Market News Bulletin: 12Th September – 9Th October 2015

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MARKET NEWS BULLETIN: 12TH SEPTEMBER – 9TH OCTOBER 2015

Compiled by Jamie Aston

Contents

Summary Section - UK

- USA and Canada

- Australia and New Zealand

- Asia

- International

Full Articles - UK

- USA and Canada

- Australia and New Zealand

- Asia

- International

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Summary Section

UK Back to top

The value of international students goes far beyond fees :: The Independent :: 9th October

How will new government immigration policies affect international students? Russ Thorne finds that universities report confusion from applicants and concern for our global reputation

UK risks losing battle for international students :: Financial Times :: 7th October

Without foreign students, many British university courses would not be viable. That includes some of the most important to the country’s success: postgraduate courses in science, technology and engineering.

Theresa May: rules ‘must be enforced’ on overseas students :: Times Higher Education :: 6th October

Home secretary takes swipe at university ‘lobbyists’ but no mention about speculation that she has lost support of Cameron on students being included in net migration count

University rankings: UK 'a stand-out performer' :: BBC :: 30th September

The UK has 34 universities in the Times Higher Education ranking of the world's top 200 institutions.

USA and Canada Back to top

US universities invest $185 million in study abroad :: Times Higher Education :: 5th October

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Institutions signed up to IIE’s Generation Study Abroad initiative have pledged to create scholarships for under-represented students, says report

THE rankings: Europe looking strong, US losing grip on top spots :: The Pie News :: 2nd October

European universities are making their way up the league table, according to the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings, as US institutions lose their dominance in the high end of the rankings.

International students driving growth in US graduate programmes :: ICEF Monitor :: 28th September

The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) reported earlier this month that first-time graduate enrolment in the US grew 3.5% between fall 2013 and fall 2014. This represents the largest, single-year increase since 2009 and certainly bodes well for future enrolment trends. However, total graduate enrolment in America remains below the recent-year peak of 2009 and grew by only 0.4% overall between 2013 and 2014.

Court ruling places US post-study STEM work rights at risk :: ICEF Monitor :: 23rd September

A US federal court has set aside key post-study work provisions for foreign students in the US. In a 12 August 2015 ruling, Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle invalidated the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) 2008 17-month Optional Practical Training (OPT) extension rule.

Land of opportunity or land of disappointment? Expectations and reality for admitted international students :: eAdventures :: 22nd September

This summer, China has been in economic turmoil. Legions of Chinese international students must also be in turmoil. Those who are enrolled in U.S. institutions are seeing their tuition costs skyrocket due to devalued currency. Those who are considering a U.S. higher education are seeing the cost barrier to entry rise.

US universities see 32% increase in Indian enrolment in 2015 :: ICEF Monitor :: 16th September

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The latest indicator of surging Indian enrolment in US education comes in the form of the August 2015 SEVIS by the Numbers report from the US government. Combined with data presented via a new interactive mapping tool, the figures show that the number of Indian students in the US grew from 113,649 in July 2014 to 149,999 in July 2015 – for a year-over- year increase of 31.98%.

Canada introduces new travel authorisation requirement :: ICEF Monitor :: 14th September

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is moving to implement a new Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) requirement for foreign visitors this year, including international students.

Australia and New Zealand Back to top

Universities Australia Pushes for Radical New Higher Education Strategy :: Study International :: 8th October

Universities Australia has launched a new policy statement called “Keep it Clever”, urging for major investment in research and innovation throughout Australia’s higher education sector.

Turnbull government shelves controversial university reforms in major departure from Abbott era :: Sydney Morning Herald :: 1st October

The Turnbull government has dropped its plan to allow universities to set their own fees from next year, and will go back to the drawing board on higher education reform.

Australia: sector welcomes new ministerial line-up :: The Pie News :: 24th September

International education stakeholders have welcomed a raft of new ministerial appointments under Australia’s new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who ousted the increasingly unpopular former leader Tony Abbott earlier this month.

Asia Back to top

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UK and China strengthen educational ties with new bilateral agreements :: ICEF Monitor :; 6th October

Education plays a significant role in bilateral relations, to say nothing of trade, between the UK and China. Nearly 90,000 Chinese students studied in the UK in 2013/14, representing an increase of 5% over the year prior and 50% growth over the previous five years. Another 50,233 students were enrolled in British transnational education (TNE) programmes delivered in China in that same year. Here too student numbers have increased by 50% over the past five years, and 18% from 2012/13 to 2013/14 alone.

UK-China agreements signal ‘new phase of education collaboration’ :: The Pie News :: 22nd September

The eighth UK-China Education Summit saw the signing of 23 education agreements to further collaboration and increase student mobility, which UK Minister for Universities and Science Jo Johnson said signalled a “new phase of scientific and educational collaboration on an unprecedented scale” between the two countries.

Singapore shines in QS World University Rankings shake-up :: The Pie News :: 18th September

Changes to methodology have led to some unexpected changes in this year’s QS World University Rankings, with two of the fastest risers, Singapore’s universities, two entering the top 15 for the first time. Nevertheless, MIT has scooped the top spot for the fourth year running.

International Back to top

Pipeline to progress – how the pathway market is a defining trend in international education :: The Pie News :: 8th October

“Just because students have an iPhone doesn’t mean they understand Western academic culture,” says Daniel Guhr, Managing Director of US-based Illuminate Consulting Group. Guhr has become a pathway expert by virtue of his extensive research work in the field, most recently surveying the Canadian and US pathway landscape for two leading global pathways providers and an education ministry.

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Worldwide pathways worth $825m a year; Europe to see growth :: The Pie News :: 17th September

The English-medium foundation programme market is worth an estimated US$825m per year, according to a report from StudyPortals and Cambridge English. The UK dominates the market in terms of course numbers but continental Europe is expected to see considerable growth in the coming years, the report found.

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Full Articles

UK Back to top

The value of international students goes far beyond fees By Independent staff :: The Independent :: 9th October http://www.independent.co.uk/student/shu/the-value-of-international-students-goes-far- beyond-fees-a6687566.html

Recent changes to immigration rules are causing concern for universities and prospective international students alike. New provisions include requiring students to have more savings on arrival and a review of the minimum salary for Tier 2 visas (the most common route for non-EU nationals to stay in the UK after graduation).

According to Dr Iain MacPhee, dean for international education at the Institute of Medical and Biomedical Education, St George’s, University of London, it’s still too early to gauge the true impact of the changes on student choice to study in the UK. However, there have been immediate consequences. “We are seeing more enquiries from students who are confused by the increasing complexities of the immigration rules,” he says.

The speed and enforcement of the changes is also affecting the way the UK is seen overseas, suggests James Richardson, director of international development at Sheffield Hallam University. “It gives the impression that the UK isn't very welcoming, especially compared to other countries like Australia and America, who are putting out an increasingly positive message about international students.”

In addition, the new rules are reinforcing the negative impression made by removing the post- study work visa (in 2012), Richardson continues. He argues that by discontinuing the visa, the perception created of the UK’s attitude to international students was “‘Come here, pay your fee and clear off. You have no value to the wider economy.’ These changes are not helping to counter that perception.”

Yet the presence of international students has immense cultural value to UK institutions, says Andrew Bird, head of international marketing and student recruitment at Bournemouth University. “To produce global citizens you need to provide a forum for that to happen, and where better than a university to support the leaders of tomorrow to interact and get to know each other in a supported environment?”

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Indeed, a diverse cultural experience is exactly what UK students are looking for. “Increasingly they ask about the nationality mix on their course,” says Bird. “Not because they see cultural diversity as a negative but because they recognise the importance of meeting and working with people from different backgrounds in their future careers.”

Of course, the financial value of international students to universities is undeniable and Richardson acknowledges that it would be “remiss” of him to ignore it. But he urges prospective students to look beyond the restrictions and the headlines about the UK. “Our universities and the communities in which they’re located are ready to welcome them and support them. We value the contribution they bring to our university, it’s much more than the tuition fees: we wouldn’t be half the institution we are without our international students.”

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UK risks losing battle for international students By Michael Skapinker :: Financial Times :: 7th October http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9141dcf0-690f-11e5-a57f-21b88f7d973f.html#axzz3o50xbU6z

Universities in the UK received two bits of good news in the past week. Thirty-four UK institutions made it into the top 200 of the 2015 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, compared with 29 last year.

And the Higher Education Policy Institute think-tank, in a study headlined “Now that’s what we call soft power”, identified 55 presidents, prime ministers and monarchs who had received post-school education in the UK, including Malcolm Turnbull, Australia’s prime minister, and Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president.

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email [email protected] to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9141dcf0-690f-11e5-a57f-21b88f7d973f.html#ixzz3o52Tedqc

The value of attracting international students goes beyond having senior people around the world with an affection for the UK.

But the UK is losing many of these students, just when other countries are desperate to have them.

It is not just traditional English-speaking competitors such as the US, Australia and Canada that are attracting foreign students.

Universities in the Netherlands and Germany rose up the rankings this year, and a growing number of them are providing courses in English.

At first glance, the decline in students coming to the UK from outside Europe does not look too alarming. The numbers starting courses fell 1.7 per cent between 2010 and 2012, according to a report last year by Universities UK, which represents 132 university leaders.

But that is a fall in a fast-growing market for international students and behind the decline are some significant shifts. There has been a big increase in Chinese students coming to the UK — 56,535 in 2012, compared with 25,645 in 2007. By contrast, Indian student numbers, which were 23,985 in 2010, fell to 12,280 in 2012.

Why does this matter? A high proportion of Indian students in the UK are postgraduates whereas Chinese students include bigger numbers of undergraduates.

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Also, 49 per cent of Chinese students are doing business studies courses. Along with the near halving of Indian student numbers has come a 10 per cent fall in international students taking science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses, with taught postgraduate courses particularly badly hit. Universities UK says that falls in postgraduate numbers can make it difficult to run these courses.

While the UK is losing Indian students, the numbers entering US and Australian universities are increasing, according to Universities UK.

Why is the UK losing Indian students? First, because of a perception that Indians are unwelcome, fed by a government plan, later abandoned, to demand that Indian tourists pay a £3,000 bond to visit the UK.

Second, the UK government has severely cut back foreign students’ previous right to stay on to work for two years after graduation.

A 2013 survey of Indian nationals considering studying abroad found that 91 per cent thought the UK’s restrictions on postgraduate work would put off some or most students.

By contrast, Australia reacted to an earlier downturn in foreign students by allowing graduates to stay on to work for between two and four years, while science and technology graduates in the US can stay for up to 29 months.

The Australian and US programmes are significant, because, as in the UK, there is strong anti-immigration feeling in both countries.

In the UK, however, the government has persistently refused to distinguish between foreign students and immigrants. As Oxford university’s Migration Observatory has pointed out, the government would have a far better chance of reaching its goal of reducing net migration to the UK to the tens of thousands if it did not count students in the total.

Voters are not demanding that students be kicked out as soon as they graduate. Forty-eight per cent of Conservative supporters believe students should be allowed to stay as long as they have work, and a further 16 per cent think they should be allowed to stay for at least two years, according to a 2014 poll. Even 56 per cent of UK Independence party voters agree students should be allowed to stay for at least two years.

Given the damage to the UK’s universities, the government’s refusal to budge is baffling.

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Theresa May: rules ‘must be enforced’ on overseas students By John Morgan :: Times Higher Education :: 6th October https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/theresa-may-rules-must-be-enforced- overseas-students

Theresa May has told universities in a speech to the Conservative Party conference that she “doesn’t care” what their “lobbyists” say on overseas students.

The home secretary made the comments in relation to international students not returning to their home countries after the expiry of visas as she insisted that the rules needed to be “enforced”.

Her speech came as a report in today’s Times suggested that David Cameron has “abandoned support” for Ms May on her insistence that overseas students continue to be included in the government’s net migrant target.

Ms May’s speech did not mention overseas students in the context of the net migrant count, but she did deliver criticism of the sector on those overstaying their visas.

The UK welcomed the brightest students from around the world, she said.

“But the fact is too many are not returning home as soon as their visas run out,” she continued.

“I don’t care what the university lobbyists say. The rules must be enforced. Students, yes; overstayers, no.”

There has been speculation from some in the sector that the Home Office wants universities to take over responsibility for ensuring that graduates leave the country once their courses are finished.

And there are also suggestions that if the government is preparing for an announcement that students will be removed from the net migrant count, then Ms May will exact a heavy price on other measures of student visa tightening in return.

Responding to Ms May’s speech, Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities UK, said that the organisation agreed “care must be taken” to ensure students are genuine and said institutions “take their responsibilities as sponsors very seriously”.

But she added: “While genuine international students in the UK continue to be caught up in efforts to bear down on immigration, it will feed the perception internationally that the UK is closed for business and does not welcome students.

“As the foreign secretary suggested last month, one step the government could take would be to remove international students from their net migration target.

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“International students and staff make an enormous contribution to the UK, academically, culturally and economically. Reducing the number of genuine international students would have a substantial and negative impact on towns and cities across the UK, on businesses, jobs and on our world-class universities.”

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University rankings: UK 'a stand-out performer' By Katherine Sellgren :: BBC News :: 30th September http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-34390466

The UK has 34 universities in the Times Higher Education ranking of the world's top 200 institutions.

Oxford climbs to second place, while Cambridge and Imperial College London also make the top 10 in fourth and eighth places respectively.

Keeping the top spot for the fifth consecutive year is the California Institute of Technology in the US.

Europe has a record number of universities in the world top 200, with 105 compared to 87 last year.

The tables rank universities worldwide on measures like teaching, research and international outlook - for example numbers of overseas students and staff.

20 TOP INSTITUTIONS

1. California Institute of Technology, US 2. University of Oxford, UK 3. Stanford University, US 4. University of Cambridge, UK 5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US 6. Harvard University, US 7. Princeton University, US 8. Imperial College London, UK 9. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland 10. University of Chicago, US 11. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, US 12. Yale University, US 13. University of California, Berkeley, US 14. University College London, UK 15. Columbia University, US 16. University of California, Los Angeles, US 17. University of Pennsylvania, US 18. Cornell University, Ithaca, US 19. University of Toronto, Canada 20. Duke University, Durham, US

The majority of UK universities have moved up this year, some - for example Warwick, St Andrews and Exeter - by a significant margin.

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There is good news for Reading, Dundee and Newcastle, re-establishing their places in the top 200 after slipping out last year.

However, four universities - Manchester, York, Sussex and Royal Holloway, London - have slipped to lower positions in the tables, compared with last year when there were only 29 UK institutions in the top 200.

US institutions

While the US remains the world leader when it comes to elite universities, its dominance has been eroded this year.

It has six of the top 10 universities - down from seven last year - and 39 of the top 100 - down from 45 last year.

There is a mixed picture for Asia, with Japan and South Korea falling back this year and China remaining steady.

Europe is catching up on the dominance of the Anglo-American universities, with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich being the first institution from outside the US and UK to make the world top 10 in a decade.

Germany has 20 universities in the top 200 and the Netherlands has 12 and there are five from France, while Spain and Italy each have three.

Phil Baty, editor of the Times Higher Education world university rankings, said: "The UK is a stand-out performer in this year's rankings, boasting an impressive 78 institutions overall, with 34 of these sitting in the top 200.

"However, despite the UK's success, its continued cuts in higher education funding - the Higher Education Funding Council for England received a £150 million budget slash this year - and series of immigration measures affecting overseas students, will hinder its performance in the long run.

"Many of the country's European rivals, such as Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, are also performing well, but are less hindered by funding cuts and more welcoming for international students.

"The UK will have to work hard to ensure its higher education spending and immigration policies do not hinder its place in the world university rankings."

BRITISH INSTITUTIONS IN TOP 200 (LAST YEAR'S RANKING IN BRACKETS)

2 - Oxford (3) 4 - Cambridge (5) 8 - Imperial College London (9)

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14 - University College London (22) 23 - London School of Economics and Political Science (34) 24 - Edinburgh (36) 27 - King's College London (40) =56 - Manchester (52) 69 - Bristol (74) 70 - Durham (83) =76 - Glasgow (94) 80 - Warwick (103) 86 - St Andrews (=111) 93 - Exeter (154) 97 - Sheffield (121) 98 - Queen Mary, University of London (107) =110 - Southampton (132) 119 Birmingham (148) 129 - Royal Holloway, University of London (118) 130 - Lancaster (131) =131 - York (113) =133 - Leeds (146) 140 - Sussex (=111) 143 - Nottingham (171) =149 - East Anglia (198) 157 - Liverpool (157) =164 Reading (225) =167 - Leicester (199) 172 - Aberdeen (178) =182 Cardiff (between 201 and 225) =185 Dundee (between 201 and 225) =196 Newcastle (between 201 and 225) =196 St George's, London (196) 200 Queen's, Belfast (between 251 and 275)

Dr Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group of leading UK universities, said "The UK spends much less on higher education and research than our nearest rivals.

"Our competitors in China, Germany and Japan continue to be rewarded with significant investment and are snapping at our heels as a result."

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities UK, said: "If we want to maintain this leading position, we must start matching our competitors' increased investment in higher education.

"We should also be presenting a welcoming climate for genuine international students and academics and ensuring that visa and immigration rules and procedures are proportionate."

Universities Minister Jo Johnson said: "It is great to see the UK is second only to the US for the number of world-class universities in the top 80.

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"These rankings confirm the world-class standing of our higher education sector. Our reforms will ensure our universities continue to compete with the very best internationally and deliver high-quality teaching to students at home."

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USA and Canada Back to top

US universities invest $185 million in study abroad By Ellie Bothwell :: Times Higher Education :: 5th October https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/us-universities-invest-185-million-study-abroad

US universities and study abroad organisations have committed to spend $185 million (£122 million) over the next five years to make study abroad more accessible, through the Institute of International Education’s (IIE) Generation Study Abroad initiative.

The money will be used to provide support to students, faculty and programming and is aimed at students that are typically under-represented in study abroad programmes.

Of the 350 US colleges and universities that have signed up to the initiative, 84 per cent said that they plan to create or expand study abroad scholarships for under-represented students, such as minority, ethnic and first-generation students, according to a new report from IIE, Generation Study Abroad: Year One Impact, which details the results of a survey of organisations that have made “actionable commitments” since the initiative was launched in March 2014.

Although minority students make up nearly 40 per cent of all US higher education enrolments, they represent less than 25 per cent of those who take apart in study abroad, according to IIE.

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Generation Study Abroad aims to double the number of American students who study abroad by the end of the decade; fewer than 10 per cent of US college students currently spend time studying abroad, according to IIE.

The report also found that 91 per cent of US institutions are creating or expanding for-credit international programmes, 64 per cent are increasing the number of programmes that require or offer a study abroad component and 71 per cent will increase finances for faculty members to develop and lead study abroad programmes. More than half (54 per cent) of US institutions said that they are implementing fee waivers or travel grants for study abroad programmes.

Furthermore, 77 per cent of the 100 partner colleges and universities outside the US have pledged to create or expand short-term study abroad opportunities. In total, more than 650 organisations have joined the initiative.

The IIE said that doubling study abroad by the end of the decade would require a 14.5 per cent annual rate of growth but there was only a 2 per cent increase in 2012-13.

IIE president Allan Goodman said: “Studying abroad is one of the best ways American college students can acquire the international experience necessary to succeed in today’s global workforce and address important issues in the world we share.”

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THE rankings: Europe looking strong, US losing grip on top spots By Natalie Marsh :: The Pie News :: 2nd October http://thepienews.com/news/the-rankings-europe-looking-strong-us-losing-grip-on-top-spots/

Launched in Melbourne this week, the rankings were the largest to date, featuring 800 institutions from 70 different countries.

California Institute of Technology tops the table for the fifth consecutive year, while the University of Oxford took second place, followed by Stanford University, the University of Cambridge and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, completing the top five.

Harvard University, Princeton University and the University of Chicago, also made the top 10 in 6th, 7th and 10th positions respectively.

However, the dominance of US institutions in the top ranks has fallen from 15 in the top 20 last year to 14 this year. In addition, the inclusion of 77 US universities in the top 200 last year has dropped to 63 this year.

“We are seeing a rebalancing of the power, the hegemony of America is being challenged,” said Phil Baty, editor of the THE World University Rankings, at the event’s launch in Melbourne this week.

“Places like Germany are rising up the rankings strongly… The UK is doing exceptionally well.”

In the top 200, the UK lands 34 spots while Germany claims 20. ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, was also the first non-Anglo-American university to make it into the top 10 in 10 years.

In Asia Pacific, the National University of Singapore was ranked as the region’s highest university at 26th, also making it the region’s only university in the Top 30.

Last year’s top ranking Asian university, The University of Tokyo, fell from 23rd to 43 this year.

“I think we have a clear pattern here,” Baty commented. “With Japanese universities struggling with an inward facing approach, struggling with international outlook.”

The University of Melbourne held on to its 33rd place from last year, ranking 19 places higher than the country’s second highest university, Australia National University.

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Speaking from the launch at the World Academic Summit, minister for education and training in Australia, Simon Birmingham, said that while the country’s higher education system is strong, it faces challenges.

“Universities Australia has rightly warned of the risk of Australian universities being left behind in intensifying international competition in higher education, and urged action to prevent this,” he said.

“The rise of universities around Asia has been impressive, including as reflected in various global rankings, and this presents us with an energising challenge.”

Topping the international outlook indicator, which accounts for 7.5% of the total assessment, was Qatar University, with 42% of its student body being international students.

“I think it’s really important to recognise international student mobility is rocketing,” commented Baty. “We have about four million internationally mobile students today – predictions are that will be eight million by 2025.”

Referring to a survey by IDP, “the ranking and reputation of a university was the single most important factor for these international students when they were making their choice,” he said.

The rankings have looked at the top 4% of the world’s universities, with 1,126 universities submitting data this year.

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Canada introduces new travel authorisation requirement By ICEF Monitor Staff :: ICEF Monitor :: 14th September http://monitor.icef.com/2015/09/canada-introduces-new-travel-authorisation-requirement/

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is moving to implement a new Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) requirement for foreign visitors this year, including international students.

Modelled on similar programmes in the US and Australia, the eTA applies to all visiting students from visa-exempt countries whether travelling on a tourist or student visa. US citizens are among those exempt from the eTA requirements, as are diplomatic officials and travellers in transit to the United States.

According to CIC, “The number of visa-exempt foreign nationals travelling to Canada on a temporary basis per year is significantly larger than the number of visa-required travellers. For example, visa-exempt foreign nationals, excluding US citizens, represent approximately 74% of foreign nationals who arrive by air in Canada.”

Apply online

Visitors to Canada are now encouraged to apply for an eTA at the earliest opportunity, even before booking travel arrangements. As of 1 August 2015, applications can be made online. CIC has indicated that many authorisations are granted within minutes of application but that their intention otherwise is to process files within 72 hours. Each application costs CDN$7 (US$5) and once issued an eTA is electronically linked to the applicant’s passport and valid for a period of five years.

The introduction of pre-screening

The purpose of the eTA is to pre-screen visitors before they arrive at a Canadian airport. A statement from CIC notes that travellers are asked to provide “basic personal information similar to what is currently collected when they arrive in Canada. The only difference now is that Canada will know the answers to these questions before their arrival. The answers to a few simple questions given in the eTA application will be used to pre-screen travellers to ensure that they are not inadmissible to Canada.”

Put another way, the goal of the programme is to facilitate travel for low-risk visitors and, at the same time, to remove any uncertainty about a visitor’s admissibility.

Up until the introduction of the eTA, visa-exempt foreign visitors have not been screened for admissibility until they arrive at a port of entry in Canada and this lack of pre-screening leaves room for the possibility that a visitor could be denied permission to enter the country on arrival.

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CIC reports, “In 2012/13, the total number of visa-exempt foreign nationals who arrived in Canada and were deemed inadmissible for entry at air ports of entry was 7,055. This resulted in significant expense, delay and inconvenience for these foreign nationals, other travellers, the airlines and the Canadian government. Reasons for refusal can include membership in terrorist organisations, espionage, participation in war crimes or crimes against humanity, international human rights violations, membership in organised crime groups, criminality, or issues endangering public health, such as tuberculosis.”

Timing is everything

The new eTA requirements come fully into force on 15 March 2016. Anyone arriving in Canada after that date, from a visa-exempt country, must have an eTA. Those that don’t can be refused entry to Canada, or may be prevented from boarding their flight to Canada from abroad.

There is another important timing consideration for students entering Canada this summer and fall for longer-term studies under a Canadian study permit. A further statement from CIC notes:

“International students from visa-exempt countries who get their study permit on or after 1 August 2015, will automatically be issued an eTA, along with their permit. However, study permit holders who received their permit on or before 31 July 2015, will need to get an eTA if they plan to leave Canada and return by air, starting 15 March 2016.“

This opens the door to a scenario that officials and educators are keen to avoid: students who received a study permit before the end of July arriving in Canada for their studies, and then exiting the country and attempting to return after 15 March 2016 without an eTA. Any such students engaged in a longer-term study in Canada (and with a study permit issued before 1 August 2015) must now take care to apply for an eTA before making plans to exit and re- enter Canada after mid-March 2016.

The backdrop

News of eTA arrives on the heels of another important new policy change for Canada this year: the introduction of the Express Entry programme and its new processes and requirements for international students hoping to immigrate to Canada after their studies.

Questions remain as to the long-term impacts of the new Express Entry system, particularly in terms of how it affects the immigration prospects of foreign graduates. They are accompanied as well by recent news reports suggesting Citizenship and Immigration Canada is already struggling to keep up with increased demand from international students.

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Internal CIC reports obtained by The Globe and Mail newspaper indicate that processing times for Canadian study permits have increased by 30% of late, while processing times for temporary resident visas have doubled. This has led to “waiting times for visas that are weeks longer than those in Britain or the United States” and that have reduced Canada’s international competitiveness, reports The Globe.

Lisa Brunner, an international student advisor at the University of British Columbia, wrote recently on the CBIE blog about processing times for post-graduation work permits, noting, “When the possibility of permanent immigration is explicitly used as a recruitment strategy by [the Canadian government], it shocks [students] to learn just how long processing times…can actually be.”

As these commentaries suggest, it is not only the letter of official policy but also the real experience of students and the overall performance of CIC’s International Student Programme that will ultimately determine Canada’s position in international markets. The eTA is now the latest addition to this complex arithmetic of competitiveness, and its implementation will no doubt be closely observed by stakeholders in Canada and around the world.

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Court ruling places US post-study STEM work rights at risk By ICEF Monitor staff :: ICEF Monitor :: 23rd September http://monitor.icef.com/2015/09/court-ruling-places-us-post-study-stem-work-rights-at-risk/

The 2008 regulations offer the following allowances for international students holding F-1 visas, and enrolled in specified science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields:

 the ability to extend their OPT authorisation period from the previous limit of 12 months to a new maximum of 29 months;  automatic H-1B work visa “cap gap” protection – that is, a built-in exception for F-1 visa holders pursuing OPT authorisations with respect to the annual cap on H-1B visas;  the option to apply for an OPT authorisation within 60 days of graduation, as opposed to applying before graduation, as had been required previously.  DHS maintained that the 2008 regulations were introduced in response to an emergency situation, namely that thousands of highly skilled and US-trained graduates would otherwise have been forced to leave the country at that time.

The judge, however, found that DHS did not clearly establish that any such emergency situation existed. Absent a clear-cut crisis, Judge Huvelle also held that DHS could not be exempted from standing notice and comment requirements, which were not met by the department in 2008, and therefore the OPT rules must be rendered invalid.

Rather than immediately invalidate the current regulations, however, the judge stayed her ruling for six months, with the clear intent of avoiding any undue hardship for students or employers.

The judge wrote in her decision, “The Court has no doubt that vacating the 2008 Rule would force ‘thousands of foreign students with work authorisations … to scramble to depart the United States.’ Vacating the 2008 Rule could also impose a costly burden on the US tech sector if thousands of young workers had to leave their jobs in short order. The Court sees no way of immediately restoring the pre-2008 status quo without causing substantial hardship for foreign students and a major labour disruption for the technology sector.

As such, the Court will order that the 2008 Rule – and its subsequent amendments – be vacated, but it will order that the vacatur be stayed. The stay will last until 12 February 2016, during which time DHS can submit the 2008 Rule for proper notice and comment.”

What does this mean?

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The stay of the judge’s decision clearly signals an opportunity for DHS to issue updated regulations – but this time in compliance with statutory requirements for public notice and comment.

If the department is successful in putting updated rules in place in time, we can imagine that STEM graduates may be able to pursue OPT authorisations under very similar conditions as they do now.

For the moment, OPT authorisations held by F-1 visa students remain valid. The National Law Review notes, “The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will continue to adjudicate pending applications, and new STEM OPT extension applications will be accepted at least through February 2016.”

If, however, new regulations are not successfully introduced in time:

 All current F-1 STEM OPT authorisations will be invalid when the stay lapses on 12 February 2016.  H-1B cap gap protection will no longer be automatic, but will have to be triggered by public filings by DHS when the H1-B cap for the year has been met. This opens up some uncertainty with respect to this necessary protection from H1-B caps for both employers and F-1 visa holders.  The 60-day post-graduation application window for OPT authorisations will be eliminated, and F-1 students will then need to apply for an authorisation prior to graduation.  What does this really mean?

The judge’s ruling means in essence that DHS has six months to get regulations in place that can withstand any such court challenge. Timing will be key, as the statutory requirements require a three-month period for public notice and comment.

One month has already lapsed since Judge Huvelle ruled on the matter, and this means that DHS will need to introduce its new rules within the next month or two if it is to have updated regulations in place before the judge’s ruling comes into effect.

The department is being egged on in its efforts by an online petition – with more than 100,000 signatories at this writing – which urges “the White House to put in place a new, properly processed set of rules for the extension of the STEM OPT before February 2016.”

Indeed, legal experts and observers clearly anticipate a timely introduction of replacement regulations. The National Law Review said recently, “Because this is an important issue for both students and a large number of employers that depend on high-tech workers in the STEM fields, we expect that the new guidance will be issued before the 12 February 2016 deadline.”

Much at stake

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In the meantime, there is much at stake as the current OPT provisions for STEM graduates hang in the balance. As the legal news and analysis site Lexology puts it, “The invalidation of the 2008 rule is concerning because employers and students have relied on these provisions for seven years and have made hiring, promotion, and staffing decisions in reliance on the work authorisation conveyed under the STEM OPT rule.

Alternative work visa options are extremely limited for F-1 students on STEM OPT, particularly considering restrictions around H-1B visas, so the United States will undoubtedly suffer from brain drain because foreign students in STEM degree fields will be trained in the United States and have to leave the country to work for foreign competition.”

The issue is sharply drawn by a hard cap on the number of H-1B visas that can be issued each year. The US Congress has established an annual cap of 65,000 H-1B visas, with a further 20,000 visas available to foreign graduates who have obtained a US master’s degree or higher.

The problem is, as the Law Review highlights above, that these caps are generally reached within the first days of applications being opened for the year.

In contrast to that established ceiling for US work visas, IIE’s Open Doors reports that 11.7% (105,997) of the 886,052 international students enrolled at US colleges and universities in 2013/14 were granted an OPT work authorisation. The latest SEVIS by the Numbers data, meanwhile, has it that there are 405,314 foreign STEM students in the US as of August 2015 (representing roughly 38% of all international students in America).

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International students driving growth in US graduate programmes By ICEF Monitor Staff :: ICEF Monitor :: 28th September http://monitor.icef.com/2015/09/international-students-driving-growth-in-us-graduate- programmes/

The real story in the CGS report is that international students have been driving much of the growth in US graduate studies for the past decade. Between 2004 and 2014, foreign students accounted for more than two-thirds of the growth in first-time enrolment head counts in US graduate programmes.

Further, first-time international student numbers grew by 11.2% between 2013 and 2014 alone, and foreign students accounted for 21.6% (102,775) of all new graduate students in the US last year. First-time enrolments by US students, meanwhile, grew by only 1.3% for fall 2014 (nevertheless also representing the largest year-over-year growth in domestic enrolment since 2009).

The tally of total graduate enrolment in the US – both first-time and continuing students, that is – shows a similar contrast between foreign and domestic growth. Total foreign enrolment grew by 9.4% between fall 2013 and fall 2014, effectively offsetting a decline in total domestic student numbers of 2.4%. As a CGS statement puts it, “The contributions of international graduate students are becoming increasingly important to the US graduate education enterprise.”

“The increase in overall enrolments is good news,” added CGS President Suzanne Ortega. “But the disparity between US and international growth is a cause for concern.”

The findings are based on a unique annual survey of US graduate schools and published in a new report from CGS: Graduate Enrollment and Degrees: 2004 to 2014. The latest survey gathers responses from 636 US graduate institutions which together received more than two million applications, extended over 850,000 offers of admission, and enrolled 479,642 first- time graduate students in fall 2014.

The bigger picture

“The [latest CGS enrolment figures] are striking because there is often an inverse relationship between the economy and graduate school enrolment,” says The Washington Post. “People pursued advanced degrees in high numbers at the outset of the financial crisis but pulled back amid a protracted recession and the rising cost of attendance.

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While job prospects have improved, the cost of graduate school continues to climb, along with student debt. The jump in enrolment from 2013 to 2014 shows that students are willing to make the gamble.”

Total graduate enrolment in US institutions, 2004-2014. Source: CGS

Studies show that those with advanced degrees achieve higher lifetime earnings than those with bachelor degrees or high school credentials, and this expectation no doubt plays a part in the recent strengthening in US graduate enrolment.

CGS points as well to US Bureau of Labor Statistics projections indicating that employers will add nearly 2.4 million jobs requiring a graduate or professional degree between 2012 and 2022. “Greater investments in graduate education and research – supporting both domestic and international students – will be required to keep up with the demand for graduate level talent in the future,” said Ms Ortega.

All eyes on STEM

The growing profile of international students is also helping to shape broader enrolment trends in US graduate studies.

For one, international enrolment is heavily concentrated in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math). Nearly six in ten (57%) foreign graduate students in the US were enrolled in STEM subjects last year. In comparison, only 16% of US students were studying in those same fields.

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First-time graduate enrolment by broad field of study and citizenship, fall 2014. Source: CGS

Given the percentage of enrolment growth accounted for by international students, it is not surprising that STEM subjects also reported the greatest year-over-year growth in 2014. Reflecting the consistent pattern since 2004, first-time enrolment in mathematics and computer sciences programmes grew the most (21.3%) between fall 2013 and fall 2014. This was followed by engineering (10.7%), and health sciences (6.1%).

Conversely, arts and humanities registered the biggest enrolment decline last year (-4.0%), followed by “other” fields (-3.5%), and then social and behavioural sciences (-3.1%).

While women continue to enrol in graduate programmes in greater numbers than men (accounting for 57.9% of all first-time master’s students and 51% of doctoral students), the same is not true in STEM subjects. Just 25% of fall 2014’s graduate engineering students were women, for example, and just under a third of mathematics and computer science students were female. “But women may be catching up,” adds Inside Higher Ed. “The council notes that growth in first-time STEM enrolments by women was generally equivalent to that of men in many fields.”

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Land of opportunity or land of disappointment? Expectations and reality for admitted international students By Kim Reid :: eAdventures :: 22nd September http://www.eduventures.com/2015/09/land-of-opportunity-or-land-of-disappointment- expectations-and-reality-for-admitted-international-students/

To be sure, there is enough wealth in China to sustain the river of students flowing to the U.S., but will this turmoil diminish the flow? Economics are only one influence on international students’ decisions. With 31% of international students coming from China, according to The Institute of International Education’s most recent “Open Doors” report, however, a reduction in Chinese students’ ability to pay is cause for concern.

This moment in China’s economic trajectory, which has ripple effects on many other countries’ economies, illuminates larger concerns about international student enrollment. International students have unrealistic expectations about their capacity to study in the U.S., and U.S. institutions have unrealistic expectations of unfettered growth in international enrollments. Even though studying in the U.S. is competitively priced compared to studying internationally in many other countries, international students have many choices, making for a dynamic competitive landscape.

Cost as a factor for non-enrollment

We’ve seen evidence of these mismatched expectations even before this summer’s economic turmoil abroad. In May, Eduventures and CollegeWeekLive sponsored a study of undergraduate and graduate international students admitted for the fall of 2015. It is one of the few studies to explore the factors influencing international students’ final enrollment decisions. The results indicate that nearly half (47%) of undergraduate international admitted students did not choose to attend a U.S. institution.

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We might be satisfied with an overall 53% yield, but the underlying reason for non-enrollment is concerning. The vast majority (65%) of undergraduate students who did not enroll in a U.S. institution cited cost as one of the deciding factors. One-third deferred their decision to another year, and almost one-quarter felt they didn’t know enough about the institutions where they were accepted to make a good decision.

Give students enough information to make informed decisions

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This data reveals deep inefficiencies in U.S. international recruiting efforts in that so many international students go all the way through applying to U.S. institutions only to face an easily predictable reality. We know how much it will cost international students to study in our institutions. U.S. institutions have precious little financial aid available to international students. If they don’t come from families with substantial means or have the support of their government, they are unlikely to be able to afford a U.S. education. Knowing all of this, U.S. institutions must engage in a transparent conversation about cost early on in the recruiting cycle. This will enable them to not only find truly qualified international applicants, but also ethically recruit international students. We shouldn’t lead students down the garden path. It’s bad for students, and it’s bad for the brand.

We should consider the brand—that is, the global brand of U.S. higher education. We’ve long enjoyed reputational front-runner status among students seeking to study outside of their home countries. In many countries, though, students have ever-increasing options. In our study, students who didn’t enroll in the U.S. and didn’t stay in their home countries chose to study in Canada, the U.K., Australia, and Germany in sizeable numbers.

As the competition for international undergraduate students heats up, we have two threats to address in international recruiting. The first, affordability, is endemic to higher education for any international student. The second, good communication, is a ubiquitous problem for higher education in recruiting any student, domestic or international.

In the long run, affordability presents an existential threat to the brand of U.S. higher education in a competitive environment. As institutions in other countries build their efforts to enroll international students, the price of U.S. higher education may cause some students to think twice about their choice. U.S. institutions often look at international enrollment as a way to solve revenue problems without due consideration of how to support and develop international students properly. We would do better to view internationals as students first, with all their attendant needs and expectations. This will improve our ability to serve international students at a high standard in order to retain a competitive advantage, even at high cost.

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Ultimately, cost will always be a concern for international students. Thus, we must communicate both the opportunity and the realistic costs as prospective international students progress through the enrollment funnel. Better communication is certainly something that every institution can achieve. We now have access to many more tools to engage international students at a distance. We can train our recruiters, tailor our messages, learn to work well with reputable agents, tune up our websites for international audiences, and create virtual opportunities for international students to engage in the transparent conversations they need. In the end, we want international students to choose our institutions if they can afford it. We don’t want them to reach the end of the line and achieve their goal, only to be disappointed by their inability to attend because of cost.

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US universities see 32% increase in Indian enrolment in 2015 By ICEF Monitor staff :: ICEF Monitor :: 16th September http://monitor.icef.com/2015/09/us-universities-see-32-increase-in-indian-enrolment-in-2015/

Needless to say, this is an interesting directional indicator of a continued strengthening of Indian student numbers in the US this year. It follows earlier reports from the Council of Graduate Schools, the IIE’s Open Doors, and others that all point to the growing importance of the Indian market as a driver of global mobility.

As we have noted earlier, however, the US Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) data provides a distinct view into international enrolment trends in America. The SEVIS system is web-based and its reports are based on real-time data that provides a snapshot of international students in America as of the report date (or at least the previous month). Further, the SEVIS data casts a wider net to provide a more comprehensive view of international enrolment in the US. Open Doors is based on a survey of 3,000 accredited higher education institutions and so the focus is on those enrolled in academic study at US colleges. In contrast, SEVIS data reflects all levels of education, including primary and secondary school enrolments.

Keeping that broader view in mind, the SEVIS data indicates a 9.12% increase in international enrolment in the US between July 2014 and July 2015, with key emerging markets, notably India, driving much of that growth.

All about graduate STEM studies

Graduate studies remain the focus for US-bound Indian students this year. Of the students currently enrolled in the US, 113,509 – or 75.7% – are studying at the master’s level (as opposed to only 9.3% in undergraduate programmes).

And most Indian students – 81% according to the latest SEVIS report – are enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects. This is by far the largest focus on STEM subjects represented by any national student group in America.

In comparison, 38% of all international students in the US were enrolled in STEM programmes as of July 2015. The US relies on Asia for about 76% of its international enrolment base, and those students are slightly over-represented in STEM subjects in that 43% of all Asian students in America are enrolled in STEM programmes.

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Percentage of students enrolled in STEM fields in the US for selected markets, July 2015. Source: SEVIS

Relating to China

As has been the case for some time, China remains the leading source of international students in the US by a considerable margin.

Top ten countries of citizenship for international students in the US, July 2015. Source: SEVIS

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As has also reliably been the case, India is locked in place as the second-largest sending country for the US. The thing that separates the two over the last couple of years is the rate of growth exhibited by each market.

Against India’s nearly 32% growth from 2014 to 2015, Chinese enrolment grew by 10.13% over the same period.

These contrasting growth rates have been particularly in evidence with respect to graduate programmes in the US. Chinese enrolment in such programmes has been declining since 2012 (alongside a notable shift to undergraduate studies for Chinese students) whereas India has continued to exhibit strong growth.

Meanwhile, other reports have also pointed to relatively faster growth in India, with some indicating the overall growth in outbound mobility for India surpassed that of China for the first time last year.

As always, factors such as higher education participation rates, domestic higher education capacity, economic growth, and the strength and size of the middle class are among some of the most important predictors of longer-term growth trends for any market.

On that note, Fortune magazine recently observed, “India’s economy is expected to grow 7.4% in 2015, outpacing China’s growth in two years, according to the World Bank. At that rate, it’s likely that the migration of Indian students to the US will grow further as they seek training needed to succeed at home…All this suggests that US graduate schools that once focused on China for foreign recruitment may benefit by shifting their focus to India instead.”

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Australia and New Zealand Back to top

Universities Australia Pushes for Radical New Higher Education Strategy By Study international staff :: Study International :: 8th October https://www.studyinternational.com/news/universities-australia-pushes-for-radical-new- higher-education-strategy

Universities Australia has launched a new policy statement called “Keep it Clever”, urging for major investment in research and innovation throughout Australia’s higher education sector.

The organisation released a pre-election blueprint in a speech to the National Press Club that did not mention fee deregulation or higher student fees, but did declare that the sector’s recent “funding limbo” has produced “intolerable instability”.

Universities Australia, the peak body representing the country’s universities, published newspaper advertisements that pledged for the government to “fund our future” as a result of Australia's public funding currently ranking 24th out of 25 advanced economies as a share of gross domestic product, dramatically dropping from sixth place to second last.

In 1995, public investment was1.2 per cent of GDP; a figure that fell to just 0.74 per cent in 2011. The OECD average was 1.13 per cent.

In his speech, Barney Glover, Chair of Universities Australia, warned of the danger of Australia being the only OECD country without a national strategy for research and innovation. Australia is number 17 in the world for innovation on the Global Innovation Index, and 29th out of 30 in the OECD’s ranking of business-university collaboration.

Glover emphasised his point using research from consulting giant Deloitte, which showed that the value of knowledge generated from university research last year was AUS$160billion; the equivalent to ten per cent of the country’s GDP, which completely subverts the value of Australia’s mining industry, which contributes AUS$121billion to the Australian economy each year.

Glover’s speech called for an end to the “intolerable” uncertainty universities have faced since last year’s budget, when the Australian government announced its plan to deregulate university fees.

Professor Glover said: “Australia is in the early stages of a period of seismic change; change at a pace and magnitude not seen since the industrial revolution.

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“To remain competitive and indeed grow our competitive advantage, we must invest properly in research, innovation, skills and critically in research infrastructure.”

In order to compete in the global economy that is fast-paced and constantly changing, Australia will need at least 3.8million new, skilled graduates entering the economy over the next decade.

Universities Australia noted that as economic activity centres more and more around Asia, there is a need for Australia’s HE institutions to better engage and communicate with the region.

Australia’s university sector has highlighted recent findings that demonstrate that as technology transforms industries, 40 per cent of existing jobs are likely to die out within the next two decades.

Professor Glover, who is also Vice Chancellor at Western Sydney University, said: “Notwithstanding the recognised private benefit that might accrue to individual students, universities have a public purpose,” adding that Universities Australia will call for a, “radical re-think and commitment from government to create the conditions for prosperity to flourish.”

Universities Australia funded research by Deloitte Access Economics to uncover how the higher education sector contributes to Australia’s prosperity. It found:

 The sector employs more than 120,000 staff and backs the education of 1.3 million students  The sector contributed approximately AUS$25billion to the Australian economy in 2013, accounting for 1.5 per cent of the country’s overall GDP  International education is Australia’s third largest export and largest services export, generating revenue of AUS$18billion in 2014-15, with higher education producing two thirds of this revenue  The value that university education added to Australia’s productive capacity last year was AUS$140billion- Australia’s GDP is approximately 8.5 per cent higher due to impact of university education on productivity

Along with agribusiness, natural gas, wealth management and tourism, Deloitte categorised international education in its predicted five most significant drivers of the next wave of Australia’s growth and prosperity.

“We face a stark choice. We either make this investment or we fall behind those that do,” Professor Glover said.

Observing that Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has made innovation the “central organising principle” of his cabinet, Universities Australia has pushed the government to authorise:

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 An extensive program that focuses on technology and innovation- similar to the UK’s Catapult Centres- to form strong networks between universities and businesses  An “Innovation Board” that links government, industry, university and research community leaders to drive a unified and inclusive national approach to research and innovation  A “Student Innovation Fund” that will encourage entrepreneurial spirit among university students  A premium tax concession rate for businesses working with universities on R&D

Glover accentuated that HE institutions should not be funded purely on the basis of their economic contribution, but should promote creativity and the general pursuit of knowledge, including in the too often undervalued realm of the humanities.

Ian Chubb, Australia’s Chief Scientist, claims that in the 21st century world, the quality of higher education institutions is critical to a nation’s prospects.

Chubb says: “Australia too needs to look to its universities, as part of a national strategy that puts innovation at the heart of everything that our businesses and governments do. “The ideas, skills and attitudes which fuel economic growth, as well as social progress, come increasingly from centres of learning and research.”

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Australia: sector welcomes new ministerial line-up By Beckie Smith :: The Pie News :: 24th September http://thepienews.com/news/australia-sector-welcomes-new-ministerial-line-up/

The centre-right Liberal Party voted to install Turnbull, a former investment banker who has served as Minister of Communications for the last two years, in a snap election that made him Australia’s eighth prime minister in five years.

He has already signalled possible change to the government’s stalled education package, which includes the deregulation of university fees and cutting the public subsidy for undergraduate degrees.

Australia-based global education company Navitas was pleased to hear Turnbull calling for “a nation that is agile, that is innovative, that is creative” in his inaugural speech, according to its executive general manager, Helen Zimmerman.

“It’s clear that the new prime minister and his cabinet continue to recognise the importance of an nationally integrated international education sector that is a key element in meeting the challenges of the future,” she told The PIE News.

Turnbull also replaced Christopher Pyne, now Minister of Industry, Innovation and Science, with Simon Birmingham as Minister for Education and Training.

The move has been welcomed by the international education sector thanks to Birmingham’s track record of support, which includes hosting roundtable discussions to consult with stakeholders on the Draft National Strategy for International Education.

“He has diligently worked to incorporate vocational training and technical skill issues into the Draft National International Education Strategy,” said Phil Honeywood, chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia.

Announcing his new cabinet, Turnbull praised Birmingham for moving “quickly and effectively to lead the transformation of the vocational education and training sector”, supporting VET both within Australia and in regional markets such as China.

Birmingham has indicated that he intends to collaborate with stakeholders “to develop policy and to build broad support for any future reforms we need to undertake” – an announcement that has been warmly received.

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Birmingham’s experience in training will “inform a more balanced approach to tertiary education and training”, commented Martin Riordan, CEO of TAFE Directors Australia, which represents vocational education and training providers.

Meanwhile, the introduction of a new position, Tourism and International Education Minister, is a leap forward for the ELT sector, which straddles both tourism and ELICOS portfolios, English Australia CEO Brett Blacker told The PIE News.

Though it is not a cabinet position, the installation of Senator Richard Colbeck in the role sees tourism restored to ministerial level and reinforces the profile of international education – Australia’s fourth largest export sector – on the national agenda.

“It is recognition that both the student and visitor economies are essential elements in ensuring Australia’s continuing growth and prosperity,” said Blacker.

“Clearly, our sector will want to ascertain fairly quickly what role is envisaged for this new position,” added Honeywood. “Hopefully, international education will be treated with equal emphasis to the tourism side of his portfolio.”

The appointment of Luke Hartsuyker as Minister Vocational Education and Skills means there are now four ministers with responsibility for education.

“The creation of four ministers with responsibilities for education… appears to recognise, and give focus to, the specific nature of key elements of the education sector within a connected framework,” Zimmerman said.

“At this early stage we are optimistic that the government is increasingly recognising the role international education makes to communities, individuals and economies in Australia and globally,” she added.

Honeywood also cautioned that there is a need for clarification around the immigration and trade portfolios, as the position of Assistant Minister for Immigration, which bore responsibility for student visa issues, has been scrapped.

“We will have to take matters up directly with the senior Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton. Unfortunately, he is often kept busy with his border control portfolio,” he noted.

Universities Australia meanwhile has called on Turnbull to “immediately dump” the proposed 20% funding cut in anticipation of an upcoming policy debate on the issue.

“Education, innovation, ideas and entrepreneurialism are the ‘new wave’ commodities desperately needed to drive the transition to a knowledge economy,” said its chief executive, Belinda Robinson.

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“This is a vision shared by our universities and requires a partnership to leverage our intellectual infrastructure and human capital to position Australia for long-term national success.”

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Turnbull government shelves controversial university reforms in major departure from Abbott era By Matthew Knott :: The Syndnet Morning Herald :: 1st October http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/turnbull-government-shelves- controversial-university-reforms-in-major-departure-from-abbott-era-20150930-gjynlt.html

The Turnbull government has dropped its plan to allow universities to set their own fees from next year, and will go back to the drawing board on higher education reform.

To those who claim consideration of reform is about ideology or privilege, you are dead wrong

Education and Training Minister Simon Birmingham will announce on Thursday that he will not reintroduce the government's higher education bill into Parliament for another vote this year.

Any changes to university fees will now come into effect in 2017 at the earliest, after the next federal election.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott immediately condemned the decision, saying he was "disappointed".

"I'm a little disappointed by it and, frankly, I am disappointed that the people who call for reform did not get behind the 2014 budget," Mr Abbott told 3AW host Neil Mitchell.

Senator Birmingham's predecessor Christopher Pyne had insisted the bill - which would deregulate university fees and cut course funding by 20 per cent - would be reintroduced this year after his reforms were twice knocked back by the Senate.

"With only three months left in 2015, it is necessary to give both universities and students certainty about what the higher education funding arrangements for 2016 will be," Senator Birmingham will say in a speech to the University of Melbourne.

"Therefore, today I am announcing that higher education funding arrangements for 2016 will not be changed from currently legislated arrangements, while the government consults further on reforms for the future.

"Any reforms, should they be legislated, would not commence until 2017 at the earliest."

Senator Birmingham said the government was "accepting reality" that the reforms would not pass the Senate in their current form. But he said the government's policies officially remain in place until cabinet decides otherwise.

Senator Birmingham said that, as someone who was educated in government schools in low socio-economic areas - and whose parents never attended university - he was "resolutely committed to equitable access" to higher education.

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"To those who claim consideration of reform is about ideology or privilege, you are dead wrong. I will only ever champion reforms that achieve both equity and excellence," he said.

"I invite ideas and conversations about how to achieve such equity and excellence in higher education, while honestly recognising the financial limitations of taxpayers."

Although the government has shelved its reforms, Senator Birmingham said Australia's higher education funding system was not perfect and needed reform.

The previous Labor government's decision to uncap undergraduate numbers has not been matched by sustainable funding, he said. And it is unfair that students at TAFEs and private colleges do not receive direct federal funding and they have to pay expensive loan fees that university students do not.

This suggests the government remains in favour of its plan to extend federal funding to private colleges, TAFEs and associate degree programs.

He said he hoped the debate leading up to the next federal election was based on "sensible discussions, not fear campaigns".

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Asia Back to top

UK and China strengthen educational ties with new bilateral agreements By ICEF Monitor staff :: ICEF Monitor :: 6th October http://monitor.icef.com/2015/10/uk-and-china-strengthen-educational-ties-with-new-bilateral- agreements/

This vigorous trade in education – and the broad networks of exchange and linkages that it suggests – provided the backdrop last month for a new wave of cooperative agreements between China and the UK. A total of 23 education agreements were signed at the 8th UK- China Education Summit on 17 September 2015 in London. Together, these new linkages will see UK institutions and organisations working with Chinese partners to boost joint research and exchange and to establish new programmes and institutions.

At the same time, UK Minister for Universities and Science Jo Johnson and China’s Minister of Education Yuan Guiren signed an umbrella agreement – the “UK-China Strategic Framework in Education” – to further solidify the commitment of both countries to further expanding collaboration across the educational spectrum, including higher education, vocational education and training, and schools.

In a year in which the UK government has been so roundly criticised for the lack of harmonisation between its immigration policies and its goals in international education, the signings at the UK-China Education Summit represent an especially strong and well- coordinated effort to strengthen ties with the world’s most important export market for education.

The Education Summit was part of a broader set of high-level bilateral talks known as the People to People Dialogue (P2P). P2P is a recurring set of ministerial-level talks between the two countries. The 2015 meetings were the third in a series dealing with eight significant policy areas “central to the growth and prosperity of both nations”: health, education, culture and creative industries, science, sport, tourism, youth exchange, and regional engagement.

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“Our relationship with China is entering a new phase of scientific and educational collaboration on an unprecedented scale,” said Minister Johnson of the new strategic framework. “Our agreement will bring researchers together to address global challenges, change the lives of young people through better access to sports, and build partnerships across school, vocational and higher education to provide students in both countries with the right skills to become the leaders of the future.”

The 23 agreements

Among the agreements concluded at the Education Summit were the following:

 A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the University of Sheffield and Zhejiang University to strengthen student mobility between the two institutions and develop joint programmes at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. “This is an auspicious time for us to deepen our collaboration, as collaboration and innovation between China and the UK are being championed by both our governments,” said Zhejiang’s President Zhaohui Wu.  An addendum to a current agreement between SOAS University of London and Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU). Under this expanded partnership, the two institutions are planning a joint academic conference as well as the launch of dual degree programmes and SOAS support for a new summer school at BFSU.  A major strategic agreement between Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU). The new MoU will see the two institutions file an application with the Chinese Ministry of Education later this year for two new undergraduate programmes and a Master of Science programme, all of which to be delivered in China and jointly taught by QMUL and NPU faculty.  An agreement between Cardiff University and Beijing Normal University to establish a new institution: the Cardiff-Beijing Chinese Studies Joint College. The college’s programmes will lead to dual degrees awarded by both Cardiff and Beijing Normal, with the first and last years of the four-year programme taught in Cardiff and the middle two years in Beijing. Students will also be required to undertake an internship during their studies in China.  “The establishment of the new college is an exciting step in the University’s drive to cultivate an increasingly international student experience, and will in years to come contribute greatly to bolstering cultural and business links between Wales and China,” said Cardiff University Vice-Chancellor Professor Colin Riordan.

In addition to such institution-to-institution links, the UK-China Education Summit also saw the creation of new agreements between education organisations. For example, the exam board AQA and the Chinese Society of Education signed an MoU that will see British best practices in science and math assessment transferred to China to support the latter’s ongoing high school curriculum reform programme.

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Similarly, the UK Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) will continue its quality control efforts with respect to British TNE programmes in China under its ongoing partnerships with the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE) and China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Centre (CDGDC).

“Education collaboration between the UK and China is vital if we are to learn from each other’s successes and to help us use international evidence of best practice to drive up academic standards in our schools,” added Minister of State for Schools Nick Gibb. “These new partnerships will allow us to share as well as helping to develop important language skills to secure stronger links in the future.”

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UK-China agreements signal ‘new phase of education collaboration’ By Beckie Smith :: The Pie News :: 22nd September http://thepienews.com/news/uk-china-agreements-signal-new-phase-of-education- collaboration/

The summit took place as part of the UK-China High-Level People-to-People Dialogue in London last week, culminating in the signing of a ‘UK-China Strategic Framework in Education’ agreement that laid out the two countries’ commitment to expanding collaboration across higher, vocational and school education, and to work closely together in sports education.

“Our agreement will bring researchers together to address global challenges, change the lives of young people through better access to sports, and build partnerships across school, vocational and higher education to provide students in both countries with the right skills to become the leaders of the future,” Johnson said.

Speaking at a forum on UK-China innovation and entrepreneurship during the event, Vice- Premier of China Liu Yangong stressed the importance of deepening research collaboration to tackle global challenges.

She also encouraged the development of joint training through exchanges between universities, research and business, as well as establishing joint science infrastructures and sharing facilities and information.

The dialogue is expected to form the basis for increased partnership activity between the British Council, Association of Colleges and China Education Association for International Exchange across apprenticeships, employer engagement, curriculum development and leadership training. It builds on collaboration that has helped to establish 60 college partnerships so far.

During the summit, the British Council and CEAIE signed a memorandum of understanding to link 200 schools in the UK and China to facilitate exchange visits and policy and curriculum development, focussing on STEM subjects, language, sports, arts and other creative subjects.

They also signed an MoU to launch a joint academic-internship programme in China as part of the Generation UK-China programme, to be piloted in Beijing, Shanghai and Qingdao.

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“These new partnerships will allow us to share as well as helping to develop important language skills to secure stronger links in the future.”

Among the HE agreements signed, Cardiff University and Beijing Normal University further cemented their partnership, announced last year, to establish a joint college in Cardiff offering undergraduate programmes taught in Chinese – the first of its kind in the UK.

And as China pushes to grow its sports sector, agreements in sports education included the development of a joint football accreditation system, enabling Chinese football coaches to train in the UK.

The dialogue was held ahead of Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s trade mission to China this week, during which he said he wants the UK to be “China’s best partner in the west”.

“We should be doing more business with China,” Osborne said. “We should be better connected to the Chinese economy. Our financial institutions should establish proper links. I think that will help China with the important reform and change that it is undergoing, but I also think it is going to help Britain.”

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Singapore shines in QS World University Rankings shake-up By Beckie Smith :: The Pie News :: 18th September http://thepienews.com/news/singapore-shines-in-qs-world-university-rankings-shake-up/

Most notably, QS has adjusted its emphasis on research citations to better represent institutions which perform well in the arts and humanities, revealing “more diversity than ever in the distribution of world-class universities at the highest levels”, according to Ben Sowter, head of the QS Intelligence Unit.

For example, it has reduced a bias towards strong medical research, which has historically buoyed up some institutions that have fallen dramatically since last year – some lower down the table by more than 100 places.

In contrast, the London School of Economics, for example, has rocketed from 71st position to 35th – a deserved ranking that in light of the new weighting will “surprise no one” given its strength in social sciences, Sowter told The PIE News.

The stars of this year’s rankings were Singapore’s two largest public universities, which rocketed a combined 36 places.

Nanyang Technical University in Singapore made the biggest leap among the top 15 universities this year, jumping 26 places to 13th to overtake heavyweights including Yale, Cornell and King’s College London.

The adjustment to the scoring of medical research means that NTU is no longer disadvantaged in the rankings for not having a medical school, meaning that the new methodology is “substantially responsible” for the upswing, Sowter said.

However, NTU’s success is “not entirely” down to these changes, as demonstrated by an upward trajectory that has seen it jump 61 places over the last five years.

National University Singapore has also leapt 10 places to 12th.

“Having two universities ranked in the world’s top 15 is a remarkable and timely achievement for Singapore, as it celebrates its 50th year of independence this year,” commented NTU president Bertil Andersson.

“Singapore is a nation that believes in education, and the latest QS ranking results show that Singapore’s continuous investment in education has paid off,” he added.

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Meanwhile, the shake-up saw US universities rise and UK institutions fall in the top 10, as the University of Cambridge fell one place to joint third, overtaken by Harvard. Stanford and Caltech jumped to joint third place, up four, and fifth, up three, respectively.

In contrast, Imperial College London tumbled from joint second to eighth position this year, while Oxford and University College London – last year joint fifth – fell to sixth and seventh respectively.

Princeton and Yale were the notable exceptions, dropping out of the top 10 to 11th and 15th place respectively.

Though the US and UK continue to dominate the top 10, they left room for ETH Zurich, which has consistently been ranked the top university in continental Europe, to enter in ninth position, up from 12th last year.

This year’s table has undergone “the most radical changes we’ve seen since 2007”, which was the last time QS changed its methodology, Sowter said, but he expects the results to be more stable next year.

“We recognise and have always recognised that for a ranking to have credibility it’s got to have stability,” he commented. “Nonetheless we’ve made a selection of changes that have made a substantial difference and next year we’re going to have to consolidate and demonstrate that our new method can yield a sustainable, credible, ongoing ranking, which I believe they will.”

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International Back to top

Pipeline to progress – how the pathway market is a defining trend in international education By Amy Baker :: The Pie News :: 8th October http://thepienews.com/analysis/pipeline-to-progress-how-the-pathway-market-is-a-defining- trend-in-international-education/

Guhr is aware of the value of preparatory courses offering international students the chance to assimilate academically and culturally into a new life overseas – and the value of this pipeline for universities keen to expand their international enrolment.

“Now, we have students arriving from Kazakhstan and Peru who can draw on little to no academic or cultural context,” Guhr elaborates, explaining that as the volume of students intent on studying overseas at university swells, so the pathway market will continue to proliferate.

“The reality is that any further growth will come out of segments [of student populations] that are less prepared,” relates Guhr.

The pathway pipeline, helping students manoeuvre into undergraduate or Master’s level studies from Western universities and sometimes leap-frog a year, is one of the defining trends of the international education sector. The flow of students into these programmes is only going one way.

Guhr’s firm uncovered that 30 per cent of all incoming international students into Canada are coming via a pathway programme of some form, while in Australia, Christopher Ziguras, Deputy Dean at RMIT University and new President at IEAA, observes, “Australian universities have had pathways into undergrad for a long time and now around half of all commencing international HE students have done prior studies in Australia, usually English, foundation or diploma programmes.”

In the UK, the model is also well established. Shane Wilkinson, Managing Director of Bournemouth Business School International, observes that his business school has been providing foundation and pre-Masters programmes since 1995, “longer than most I believe”, with progression agreements established with a number of universities.

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BBSI’s success illustrates that the pathway concept is not the preserve of the big corporates, although it is increasingly dominated by a growth in their activity.

A shift in the industry, seen most palpably in the last six years or so, is the rise of “embedded” programmes, offered on campus within a university via a partnership. Dr Vangelis Tsiligiris, industry researcher and senior lecturer at Nottingham Business School in the UK, suggests, “the very existence of these outsourced activities emerged by the lack of capacity, and pro- activeness I would say, of universities to develop these internally”.

INTO University Partnerships was a early big private player to crack the nut, with ex-Study Group owner Andrew Colin devising his unique, long-term, business model with Professor David Eastwood, then VC at the University of East Anglia in 2005.

“In essence, the model was designed to allow the university to take advantage of external expertise in terms of student reach but retain full control over all aspects of the academic programmes,” explains Tim O’Brien, VP of Global Business Intelligence & Development.

INTO followed in the footsteps of Australia’s Navitas, which developed its first on-campus college, PIBT, in 1994, but it was a decade later that really saw the palpable growth of “the big five” pathway companies which have been operating in the on-campus space the longest.

Across Navitas, Kaplan International Colleges, Study Group, Cambridge Education Group and INTO, total on-campus partnerships now number almost 100.

In the US, opportunity has really opened up in the last few years, fuelled by a dawning national consciousness that intent is needed around international enrolment and the policy reversal of NACAC in 2013.

“Although the US has a large absolute number of international students, for most institutions a dependence on international students is a new reality,” says Mitch Leventhal, Professor of Professional Practice & Entrepreneurship in University of Albany’s School of Education and Shorelight’s Academic Entrepreneur-in-Residence.

One emerging operator in the pathway scene in the US is Bridge Education Group, although the company has been active in teaching languages in the US and South America for over 25 years.

President, Jean Marc Alberola, echoes O’Brien’s assertion that a chief motivator in universities considering a partnership is to access the significant marketing reach (and agency network) of established, commercial operators.

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While there is an existing, entrenched model in the USA of an IEP on campus – Intensive English Program – “many of those programmes don’t currently live up to their potential in terms of acting as a feeder for matriculating international students, nor do they have an associated international student recruitment team or the requisite budget required to engage in those activities” says Alberola, whose BridgePathways division now boasts 10 partnerships in the US.

Academic integration

The on-campus model comes in many guises, with the partnership extending to running the centre, admissions processes, ensuring integration with the partner university and often delivering the academic content as well as getting the international students there in the first place. In the BridgePathways model, fellow university partners get to collaborate with each other too.

Whether or not the academic content of the foundation programme is delivered by the partner is an issue that can divide the crowd. When asked why private companies might consider themselves to be better equipped to deliver the pathway, Steve Harvey, Managing Director of Global University Partnerships at Cambridge Education Group, says it is all about focus.

“I used to be an academic and the prize for academics is to be supervising research, teaching on Masters courses and teaching final year undergraduates,” he recounts. “We are unashamed specialists in teaching what we teach; we don’t have aspirations to move into taught-degree awarding powers, we want to be expert at what we do.” In the US, Alberola adds, “ESL instruction, a key component of pathway programmes, is not a core competency at many universities.”

Yet the INTO model, which requires a long-term (typically 25+ years) financial commitment from a university partner as well as INTO to cover investment into infrastructure, recruitment and delivery, believes the responsibility of academic content and delivery should be left to the university itself.

University of South Florida in the US is home to one of INTO’s largest centres, which will welcome around 1,200 students this fall. Roger Brindley, Vice Provost and USF System Associate Vice President for USF World, believes this version of the embedded model is a better use of the word partnership and he questions the use of non-university staff to deliver a foundation programme.

“If the university, in its responsibility to its accrediting agency, has the curriculum scope to effectively teach English language using its own staff, then why wouldn’t it?” he queries. “When we were negotiating with INTO, our faculty came to us and said, ‘we’re an outstanding research-extensive university, we’re proud of what we do, we don’t want a back door to the university’, and there and then we promised them that this would be a second path to the front door of the university.”

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Elspeth Jones, UK-based Emeritus Professor of the Internationalisation of Higher Education, has researched the sector and she says that above and beyond the use of credentialed faculty, it is the successful integration of the partnership that can dictate its efficacy; a facet which all operators claim to cherish as a cornerstone of collaboration.

“Pathway tutors may not take (or have) the time to observe lectures, seminars etc in the disciplines for which they are preparing students,” Jones relates. “It would offer a more meaningful, integrated experience if both pathway tutors and discipline-based academics could be given time to understand each others’ work in greater depth.”

She observes that even with no language problems, issues around adapting to a new learning environment require astute understanding. “Even when the programmes are provided from within the university, pathway teachers are likely to be regarded as not mainstream academics, often exacerbated by their status as Associate Lecturers or equivalent,” she states.

“The reality is that those who work on programmes within universities are specialists both in their field and in working with international students. Academics in other disciplines may have a lot to learn from their work.”

Putting the student first

As well as on-point academic delivery, it is a holistic approach to student welfare that helps pathway students settle and flourish. According to some stakeholders, commercial operators can do this better than university partners. Responding to a general call to comment online, Paul Murphy, a senior teacher at the British Council, got in touch.

“When I worked at Glasgow International College for Kaplan, the most noticeable advantage for students was that the college developed its own community and support mechanisms, including assigning each student their own ‘learning support tutor’,” he recalls. “As part of a university, resources may not permit students to have access to such individual support.”

Navitas underlines an active use of alumni to help Navitas newbies acclimatise in-country. With 9,000 students per year graduating to partner university programmes in seven countries, it has finetuned the socialisation aspects of its offer.

James Fuller, Group Manager Corporate Affairs, notes that in Australia, where Navitas HQ is based, “we have many domestic students enrolled in our classes (about 20 per cent), and they also take an active role in getting to know our international students and helping them to assimilate.”

Entente cordiale

All players agree that what is required is a whole-of-faculty buy-in to the partnership approach. James Pitman at Study Group, acknowledges, “Most of my time is spent working with the senior teams at these HE institutions”.

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And Harvey at CEG underlines that being a commercial company which comprises staff drawn from academic origins can be a plus in getting partnerships off the ground in the first place.

“Our Chief Academic Officer, our Deputy Chief Academic Officer, our Academic Equality Unit – all drawn from academics,” he says. “We use their language, we welcome external examiners, external scrutiny.. it’s vitally important.”

New to the scene

With a range of well established players in the pathways sector, setting up a new brand and portfolio of partners might seem a daunting task, but that is just what Shorelight, a new privately-owned operator in the US, has done.

With a senior management team that invested in the company (including a former Senior Vice President at Kaplan) alongside investment via executives at Sterling Partners, Shorelight emerged in 2013. It signed three partnerships in its inaugural year and is now up to six in the US and one in the UK. CEO, Tom Dretler, previously CEO of Eduventures, says this is a pivotal time for US universities to reposition themselves.

“There’s roughly 3 million students studying outside their home country in the world and about 77 per cent of them rank the US as either highly favourable or the place that they would most like to study,” he explains. “We look at that and say, why do we only have 800,000 students? It seems like an unnaturally low international student percentage.”

He says many US institutions have until now “been making their programmes available to that thin veneer of the already prepared” and Shorelight aims to be innovative in how to reshape that funnel, using predictive analytical models and tools to best identify and then place students on Shorelight programmes at various partners.

There are other newer operators building significant links in the on-campus world, but with the singularity that they operate under-the-radar, without co-branding a foundation programme or venture. QA Higher Education is one such operator, working with UK universities to run branch campuses or foundation programmes.

Another is EduCo, backed by Baring Private Equity Asia, and steered by another senior exec with a good view on global education, Joff Allen. An Australian, Allen was formerly with Campus Group International Education Services (before it sold to ACT in 2005) and saw the rise of its product, Global Assessment Certificate, delivered in 16 countries and recognised by over 110 universities as a university preparation programme (enabling conditional admission).

Launched in 2010, EduCo chiefly operates in the USA, Australia and Canada, either via owned-and-managed campuses, running joint-venture branch campuses or partnering to build a pathway pipeline.

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Allen explains that on campus, EduCo is a white label partner who doesn’t take over admissions, but is actively marketing in source countries via its 18 offices to present pre- screened students to partners. When talking to agents and embassies, the staff are EduCo’s, but on campus students don’t see the company name. “We take a difficult negotiating piece off the table by saying to the university, ‘this is all about you’,” relates Allen.

Home-grown programmes

While new operators are peppering the landscape, some universities are choosing to go it alone. University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, ranked in the world’s top 40 of universities, is agenda-setting in being a prestigious institution focused on doing more to diversify by building its own pathway college.

Joanne Fox, Principal and Academic Director at UBC’s Vantage College, explains that the Senate-approved plan to build Vantage College was in part “to create a space where we could be innovative with teaching and learning”. All of the courses are credit-bearing, even academic English, which is taught with content and language integrated.

“The way that we’re being innovative is that we actually have that collaboration happening between our academic English and our faculty members,” explains Fox. “What that means is the academic English instructor visits the physics class and then delivers an academic English support hour that’s specific to the physics class.”

The college has a clear mandate to enable a previously untapped cohort to thrive at UBC, Fox underlines, with UBC utilising its existing global reach and beginning to work with agents “quite cautiously”. New facilities and residences were built “on a cost-recovery basis” to ensure no cannibalisation of existing pipelines or infrastructure.

In-country provision

Providing preparation for a Western degree to students in their home country is also growing among private providers. As well as delivering pathway programming on campus and in London, (enabling a choice of onward progression), Kaplan International Colleges prepares students in China and Japan for onward study and two years ago, expanded this model to Lagos, Nigeria specifically for a number of US universities.

“For us it is just trying to look at different segments of the pathway market,” says Cowan. “We recognised that you do get younger students where parents would obviously prefer them to do their pathway at home and then do the degree overseas.”

She adds that university sponsors like the concept because for those that don’t progress, it is a much more cost-effective filter than having them return home from overseas. This year, Kaplan added to its offer in Lagos with a global foundation programme feeding into five partners in Australia and the UK.

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Kaplan teaches 7,000 students across its UK, Australia and US pathway footprint and Cowan notes that a further 5,000 will be studying within Asia at Kaplan’s Singapore school but on a pathway into a Western degree delivered in Singapore.

Other “in-country” options include the Global Assessment Certificate which is taken annually by more than 4,000 students, delivered in 16 countries. According to spokesperson Katie Wacker, 90 per cent of GAC graduates are intending to study in the USA at one of 60 pathway universities.

For the UK-bound, NCUK is a well established and expanding option which was in fact formed at the behest of the Malaysian government in 1987, offering pathway routes for qualified students in business & engineering into UK universities.

Standing for Northern Consortium UK, NCUK continues to represent universities in Britain’s north only, and around 3,000 students annually study with NCUK, via 30 delivery partner centres, with 70 per cent moving on to undergraduate study and the rest considering pathway options for year two entry, full degree completion in China or postgraduate entry to NCUK partners.

Georgina Jones, business development director at NCUK, considers the operation to be without rival. “Students also benefit from our unique placement service,” she says. “At foundation we offer a choice of 3,000 multi-disciplinary degree options, two guaranteed conditional offers and one guaranteed place (if the student passes).”

She asserts that the students learning in-country are a stand-alone market segment. “Typically, we find that if the family can afford to come to the UK, they will send their son or daughter – one reason why we’re growing our own UK provision to allow the students to benefit from the same NCUK guarantee and variety of choice students who stay in-country get.”

Spoilt for choice

Choice for the student is an interesting concept in this domain: offering choice is one of the main aces up the sleeve for the independent, non-campus based operators against the smooth marketing message of the embedded operations where integration can begin from day one.

Wilkinson back at BBSI in Bournemouth asks, “Are these progression agreements in the best interests of students (or just in the best interests of the providers)? Should students commit to a specific university via a specific pathway provider if they could do better through hard work on their pathways course?”

Yet he acknowledges that despite a 20-year track record and 500 students successfully placed at over 80 unis, “Our guarantee, solid as it is, gets drowned out by the massive corporate players in the marketplace”.

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But, there are more emerging entrants keen to tap into the potential of pathways and vaunt the value proposition of students having freedom of choice. This trend, too, is inevitable. “We felt that with our expertise in personalised, student care and our systematic approach that we would be able to deliver a viable and attractive alternative model to on-campus provision,” says Stefan Green, head of UK-based Unicentres, new baby sibling of Eurocentres.

He underlines, “We give students the option of making their university choice after they arrive in the UK rather than while sitting in an agent’s office in their own country.”

Will more choice mean more confusion? Education agents remain imperative in this market and they need to maintain students’ best interests as diverse pathways proliferate. Tina Bax, Founder and President at Canada’s CultureWorks, runs a private company delivering on- campus pathways at six Canadian universities. She concedes that now, “The recruitment box has just got so noisy and we all struggle with channel noise.”

But she anticipates even more new twists in this space, via technology delivery and mutual recognition of pathways. She cites Brescia University’s new Go Anywhere programme, a foundation programme offering academic credits which students can take and then choose to enroll at other Canadian institutions. “Registrars don’t know what box those students fit into for admissions!,” she says applauding the “forward-thinking, student-centred mentality”.

“We need to see more strategic alliance,” she says, challenging other stakeholders to really find out what international students want. “That’s what we all want to do, serve students, that’s why we’re here.”

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Worldwide pathways worth $825m a year; Europe to see growth By Beckie Smith :: The Pie News :: 17th September http://thepienews.com/news/worldwide-pathways-worth-825m-a-year-europe-to-see-growth/

The figures in the report – the first global overview of the pathway market – are extrapolated from datasets the company estimates to represent 70% of the market, including from its own pathway course search site, industry experts and desk-based research.

Worldwide, there were 1,192 English-medium foundation programmes listed on StudyPortals’s course search site PreparationCoursesPortal.com, with the majority in English-speaking regions.

Around half of all foundation programmes – as with international enrolments on undergraduate programmes – are in Business and Economics (32%) and Engineering and Technology (21%).

When it comes to delivery, almost half are operated by just five corporate providers: Cambridge Education Group, INTO University Partnerships, Kaplan International Colleges, Navitas and Study Group.

Universities and colleges account for most of the institutionally-delivered programmes, accounting for 45% of the total number, while language schools contribute just 3%.

The UK is home to nearly two thirds of all foundation programmes listed (63%), with 16% in Australasia and 12% in North America.

However, there are threats to the UK’s dominance of the pathway market. Visa regulations and government policy impacting English-medium programmes are both named in the report as major factors influencing pathway provision – areas where the UK compares unfavourably to some continental European countries, for example.

Partially for this reason but largely due to massive growth in English-taught degrees in the region, the report identifies continental Europe as a growth market for pathway courses.

English-medium degrees in the region have more than tripled over the last seven years, and growth has accelerated from 725 programmes in 2001, to 2,389 in 2007, to 8,039 in 20149.

The highest growth has occurred in Nordic, Baltic and Central Western countries. The Netherlands leads in terms of sheer numbers, with 1,078 programmes, followed by Germany (1,030), Sweden (822), France (499) and Denmark (494).

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As more institutions offer these programmes, they are finding that because “students are not prepared enough, the pathway or foundation programmes are a good way to get students”, StudyPortals CEO Edwin van Rest told The PIE News.

Arnold Persoon, Study Group‘s international study centre partnership director for Europe, also pointed to the proliferation of English taught programmes in continental Europe as a reason for a boom in pathway programmes.

He noted that growth in English-taught master’s degrees, followed by undergraduate programmes, has led to higher demand in the Netherlands.

“That immediately opens up quite a significant foundation market in the Netherlands, and I think in other European countries, I don’t see a reason why the same development wouldn’t happen there at some point,” he told The PIE News.

The UK’s crackdown on visa regulations impacting international students in recent years also “definitely helps” the continental European market, he added.

Study Group’s centre in the Netherlands, where student enrolments have doubled in the last year, can “clearly see the impact of the UKVI regulations on growth”, he said.

He also noted that there is a lot more room for expansion in Europe, for example, because of its relatively low number of courses already in place.

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“I think the existing markets are starting to get a bit saturated, so there’s probably going to still be growth, but it’s not like 10 years ago when growth was in double digits,” he explained.

“The UK’s having issues with visas, so it’s quite likely that the market share will go to other regions that are going to be able to grow much more because their basis is much smaller, and also have less problems with visas than in the UK,” echoed van Rest. “Visa regulations especially affect this type of mobility.”

The US is another region where the pathway market is growing rapidly.

“I think there’s also a more broader, genuine attempt to internationalise [than in the past],” said Persoon. “In the past it was highly-ranked universities with a great reputation, and all you had to do was open the gates and the applications came in.

“What you’re seeing now is a more diverse internationalisation trend, and that probably will also lead for more opportunities for the foundation sector.”

Not surprisingly, fees for foundation programmes vary according to region, and are highest in English speaking regions and where corporate providers are well-established.

The average fee for a foundation year is highest in North America, at US$22,000, followed by the UK (US$18,000) and Australasia (US$16,900), compared with around US$8,430 in Asia and US$9,206 in continental Europe.

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