt. Fees rising up to £9,000 will deter some from going to university. Those who earn least will be paying back £15 a week for 30 years while earning well below the £24,000 median salary. UK fees will be the highest in the world for state universities (the US ivy league institutions are private). Already meagre teaching and pastoral care will worsen with a , and universities will become a market in what subjects students can afford to learn. In an ideal world all education would be free, but in a world of scrimp and pinch can you make families whose children will never graduate pay in taxes for the ones born to be life's winners?

There is material enough for the students' protest, if they direct their indignation towards the main victims of education cuts – those whose life chances will be fatally damaged long before they get anywhere near university. Protest at the FTSE directors' obscene 55% pay rise this year and at £8m a year for the new head of state-owned Lloyds. Protest at housing benefit capped, evicting families from their homes, while David Cameron has been charging more – un-means tested – for his second home in Chipping Norton (with wisteria). It's time people got angry, time for long-dormant students to rampage.

Start with the wickedest cut, the abolition of the education maintenance allowance (EMA) – the £30 a week that helps young people stay in school or college, replaced by a tiny tin of hardship money for unhappy college principals to disburse in extremis. Those families who see that independent teenage income vanish will at the same time be hit by multiple other cuts – to housing and council tax benefit and childcare credits, and a 2% extra benefit cut every year. Two-thirds of students drawing the EMA are at further education colleges, the real powerhouse of opportunity and second chances: picking up those who failed at school, finding those not in education, employment or training and giving them something to aim for alongside the technical high-flyers.

Two-thirds of all those aged 16-19 study in an FE college, but you would never guess it from education debates in Westminster. Boasts about the £150m bursaries to help poorer university students have disguised the crippling £500m taken straight out of the pockets of the EMA 16- to 18-year-olds at the age that really does decide their destiny.

FE colleges, much burnished by Labour, are a greater motor for social mobility than universities that take the already polished successes. Yet FE is funded less, even at A-level stage – and now suffers another 25% cut. Their A-level students get £4,631 per head, while schools get £5,650, although the former teach twice as many of the disadvantaged, who would get free school meals in a school sixth form but not in a college. What use is a "pupil premium" that redirects more than twice the money away from boroughs like Tower Hamlets towards leafy (Tory and Lib Dem) seats like Wokingham, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Now add in the cuts to Sure Start: as funds are frozen and the ringfence removed, hard-pressed local authorities are already stealing its money for basic old people's care and child protection.

If more people pass through childhood without qualifications, their second chances are being shut down too. Everyone had the right under Labour to a free level 2 course – a five-GCSE 14 equivalent in basic vocational skills. Now that has gone: healthcare or catering assistants struggling with family and a low-paid job seeking to catch up won't be able to afford the new fees or loans, despite research showing how it sets them up for promotion and higher earnings. Government fanfares for 75,000 more apprenticeships hide the axing of Train to Gain, which gave a million people free work-related FE courses to those already employed. The one great coalition improvement is the offer of loans to part-time undergraduates, night- schoolers and Open University heroes who work, study and rear families but had no access to finance before.

So when students take to the streets next week, what should they shout for loudest? The withdrawal of the EMA for poor sixth-formers that will hit unsuspecting families hard when they find it suddenly gone. Forget Gordon Brown's 10p tax disgrace which only cost people £230 a year: snatching away £30 a week from the very poorest families with studying teenagers will be a £1,560 shocker. Demand back the right for everyone to have a second chance with a free level 2 course, and give back the free Train to Gain opportunity for the low- skilled to climb the ladder out of the minimum wage. If governments have to make hard choices, then funding those who have passed A-level and won a prized university place – whose careers will more likely lead to higher earnings – has to come after supporting the unseen and unnoticed strivers below them.

Will the Lib Dems rebel over fees? Like most of their policies, their blood bond to resist higher charges was designed to please the middle Britons they represent, often in university seats. Given the chance, on taxes, benefits or grants, Lib Dem policies tend to put the middle above the poor. It would be braver to trade in their fees pledge for a promise to restore the EMA.

As for Labour, Ed Miliband is pledged to a graduate tax and will stick to it. But in power, unless he can make university self-financing by taking more from better-off students, is that really where he would spend what precious extra education money he can find? Cynics will tell Labour to thrive by championing students. But intensive Sure Start to make all children ready to learn in primary school, with extra help so all 11-year-olds can read, write and add, will yield higher rewards per education pound than money on student grants. Alas, these make clunking demo slogans.

USA and Canada

Private-College chiefs see rise in pay By: Tamar Lewin From: The New York Times, November 15, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/us/15college.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=education& adxnnlx=1289822462-+Etmrhj/osOsjQIybCpJRw

Thirty presidents of private colleges each earned more than $1 million in total compensation in 2008, up from 23 the previous year, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education‘s annual salary report.

Over all, though, 78 percent of presidents of private colleges had total compensation packages of less than $600,000 in 2008, and half earned less than $400,000. A year earlier, 82 percent earned less than $600,000, and 58 percent less than $400,000.

―As usual, there are a few outliers,‖ said Jeffrey Selingo, editor of The Chronicle, which compiled compensation data from the tax filings of 448 private colleges with expenditures of more than $50 million. ―When looking at the very big numbers, there‘s always a lot of reasons why those people got such high compensation packages.‖

The Chronicle‘s top 10 list is a mix of presidents in different, and unusual, circumstances.

The highest-paid college president was Bernard Lander, an Orthodox rabbi and sociologist who founded Touro College in 1970 and over four decades expanded it to dozens of campuses around the world. Mr. Lander, who had a compensation package of $4,786,830, died in February. Another of the top 10, Constantine Papadakis of Drexel University ($1,626,092), died in April 2009.

The second highest paid, earning $2,777,653, was John R. Brazil of Trinity University in Texas, who resigned in January. Steven B. Sample of the University of Southern California, who also retired, earned $1,913,927.

The top 10 included only one Ivy League president, Lee C. Bollinger of Columbia University, who earned $1,753,984.

The highest-paid sitting president is R. Gerald Turner of Southern Methodist University, who earned $2,774,000. However, The Chronicle said that according to the university, $1.5 million of that total compensation was a result of Mr. Turner‘s cashing out a life insurance policy and buying his own.

Generally, large research universities pay their presidents more than liberal arts colleges. But a university‘s reputation and prestige do not guarantee a top compensation package. The president of Harvard, Drew Faust, earns $822,011, slightly less than M. Lee Pelton, the president of Willamette University, the highest-paying institution that focuses on bachelor‘s degrees.

Because of an Internal Revenue Service overhaul that changed both the period of the reports and the perks reported, the newly released results are not fully comparable with those of previous years.

Nor do they offer much insight into how the recession has affected higher education, since the period covered is the 2008 calendar year. The economic crisis did not, for the most part, affect colleges until the fall of that year, by which point most pay packages had already been negotiated and signed. 16

Given rising tuition rates and the economic crisis, The Chronicle‘s annual compensation surveys — the one covering pay at public universities will follow — always prompt debate about whether college presidents are overpaid.

Groups advocating for greater college access point to the growing pay gap between presidents and professors and the increasing problem that American families face in affording college tuition, as they call for colleges to cut back on lavish compensation.

But groups representing the colleges point to the complexity of modern universities, the difficulty of recruiting the right presidents and the need to pay enough to retain them.

Mr. Selingo said he expected pay to keep rising.

―What I‘m hearing from boards and search consultants that help place presidents is that finding the right candidate is becoming more and more difficult,‖ Mr. Selingo said. ―There have been a couple studies that showed that provosts, the chief academic officers who normally would fall in line to become president, increasingly don‘t want to become presidents.‖

College study abroad suffer its first decline By: Mary Beth Marklein From: USA Today, November 15, 2010 http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-11-15- studyabroad15_ST_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

The number of U.S. students earning college credit abroad dipped in 2008-09, the first decline in the 22 years since the data have been tracked, a State Department-funded report out today shows. The dip is mostly due to the recession.

The economic downturn also may have accelerated a trend in which students increasingly travel to less traditional destinations, says the report, based on a survey of about 3,000 colleges by the Institute of International Education, a New York-based non-profit organization.

Europe still attracted the largest share of U.S. students — more than 140,000 — but enrollments dropped 4%. They rose in Africa (16%), Asia (2%) and South America (13%). That growth was fueled in part "by new and sometimes more affordable" programs in developing countries, the report says.

"The economic situation around the world, not just the U.S., is clearly having an impact," says Peggy Blumenthal, executive vice president of the institute. Although the 2008-09 figures are the latest available, there are signs that the most recent year has begun to see an uptick in U.S. students going abroad.

For those who didn't go abroad, money wasn't the sole factor. Mexico's H1N1 virus outbreak probably contributed to a 26.3% decline in the number of U.S. students studying there, the report says. Also, many colleges pulled programs there based on State Department advisories about drug-related violence along the border, Blumenthal says.

Family finances and campus budgets were top concerns.

"I heard stories about parents losing their jobs and students who would really like to go, but could not afford it," says Howard Davison, a program coordinator for at Central Penn College in Summerdale, Pa., who canceled a 2008 student trip to Ireland.

State Department Assistant Secretary Ann Stock said study abroad is an important part of making U.S. students more world-conscious. "In a globalized economy, this just makes sense for our young people and our country," Stock said of student travel to more diverse locations.

Among the highlights of the institute's "Open Doors" report:

•260,327 U.S. students earned credit for study abroad in 2008-09, the latest year for which comprehensive data are available. That's more than double the number from a decade ago but down 0.8% from the previous year.

• In a "snapshot" survey last month of 238 colleges, 55% reported an increase in the numbers of students going abroad last fall, a sign that the 2008-09 decline could be a short-term blip.

•A similar slowdown occurred among foreign students enrolling in U.S. institutions last year. Enrollments increased 3%, to 690,923, and pumped about $20 billion into the U.S. economy, according to Commerce Department estimates. However, the growth was driven primarily by a 29.9% surge among Chinese students; more than half of countries that send large numbers of students to the USA showed decreases.

Some, such as Davison, say they are hopeful that things are turning around. He took nine students abroad last year, and returns today from seven weeks in Croatia with 17 students. They "have had their horizons not only expanded, but exploded," he says. "Students come back from this program with a new confidence." 18

The Indian Opportunity for American Higher Education By: Raymond E.Vickery Jr. From: The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 11, 2010 http://chronicle.com/article/The-Indian-Opportunity-for/125358/

The visit to India by President Obama has left us here in New Delhi feeling a little like the guests at the end of a three-day Indian wedding. The festivities were great, and the vows have filled those of us in both families—American and Indian—with great expectations. Nowhere is this truer than in the area of higher education.

While questions remain about how foreign universities can operate here, the president's trip helped focus Indian politicians and others on the importance of reforming their higher- education system.

I was in India as part of the U.S.-India Business Council's Presidential Executive Mission and as a delegate to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry's higher- education summit. I saw how much higher education means to leaders of both nations.

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama made a meeting with university students in Mumbai the centerpiece of the second day of their visit. And President Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India committed to holding an India-U.S. higher-education summit in 2011.

Everywhere I turned in Mumbai and New Delhi, it seemed, delegations of officials from American colleges were talking to their Indian counterparts. And it wasn't just the Americans who were on the scene. The Canadians and the British were here, too. The Canadians held a reception at a five-star Delhi hotel, and the British ambassador to India topped that with a dinner at the British Council.

Kapil Sibal, the minister who oversees higher education, was included in the discussions chaired by the president and prime minister. The Honorable Minister (to use the Indian form of address) painted his vision of U.S.-Indian engagement in higher education as filling a vital need of his country and offering tremendous opportunity for American institutions. He expressed optimism that the foreign-educational-institutions bill he is attempting to shepherd through the Indian Parliament will pass, allowing foreign colleges and universities to operate in India.

From the American perspective, the benefits of increased engagement with India could be many. First would be the possibility of courting more of India's best and brightest as students and scholars. Second would be the prospect of research partnerships. Third would be the possibility of larger study-abroad programs and scholarly exchanges.

Despite the mutual benefits and the excitement of the Obama trip, there are still concerns about the role of American institutions in the Indian market. Many of these concerns center on whether there is an adequate policy and legal framework in India for the participation of foreign institutions.

Lessons From Industry

Experienced India watchers remember quite well the disasters that have befallen American businesses that have attempted to enter India when such frameworks were inadequate. Foremost among such negative experiences was that of the electric-power industry.

In the 1990s, major American power companies were drawn to India by the prospects of helping to meet the country's vast needs for electric power. Under a so-called fast-track program, these companies had been assured by an Indian ministry that their participation would be welcome and mutually beneficial. 19

However, the reality was that India had not come to a consensus about foreign participation in electric power, and the policy and legal framework were not in place. The result was a disaster of major proportions as projects failed and hundreds of millions of dollars were lost.

The pending foreign-educational-institutions legislation is supposed to remove any doubts about the rules for direct participation in India by non-Indian colleges and universities. Yet the bill is not only stalled in Parliament; higher-education officials outside India have also raised major concerns. Far from reading like authorizing legislation, the legislation has the tenor of a regulatory mechanism designed to prevent fraud.

For example, the bill requires outside universities to pay an $11-million "entrance fee," a portion of which is to satisfy possible claims from dissatisfied students.

Further, the bill provides a prohibition against repatriation of income derived from India, or the use of that income for "cross subsidization" of programs outside any institution the foreign college establishes in India.

There is also a vague mandate in the pending legislation that requires the foreign college to "ensure" that the courses of study are "of quality comparable" to those offered "on its main campus."

And there remains the question of whether non-Indian universities will be subject to requirements that a portion of enrollment be reserved for students from different castes- and classes.

Despite the concerns, American institutions can move forward. They can start arranging partnerships with Indian institutions under existing law to realize the promise symbolized by the joint U.S.-India projects endorsed by President Obama and Prime Minister Singh. And higher education is not electric power. The reality is that, as with most U.S. entities entering India, the desired goals can often be achieved with reputable Indian colleagues and proper structuring.

Each case is different and depends in large measure on the aims of the American institution. Like everything else in India, the process of reaching those goals may take more time than it does in the West or other nations of Asia. Patience is required. However, for those who appreciate the reality and opportunity of India, the results in many cases will surpass what they can achieve in countries with more mature economies.

There is a very real prospect that a number of higher-education institutions in the United States will seize the Indian opportunity. The 2011 higher-education summit announced by the president and prime minister this week may well focus on the actual achievements of American universities that act swiftly, rather than on the intricacies of the process.

U.S. Institutions see modest increases in International Graduate Enrolments By: Karin Fischer From: The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 9, 2010 http://chronicle.com/article/US-Institutions-See-Modest/125306/

After flat-lining a year ago, the number of new international students in American graduate schools climbed 3 percent this fall, according to a report released today by the Council of Graduate Schools.

The latest figures should come as a relief to educators, after last year's stagnant showing led to worries about the reliance of U.S. institutions on foreign talent at the graduate level.

"It's a good thing to see strong international interest in our graduate programs," said Patrick S. Osmer, chair-elect of the council's board and vice provost for graduate studies at Ohio State University.

This fall's increase is due to a sharp uptick in enrollments of Chinese students, as well as to somewhat smaller declines in enrollments of Indian and South Korean students. The three countries are the largest sources of overseas students.

Still, total international-student enrollment, including returning students, was up just 1 percent, the smallest increase since 2006. The modest growth is a reflection of last year's sluggish new-enrollment figures.

The report, based on a survey of graduate schools conducted between September 9 and October 22, also showed distinct differences among institutions. At the 100 graduate schools with the most foreign students, international first-time enrollments increased 5 percent. At institutions outside the top 100, by comparison, enrollments were flat.

Nathan E. Bell, director of research and policy analysis at the council, says such disparities may reflect a greater investment of time and money in international recruiting on the part of some universities.

What's more, many of the institutions in the top 100, says Mr. Bell, the report's author, have "instant name recognition, globally."

China Up, India Down

Private colleges also saw greater gains, of 8 percent, in first-time foreign enrollments than did their public counterparts, which experienced just a 1-percent increase. Mr. Bell said he wasn't sure what accounted for the disparity.

Enrollments of Chinese students, however, were up across the board, regardless of institution size or type. The number of new students from China grew by 20 percent, the fifth year of double-digit increases. Total graduate enrollments from China rose 13 percent.

Enrollments from the Middle East and Turkey also climbed, by 7 percent among first-time students and 11 percent over all. The council tracks students from that region because of its strategic importance.

Meanwhile, the report suggests that the precipitous declines in enrollments from India and South Korea may have been halted. Collectively, the two countries, along with China, account for half of all international students at American graduate schools.

First-time enrollments of students from India fell by 3 percent, following a 16-percent drop in 2009. The number of new students from South Korea also decreased by 3 percent, after a 13- percent falloff the previous year. 21

Total graduate enrollments from both countries dipped 6 percent.

This year's findings suggest a "stabilization" in enrollments from South Korea and India, Mr. Bell says.

"There's a risk of overreacting" to short-term enrollment volatility, he says. Those swings may reflect factors such as the economic situation in sending countries and in the United States.

But there are longer-term, more systemic factors that could affect international enrollments, such as growing competition worldwide, increased capacity for graduate education in students' home countries, and U.S. policies that may deter students from studying in this country.

Those trends bear watching because foreign students account for about 15.5 percent of all students at American graduate schools, according to the council. They account for a far larger share at some institutions and in certain degree programs.

Some 230 graduate schools responded to the survey, a 47-percent response rate. Among its other findings, the survey showed that international first-time graduate enrollment increased in all broad fields except education and life sciences.

The survey also queried respondents about their admissions policies for applicants with three- year bachelor's degrees. European countries have moved to adopt three-year undergraduate degrees as part of a broader push to standardize higher education and increase student mobility, known as the Bologna Process.

The council found broad differences in admissions guidelines, but acceptance of the three- year degree appears to be increasing since the graduate schools' group last polled its members on the issue, in 2006. That year 18 percent of those surveyed said they would not accept Bologna three-year degrees. This year only 13 percent of respondents said they did not accept three-year degrees from European universities.

However, twice as many institutions, 26 percent, said they did not recognize such degrees from non-European countries.

China props up foreign students numbers in U.S. By: Karin Fischer From: The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 15, 2010 http://chronicle.com/article/Popularity-of-US-Among/125375/

When Li Zhou visited Washington last month, he didn't take in the sights. He stuffed envelopes, hundreds of them, addressed to college-admissions directors across the country.

The associate director of college counseling at a Beijing high school, Mr. Li needed to make sure his students were on the radar of American colleges. Among his current crop of 10th- grade advisees, 150 out of 500 already are planning to earn their college degree in America.

The students from Beijing No. 4 High School are part of a flood of Chinese students attending American colleges. Enrollments from China shot up 30 percent in the 2009-10 academic year, according to the Institute of International Education's annual "Open Doors" report, which was released this week.

The rapid increase in the number of Chinese students, however, obscures the slowing overall growth in the number of foreign students at American colleges. International enrollments rose only 3 percent, to 690,923, in 2009-10, while first-time-student figures expanded even more anemically, by just 1 percent.

The previous year, by contrast, total enrollments jumped 8 percent, while new-student numbers swelled 16 percent.

International-education experts finger the faltering economy as the prime culprit in the slowdown, limiting U.S. institutions' overseas-recruitment budgets and cutting into students' nest eggs in South Korea and Vietnam, among other countries. They also worry about systemic factors that could affect long-term international-study trends, such as growing competition worldwide and increased capacity for higher education in students' home countries.

Even the expansion in Chinese numbers is seen by many in international admissions as a mixed blessing. On one hand, full-fee-paying foreign students are of mounting importance to U.S. colleges' shaky bottom lines, and many institutions welcome them as a vital way to globalize their campuses.

At the same time, veteran educators worry about overreliance on a single sending country. Iran, for example, was once the largest source of international students—until the overthrow of the shah, in 1979, halted student travel. Likewise, Japanese enrollments contracted with the Asian financial crisis of the 1990s.

What's more, having a homogeneous international-student body does not truly increase campus diversity, says Douglas L. Christiansen, vice provost for enrollment and dean of admissions at Vanderbilt University.

"Do you want to build pipelines throughout the world," he asks, "or do you want to build pipelines to just one country?"

Many Factors at Play

Even with measured growth, the number of international students in the United States hit an all-time high in 2009-10.

And a deeper analysis of the Open Doors data suggests great variability by country, academic level, and program of study. 23

Bachelor's- and graduate-degree programs, for instance, posted modest gains, of 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively. But the number of students in associate-degree programs plummeted 7 percent in 2009-10, after growing 13 percent just a year earlier.

One reason for the drop-off, says Judith Irwin, of the Center for Global Advancement of Community Colleges, could be that, even in the best of times, many community colleges have meager recruitment budgets. Belt-tightening may have kept many of their recruiters from traveling overseas, says Ms. Irwin, who is executive vice president for global and college alliances at the membership organization.

What's more, the families of associate-degree students are often the least able to afford an overseas education and are more affected by the economic crisis. "These are parents on the margins," says Peggy Blumenthal, executive vice president of the Institute of International Education.

Enrollment in intensive-English study also declined, by 3 percent. Such enrollments typically dip in times of financial turmoil because such study can be seen as discretionary. Some students may opt for programs at home or in less expensive neighboring countries, while others hold off until the economy rebounds, says Mark W. Harris, president of ELS Language Centers, a major provider of language instruction.

Even within the population of English-language students there are differences, Mr. Harris says. Total enrollment in ELS's U.S.-based programs fell in 2009-10, he says, but the number of students signing up to polish their English after receiving provisional admission from an American college grew.

Such students might be more likely "to sweat it out," he says, despite the financial hardship of moving forward with their education.

Another factor: The economic downturn did not hit all countries evenly.

Five out of the top 10 sending countries had a decline in the number of students attending American colleges. Vietnam saw a sharp slowdown in growth: just 2 percent in 2009-10, after increases of 45 percent in each of the two previous years.

The economy is not the only dynamic at play. South Korea and Taiwan, which reported declines in American-college enrollments, have built up their own graduate programs, very likely encouraging more students to stay home. Singapore, too, has established itself as an education hub, pulling in top students from neighboring countries.

India, meanwhile, is experiencing robust economic growth, but enrollments of Indian students at American colleges have stagnated, increasing by less than 2 percent in 2009-10. As a result, China overtook India in this latest Open Doors report to become the largest source of international students in the United States.

The majority of Indian students studying in the United States do so at the graduate level, and many seek to stay and work after graduation. With U.S. job prospects dim, many young Indians are remaining home or choosing countries, like Britain and Singapore, that make it easier to work, say international-student advisers there.

Some countries, however, have posted sizable enrollment gains. The number of students from Saudi Arabia increased 25 percent in 2009-10; almost all are fully supported by government scholarships.

Over all, the number of foreign students in the United States whose primary financial source is a home government or university shot up 27 percent. The Saudi government, which runs the largest such program, recently announced that 16,000 more students have been approved for sponsored international study, says William M. Fish, president of the Washington International Education Council, which organizes an annual conference to connect American colleges and representatives of foreign embassies. 24

The Prime Mover

But the real mover is China—without the increase in Chinese students, international enrollments at U.S. colleges would have declined by more than 10,000 in 2009-10.

The rapid influx from China has mainly been among undergraduates. Their numbers climbed by 52 percent in one year.

Last month, some 35,000 prospective students and their parents thronged the China World Exhibition Center, in Beijing, paying 10 yuan (about $1.50) for the chance to speak with representatives of foreign universities.

Many students were seeking to study in traditional high-demand fields like business and engineering, but many others told Mark Poindexter, who was manning Central Michigan University's booth, "how deeply interested they are in theater or the arts or sociology."

Mr. Li, the high-school counselor in Beijing, says studying in the United States attracts students with broad and varied academic and extracurricular interests. He personally knows the downside of China's regimented system: Years ago he found himself unable to switch out of the nuclear-physics program at prestigious Tsinghua University after realizing that he had "a greater interest in human beings."

Going overseas, he says, also may be the right choice for students who don't do well enough on the gaokao, China's rigorous national college-entrance exam, to earn a spot at a top institution like Tsinghua or Peking University. Despite significant government spending on higher education, demand for places at Chinese universities far outstrips supply—and the country's growing middle class has the money to pay for an international education.

Ninety percent of Mr. Li's students who study overseas go to America. Most of them, like Nie Jianyi, skip the gaokao to prepare for the SAT and the English-language exam. For Mr. Nie, who grew up watching English-language television, it wasn't a question of whether he would study in the United States, but when. "It was just a matter of time, whether I could come in college or graduate school," he says.

Mr. Nie started classes this fall at George Washington University, where he is majoring in international relations, after a spending the summer in a special program to make international students ready for U.S. college classrooms. The students also got a taste of American culture, visiting attractions like Ben's Chili Bowl, a highly caloric Washington institution.

Colleges across the country have scrambled to accommodate the influx of Chinese students. Michigan State University went from having four Chinese freshmen in 2005, out of 202 incoming foreign students, to 445 out of 678 this fall, says James W. Cotter, director of admissions. Having so many Chinese students has led to unexpected challenges, such as outsized demand for popular majors like engineering and complaints about the quality of dining-hall rice.

Academic and administrative departments across campus have responded, says Peter F. Briggs, director of international students and scholars at Michigan State. The faculty- development office held seminars on teaching international students, while the counseling center hired a Chinese-born therapist. Mr. Briggs has named a half-dozen Chinese undergraduates to act as special advisers to his staff.

There is room to grow, Mr. Cotter says. "Have we reached the saturation point?" he asks. "We're not there yet."

Indeed, as Michigan's college-age population is expected to shrink in coming years, out-of- state students, from China and elsewhere, will be needed to fill classrooms. 25

Other U.S. colleges, too, have stepped up overseas-recruiting efforts. For institutions that are new to recruiting, or that have limited budgets, a focus on China makes sense, says Vanderbilt's Mr. Christiansen. "In China," he says, "it's almost like a gold rush."

Boom or Bust

As with any boom, there's the risk that prospects could run dry, says Mike Elms, co-founder of Hotcourses Ltd., a British company that publishes Web sites and guides for students who want to study overseas.

The Chinese government could restrict the number of students who go abroad. Other countries could cut into American market share. More and better Chinese universities could open.

And there's a demographic inevitability: China's one-child policy means that eventually the country's college-age population will decline.

Allan E. Goodman, president of the Institute of International Education, says colleges should not worry about the possibility of Chinese enrollment declines. After all, he says, every time a major source of international students has faded, another has filled its place.

India, for one, with its burgeoning middle class and insufficient domestic-university capacity, could be resurgent—a report on fall enrollments by the Council of Graduate Schools suggests that Indian students' numbers at that level may be stabilizing.

Other expanding markets are largely untapped. At a college fair that Mr. Elms recently attended in Turkey, he says, the majority of prospective students said they wanted to study in the United States, but just six of the 200 participating colleges were American.

Meanwhile, a few colleges are turning to consultants like Christopher Price, whose company, PFL Group International, recruits students in Nigeria and Pakistan, among other countries.

The Obama administration has emphasized building educational exchanges and academic partnerships in emerging markets such as India and Indonesia, making education a foundation for expanded economic, political, cultural, and social ties, says Alina L. Romanowski, deputy assistant secretary for academic programs at the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

But Victor C. Johnson, senior adviser for public policy at Nafsa: Association of International Educators, says that without a comprehensive national strategy for international-student recruitment, American colleges always will be subject to market oscillations. Right now, he says, "our policy is to take whoever wants to come and whoever wants to pay."

A survey this fall of 700 institutions suggests that U.S. colleges are becoming more aggressive, and more creative, in their efforts to attract international students. Almost two- thirds of those responding said they had tried to ensure that foreign-student numbers did not decline. Among other steps, they had established international partnerships or collaborations and expanded international-admissions staffs and recruitment budgets.

Colleges in the United States also could benefit from tough new visa policies in Australia and Britain, a controversy over recruitment practices for foreign students in Australia, and a weaker U.S. dollar.

In the end, says Ms. Blumenthal, of the Institute of International Education, "it's a race between people wanting the best education anywhere in the world and the country providing the best."

Australia and New Zealand

Minister puts off contentious plans for new regulator By: Andrew Trounson From: The Australian, November 15, 2010 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/minister-puts-off- contentious-plans-for-new-regulator/story-e6frgcjx-1225953917773

Tertiary education minister Chris Evans has delayed legislation for the new higher education regulator in the wake of university criticism of draft plans presented last week.

The legislation to create the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency is now scheduled for introduction early in the autumn sittings next year. It had been planned to introduce the legislation in the spring session which is about to come to an end.

The delay may affect the schedule for TEQSA in which the agency has been targeted to be an operational quality assurance body by July 2011, ahead of becoming a full blown regulator from January 2012.

In a statement today Senator Evans said last week's "closed consultation" with selected representatives from the sector had been "valuable" and "constructive".

"The Government will undertake further work now to address issues raised in the consultations.''

The HES understands that there was alarm and some anger at last week's meeting that the draft legislation was too punitive, and a sense that it was being rushed.

While there is relief in the sector that more time is being taken, there is likely to be some unease at plans for another round of "closed consultation" on the legislation.

Before the meeting, the Group of Eight had complained of a lack of transparency in the process and said it feared the legislation was being rammed through.

"In the coming months I anticipate holding a further consultation process similar to last week's event before the legislation is introduced early next year,'' Senator Evans said.

Student visa fees a ‘turn-off’ By: Andrew Trounson From: The Australian, November 15, 2010 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/student-visa-fees-a-turn- off/story-fn59nlz9-1225953477516

IT isn't just the high dollar that is turning off international students, but also visa conditions requiring applicants wanting to study for degrees to have about $144,000 in the bank -- more than three times the amount needed by students aiming for the US, Britain and Canada.

A comparison of visa regimes by the John Curtin Institute of Public Policy, obtained by The Australian, highlights how uncompetitive Australia has become in the wake of an immigration crackdown last year aimed at stamping out student immigration rorts.

International students coming here need to prove they have the funds to cover tuition fees and living expenses for the duration of their stay, which for a three- year degree would amount to about $144,000, the report said. In the case of a student from China, our single largest market, funds may have to be held for six consecutive months immediately before the date of application.

But among our competitors, international students only have to provide money covering a combination of first-year tuition and living costs. In the US, that amounts to about $40,500 and about $23,000-$25,000 in Canada, Britain and New Zealand.

The actual cost of Australian student visas, at $550, is almost $200 more than in Britain, and well over the $124-$152 charged in the US, Canada and New Zealand.

University of Technology Sydney vice-chancellor Ross Milbourne said yesterday the market was being hurt by a combination of factors but that the visa regime was a significant turn-off.

Professor Milbourne said Chinese education agents and the China Scholarship Council were complaining about the visa regime. "It is clear it is a major contribution," he said.

Last week, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said he and Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans planned to soon make an announcement on higher education and immigration policies.

But the tougher rules and checks for visas were undiscriminating and were discouraging bona-fide applicants who wanted to study, not migrate.

"There's been an unintended overshoot and the quality university providers are starting to be caught up in it," he said.

A middle-class family in China, for example, had to lodge up to $130,000 in a bank account for six months to show the ability to cover three years in course fees and living expenses, he said.

Professor Hilmer said a student from a first-rate Malaysian university with government sponsorship to do a PhD would be subjected to the same intensive background checks as someone with poor English coming for a low-level qualification.

Asia

Malyasia losing talented graduates By: Alycia Lim and Priya Kulasagaran From: Education Advantage, November 15, 2010 http://www.edvantage.com.sg/edvantage/features/hottopics/495090/Malaysia_losing_ta lented_graduates.html

Malaysians living abroad and in the country give their views on the country's initiative to retain and attract highly skilled workers back home.

"Above all, the citizens (young and old) need to realise that hoping for better prosperity alone isn't going to help the country. Progress can only be made when the citizens of a country feel committed to making it a better place."

THE above quote is the hope of a young Malaysian for the country in response to an old topic that has gained renewed momentum â€" the great Malaysian "brain drain".

With Malaysia's Vision 2020 dream of becoming a developed nation looming close, coupled with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's calls for an innovation-based economy, the topic seems to be a sore subject at the moment.

Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister A Kohilan Pillay revealed in Parliament last year that a total of 304,358 Malaysians had left the country between March 2008 and August 2009, a leap from the 2007 figures of 139,696.

Official statistics say that around 700,000 Malaysians are currently living abroad; harsher critics claim the number is closer to one million.

While the Talent Corporation to be set up under the Prime Minister's Department in 2011 aims to woo back some of these Malaysians, similar initiatives in the past have been problematic to say the least ("Drawing the experts home", The Star, April 25 2010).

The comment above was taken from a survey conducted by Evelyn Wong, an Economics, Politics and International Relations student from Scripps College in the United States (US), on 841 participants. She illustrates that numbers alone do not reveal the reasons why people choose to leave or stay.

With the responses of 30-odd interviewees, StarEducation takes a look at the personal opinions of young Malaysians on the exodus of talent from the country.

China-UK: New campus for Nottingham in Shanghai By: Yojana Sharma From: University World News, November 14, 2010 http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20101113060059957

Nottingham University has been invited by the Shanghai city government to set up a new British-Chinese university that will be able to attract top students and faculty, the British university has announced.

The move is seen as part of the Chinese government's push to draw more overseas academic talent, including overseas Chinese, to the country. China also hopes to attract some 10,000 more foreign students.

Elite researchers and faculty will be easier to entice to Shanghai than to other cities, such as Zhejiang, where Nottingham's successful Ningbo University campus is situated, some 220 kilometres from Shanghai. The Ningbo campus is often seen as somewhat separate from the city.

The Shanghai project, which will particularly build on Nottingham's expertise in teaching the sciences, is also part of China's strategic plan to move ahead in research, particularly in the life sciences and engineering.

China's target is to spend 2.5% of gross domestic product on research and development by 2020.

Discussions on the Shanghai campus are at an advanced stage with a possible location identified in the southern part of Shanghai and funding offered by the Chinese authorities for construction. However, the new campus is still subject to approval by the Nottingham University senate and council, and the relevant authorities in China.

Provost and CEO of the University of Nottingham Ningbo, Nick Miles, said the new Shanghai university would build on the strengths of the Ningbo campus. "It will not compete with it in any way.

"In particular, a Shanghai university campus would allow us to develop critical mass in new subject areas with a strong focus on science and technology and would provide an opportunity for further expansion," he said.

The University of Nottingham has some 39,000 students across its international campuses in the UK, Malaysia and China, with 5,000 of them in Ningbo.

The Ningbo campus has three faculties: social sciences, which includes a business school; arts and humanities; and science and engineering. It is projected to rise to a maximum of 8,000 students.

The Ningbo campus will continue to grow, particularly in engineering. However, it does not have the capacity to broaden its subject offering, said Miles. "We are aiming to attract a different set of students who want international qualifications in subjects we do not yet provide," he added, citing the life sciences, in particular biomedical life sciences.