Chinese B-Schools Lift their Game

As the schools' reputations improve, more local students are choosing to study at home rather than earn degrees abroad…………. Foreign case studies haven't been thrown out altogether, but the new emphasis on Chinese business reflects the changing priorities of China's business schools. As the curricula become more relevant to Chinese students, the schools' reputations are improving, and more local students are choosing to stay home rather than earn degrees abroad. In an exclusive poll of 253 recruiters from such companies as Huawei, General Electric (GE), and Nokia (NOK), 34% of respondents called the supply of high-quality talent from China's MBA programs "excellent" or "good," up from 19% last year, according to BusinessWeek China's third annual survey of Chinese B-schools. The quality of MBAs "is becoming better and better," [View Full Article]

Students Seeing Advantages of Mandarin Chinese Program

…………The national language of the more than 1.3 billion inhabitants of China and millions more ethnic Chinese around the globe, Chinese is the most widely spoken first language in the world. Though more than 200 million Chinese schoolchildren are studying English—often begun as early as the second grade—experts estimate that no more than 50,000 U.S. students are studying Chinese. China is now emerging as a world economic power after years of global isolation. By learning the language, not only are students embracing the unique culture of China, but they are also becoming competitive in a global economy. [View Full Article]

MBA in India

As far as higher education is concernced, the educational scenario has changed dramatically in India in the last decade. In the debate of an MBA in India versus abroad, as a student currently pursuing my MBA in India, I believe that an Indian MBA scores over an international MBA on several counts.

The main advantage is the cost. An MBA from any good B-school in the US or UK costs anywhere between Rs 25 to 50 lakhs, whereas Indian MBA schools charge ten per cent of the same amount. Secondly, when living abroad, you spend far more than you would in India, and as a result need to work there for at least a few years to recover the amount. This severely hampers your prospect of returning to India after the completion of the degree. [View Full Article]

TB cases connected to student

Cases of latent tuberculosis have been found in a group of Colorado State University-Pueblo students who likely had contact with an international student who died from the disease in June………. Dangol died four hours after being admitted to Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs after twice earlier seeking medical attention for her illness. A pre-nursing student, she attended three semesters' classes at CSU-Pueblo but lived in Colorado Springs - never on campus. [View Full Article]

A novel approach to global market

Universities compete like mad for overseas students because they are able to charge higher fees for undergraduates from non-EU countries, and thereby increase their threadbare coffers. For years they have been pulling out all the stops to lure young people to these shores, but now the approach is changing.
This is partly through necessity – the Chinese, for example, are no longer coming in the numbers they used to – but it is also morally desirable. We in the UK have as much to learn from China and India, as they do from us. We are in a global economy, so we have to understand one another...... [View Full Article]

Educators Suggest 'Mental-Health First Aid' for International Students

The risk factors for mental illness or mental-health issues are higher for international students and students who are studying abroad, so universities and colleges should consider setting up "mental-health first-aid programs" that can recognize and deal with... [View Full Article by subscription - The Chronicle]

The road to China

China is no longer a sleeping dragon when it comes to drawing foreign students as the world shows growing interest in the country.CHINA today is certainly much more than just an economic powerhouse. The modern China not only aims to make itself recognised as the host of the upcoming Olympics, to be held in Beijing next year, it also wants to be better known as an education provider.Association of Graduates from Universities and Colleges of China (AGUCC), Malaysia president Ting Chee Seng says the trend of learning Chinese has attracted foreigners to study in China. As he sees it, the language has gained popularity and prominence in recent times given the global interest in China, especially in relation to business. “It's important to master Chinese to stay competitive in the job market. [View Full Article]

Korean universities drawing more foreign students

The number of foreign students studying in Korea has been continuously rising, a government report said. The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development announced Monday (Sept. 19) that foreign university students studying in Korea numbered 32,000, or 0.9% of the nation's university students. Last year, the number of foreign students here was about 23,000. Chinese students accounted for over 70% followed by other Asian countries, such as Vietnam, Japan and Mongolia. Education officials say strategies are needed to lure more students from other regions.………The percentage of Koreans with higher education marked the highest rate in the world last year at 82.1%, and it increased again to 82.8% this year. Korea's education environment is generally improving thanks to government investments....... [View Full Article]

China's bid for world domination

What defines a global "superpower"? In the past, it was the size of national armies or possession of nuclear weapons.
But now there is a more important (and peaceful) benchmark: the size and prestige of university systems.
And, while the US is still the global higher education "superpower", China will soon be knocking it off top spot if current trends continue. ……… rapidly China is moving through the field in the higher education race. It should be a wake-up call to universities and governments around the world……….. China is now the largest higher education system in the world: it awards more university degrees than the US and India combined. ……. The rate of university expansion has been beyond anything anyone in the West can easily imagine. ……Meanwhile China now has three universities in the top 100 plus another two if you include Hong Kong. Across Asia as a whole, the number of universities in the top 100 has risen to 13. [View Full Article]

Malaysia stepping up efforts to woo international students

Malaysia will mount more campaigns overseas to woo international students by leveraging on the country’s established reputation as a quality education hub in the face of strong competition.
……………. We will be more aggressive next year and are planning one in China in either February or March,” said Malaysian Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed who arrived yesterday for a five-day visit to Beijing and Shanghai.………“We have about 1,000 Vietnamese studying in Malaysia but this is small because 50,000 Vietnamese students go abroad annually. We want to grow our share of the pie and the potential is there,” he said.
“There is a premium on learning English and getting a degree abroad in Vietnam. The government there is also keen on more vocational education to produce a big skilled workforce,” Mustapa added.He said Malaysia already ranked behind the United Kingdom, United States and Australia in popularity among Vietnamese students and urged more Malaysian institutions to explore partnerships in Vietnam.“We want to do better and we have our strong points too because of our proximity with Vietnam and the students can obtain UK and US degree courses in Malaysia at cheaper costs through twinning programmes,” he said.[View Full Article]

Students grab visas for US career paths

THE number of Chinese studying in the US has reached a new high, the US Consulate General in Shanghai announced yesterday.And people from Shanghai have a better chance of getting a US visa than residents of any other part of China.Officials said the consulate issued student visas to 88 percent of applicants in the past year up to September 30.Outside Shanghai China's average rate for successful student visa applications is 71 percent.………….China is the second largest country of origin for students in the US after India.The total number of international students enrolled in US colleges and universities increased by three percent - a major rebound in international enrollments after 9/11. [View Full Article]

China tops OSU international students

Students from around world choose to study at OSU
After receiving her bachelor's degree in China, Yan Xu wanted to go to graduate school in the United States and began researching colleges with prestigious history departments. ………..The reasons large numbers of Chinese students travel halfway around the world to come to Columbus is a strong OSU alumni presence in China promoting the school, and the fact that Chinese students want to come to the United States' biggest university.…………."In China, the university setting is more teacher-centered, while here education is more student-centered and problem driven," she said. "It is teaching someone how to fish, rather than just giving them a fish. My colleagues and I try to create people who can fish."……….. There is a huge pool of potential students," she said. "Also, the U.S. system is open and welcomes diversity. The quality of U.S. institutions is unrivaled."[View Full Article]

Chinese and Indian students might choose the US or Britain over Australia

Australia's historically high currency exchange rate may prompt Indian and Chinese students to seek university admissions in the United States and Britain in the near future. Commentators said more students from China and India might begin to choose the US, with its weak currency, or Britain over Australia. According to commentator Simon Marginson, the Australian Government may have to step in to shore up second-tier universities, which are "losing sleep" over the currency crunch.These universities presently feel deprived of foreign student income. With markets expecting an increase in official interest rates today, and sustained upward pressure on the Australian dollar, the 9.5 billion dollar education export industry is facing an unprecedented challenge on price competitiveness. [View Full Article]

Harvard leads world university pack

…..Harvard University still reigns as top dog in the world university in the top 50 rankings put out by Times Higher Education Supplement-QS — UK’s definitive university ranking guide — on Thursday. Cambridge and Oxford tie for second place, along with Yale. What’s different about this year’s rankings is an increasing internationalisation of universities — with 27 universities from 14 different countries entering the top 200 for the first time. However, while Chinese universities, as well others from Asia make it to the final 50, Indian universities have still to make a debut in the top 200. Three Latin American universities make it to the world’s top 200, while even Africa makes a debut, with Cape Town ranked at 200………UK universities are closing in on their American counterparts, ……….The increasing trend in internationalization is also borne out by the fact that 143 of the top 200 universities reported an increase in their percentage of international faculty to total faculty, while 137 of the top 200 universities reported an increase in their percentage of international students to total students. [View Full Article]

India falls off the league table of top universities

LONDON: For the first time, no Indian university figures in Britain’s most authoritative league table of the world’s top 200 universities while China is in with six universities revealing a wide gap in higher educational standards between the two competing Asian giants.
Other Asian countries with world-class universities are Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea………….The survey, which covers 28 countries, confirms the English-speaking world’s dominance in higher education with America and Britain leading the pack. Harvard University tops the league table followed by Cambridge and Oxford at second and third positions respectively. The top 10 universities are all either in U.S. or Britain. [View Full Article]

Worldwide Competition for International Students Heats Up

China is looking to Africa for students. Malaysia aims to become a regional education hub. Britain just made it easier for foreign students to stay on and work after graduation.
The competition for foreign students has become heated and complex. "Over all, students have a lot more choices today," says Line Verbik, co-author of a recent report by the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education, in Britain, called "International Student Mobility: Patterns and Trends." While the United States and Britain have maintained their spots as the top two destinations, other countries are gunning hard to catch up.[View Full Article by subscription - The Chronicle]

Total Enrollment of Foreign Students at Graduate Schools Jumps, but Gain in New Students Is Slower

The total enrollment of foreign students at American graduate schools increased this fall for the second year in a row, according to the results of a survey conducted by the Council of Graduate Schools. The 7-percent increase is the largest gain since 2002, but it was unclear whether total enrollment would continue to rise, as the growth in first-time enrollments slowed considerably from 2006.
"This is the largest gain that we've had in the five years that we've been doing the study, so that's obviously fairly good news," said Debra W. Stewart, the council's president. "But the rebound in international enrollment has not been enough to reverse the declines in absolute numbers that many institutions reported in 2004," she said.[View Full Article by subscription - The Chronicle]

CHINA: Chinese students to dominate world market

Students from mainland China who go abroad to study far outnumber those from any other country and they will continue to increase their domination of the international student market for decades to come.

This mobile group of young hopefuls is scattered around the world and they contribute an estimated US$6 billion in fees to higher education institutions. Many universities have come to rely heavily on the student fees as a growing source of income.

More than 350,000 mainland Chinese students are believed to be studying for degrees at overseas universities this year and the number is predicted to rise to 645,000 within 20 years.………… although students from India come second in terms of global mobility, they lag well behind the huge crowd from China.……. says lack of university places in their own countries is the main factor causing students to go abroad. But other elements include opportunities for skilled migration, perceptions of improved employment and career prospects for foreign graduates, and beliefs about better quality education and life experiences overseas.[View Full Article]

Few Women Reach the Top in Japan's Universities

Tokyo
At 68 and after a lifetime of academic work, Mitiko Go is at the top of her profession: president of Tokyo's Ochanomizu University. That might not seem like that unusual an accomplishment, but she is the only female president among Japan's 87 national universities.
"Obviously this is not good enough," she laments. "We have to do better."
Japan's higher-education system is the second largest in the world, after the United States, but it fares much worse than the United States when it comes to gender equity. Just 7 percent of Japan's 750-odd colleges and universities are run by women, compared with 23 percent of those in the United States. And while four out of the eight members of the Ivy League now boast female presidents, none of Japan's top academic institutions has ever allowed a woman to rise to the top. [View Full Article by subscription - The Chronicle]

Malaysia working for higher university standards

Employing foreign lecturers with doctorate qualifications will improve standards at local universities, but this can only be a stopgap measure until more Malaysians are available to take over, a senior official has said. ……………..He also believes that wooing home Malaysian lecturers teaching abroad could help improve the achievements and performance of local universities.

"We are not saying that local lecturers are not good enough. In fact, we will send some of them to further their studies and obtain the highest qualification. [View Full Article]

Taiwan, United Kingdom education experts to meet in Taipei

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The First Taiwan-United Kingdom (UK) Higher Education Conference is scheduled to be held today at National Taiwan University to enhance educational exchanges between the two nations, an education official said yesterday.
………..
During the meeting participants will discuss a wide range of issues concerning joint degrees and courses, research and academic collaboration, as well as international student recruitment, the official pointed out. [View Full Article]

Shuttle service available to foreign-language churches

……………….
According to a 2005 study by the Office of International Programs, 63 percent of University's international students come from East Asia. Japan is the most represented country with South Korea, Taiwan and China close behind. Germany and Canada are the only non-Asian nations among the top 10.[View Full Article]

Six out of 10 Hong Kong teenagers find world affairs a turn-off

Hong Kong - Hong Kong students are insular and disinterested in the outside world with nearly six out of 10 saying they consider global affairs irrelevant and boring, according to a survey released Monday.
Only 2.4 per cent of secondary school students said they learned about international affairs at school, and 63 per cent admitted knowing more about celebrities, fashion, music and movies than world events.
Only 13 per cent of the 750 students interviewed for the study conducted by a Hong Kong church said they believed that greater world knowledge would help them academically.
The survey also found that 65.5 per cent of students rarely had any contact with foreigners apart from their own English teachers at school.
The researchers responsible for the survey suggest the Hong Kong government should set up a youth fund to encourage young people to broaden their horizons and learn more about world events. [View Full Article]

More Indians are taking English language test IELTS; greater focus on Indian market

More Indian students and professionals are taking International English Language Testing System (IELTS). According to IELTS, India is the second largest market for IELTS in the world after China.…………. IELTS measures ability to communicate in English across all four language skills – listening, reading, writing and speaking – for people who intend to study or work where English is the language of communication. …………….. The top three higher education destinations for Indian students are Australia, UK and the USA. This is reflected in the choice of destinations by Indian candidates taking Academic IELTS. According to IELTS, it is the fastest growing English language test in the world. [View Full Article]

Yonsei Dean Expects More English Classes at Korean Universities

……. South Korean universities will introduce more English classes in their curriculums as proficiency in the language becomes increasingly important in the workplace, said the dean of Yonsei School of Business. ``It's a global language,'' Kim Tae Hyun said in an Oct. 31 interview in Seoul. ``It's the general trend for Korean universities to increase the number of lectures offered in English.'' …………``The degree of globalization of companies is very strong,'' Kim said. ``In that sense, everybody must learn English and must speak English very fluently.'' ………., 64 percent of the 1,075 South Koreans surveyed said they were stressed at work because they had insufficient English. ……….the growing importance of English is prompting South Korean students to head abroad to learn the language. In the year ended March 31, 2007, 52 percent of the 217,959 students who went abroad for university or higher level education went to the U.S., U.K., Australia and other English-speaking countries, the Education Ministry said. Twenty percent traveled to China. Four years ago, 159,903 went abroad to study. Yonsei's Kim said more English-language classes will help reduce the financial burden of studying overseas. [View Full Article]

Singapore school keen to woo Indian students -

The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) of Singapore is keen to woo Indian students for various post graduate courses offered by the school, a top official of the institute said.…………….. that the institute aimed at providing research and education in the field of public administration, public management and public policy.……….The Vice Dean said LKYSPP was looking at setting up joint venture programmes with Indian universities to start a study centre in India as part of its long term plans.
He also said that the School offered scholarships on a competitive basis to students combining academic achievement with an interest in public service. [View Full Article]

Candidates Pledge to Improve English Education

Grand National Party presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak and United New Democratic Party candidate Chung Dong-young have promised, as if in competition, that the government will take responsibility for English education.
Lee has promised to improve the nation's English education system on several occasions -- on Oct. 9 when he announced his education policy, on Oct. 16 when he observed an after-school class and on Oct. 23 at a seminar hosted by the Korea Federation of Teacher's Associations. …………… Both Lee and Chung believe the nation is suffering an English education crisis. In this globalized era, they believe, it is increasingly difficult to get by without English, and we can no longer afford to let the private education market take care of English education and parents bear the burden. …………... Chung said he would establish English language classes at all of the 12,000 elementary and secondary schools across the country if he's elected. English language classes would be conducted mainly as after-school classes using the current school classrooms, and each school would have one native speaker and three English-proficient teachers. [View Full Article]

International spouses combat challenges

As she recounts her trip to the U.S. from Japan with her husband, Chie Terada plays with her two children in the family’s apartment at Campus View, periodically pausing to speak to them in Japanese. While Terada stays at home to take care of her children, her husband attends classes in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs graduate program.

……………… Britton created a free class for these spouses in 2005, called the International Spouses Circle. Cooking classes, museum trips and guest speakers are typical events for the circle, which lets members choose when they want to meet and what they want to do. ……………..“There’s a large number of women in that situation ... women whose husbands (are) studying here,” Britton said. “What I wanted to create was a group that had members taking ownership and making it into what they want it to be.”………Spouses take advantage of volunteer opportunities as well. [View Full Article]

Principal of Indian sister school visits campus, shares experiences

India, one of the worlds fastest developing countries, is a mystery to most. But that could soon be changing thanks to Drury's ongoing partnership with a school in India.………………Narayan says the traditional education system in India varies greatly from the American system. "The Indian system is somewhat rigid," said Narayan. "There's not much flexibility. In America, a child can think what he or she prefers to think. In India, you don't have that same opportunity."

While education is provided by the government, it's not compulsory. Narayan hopes the teaching skills she is acquiring while here in the U.S. will translate to a better educated population in her hometown. [View Full Article]

Overseas offers pour in for FMS students

NEW DELHI: With companies trying to make good the India opportunity as well as Indian companies announcing their arrival on the world scene, overseas offers are pouring in for students of the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi. …………. “Indian students are sought everywhere today. It’s only logical for Indian companies to offer them overseas placements in areas they are on an expansion drive. …………A comparison according to the profiles, showed the highest number of students opted for marketing with 39% voting for it, beating finance which had the maximum number last year. [View Full Article]

Ministry of Education eases rules for loans to study abroad

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Ministry of Education (MOE) yesterday approved a set of revisions to rules governing loans to students to finance their advanced studies abroad, with those students whose annual family incomes are under NT$1.45 million to apply for the loans, up from a previous ceiling of NT$1.2 million.
This means more students will be allowed to apply for low-interest loans to support their overseas study programs. The interest rate is set at 3.45 percent per annum.
The MOE is scheduled to publicize the revised lending program in mid-October, when it will also inform six domestic banks to offer such education loans. [View Full Article]

Redefining Higher Education

Higher educa tion in Nepal is said to be sub standard and incompatible with the growing needs of the global society. Hence, large numbers of student go abroad for higher studies annually. The loss of billions of rupees to overseas universities will eventually have harmful effects on different arenas of national development. Therefore, it is necessary to redefine …………….Reportedly, the flow of students from Asian countries to Western universities is high. Asia is by far the largest sending region, accounting for 58% of total international enrollment in the United States. India and China rank first and second respectively in sending students to the US. Nepal, too, sends a large number of students to the US. According to the US-based Institute of International Education (IIE), in academic year 2005/6, Nepal occupied 19th position, with 6,061 students going to the United States for higher studies, an 25% increase over the previous year. …………Studying abroad is not harmful to the nation since it gets highly educated manpower for national development.
However, a country like Nepal is not in a position to bear losses of billions of rupees annually to foreign universities. On the other hand, most of the talented students are not willing to return home after completion of their study due to the uncertain job market in the country. Many, therefore, immigrate. The world has become a small home in this era of globalisation,……… [View Full Article]

Number of international students studying in the county is growing

……………After a drop following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the number of international students studying at U.S. universities is starting to rebound.
The government has made it somewhat easier for students to get visas, and the United States seems more welcoming than it did a few years ago, said Juanita Hall, director of multicultural and international programs for California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. "Things have gotten easier since right after 9/11, when there was a lot of competition," Hall said. "The government made it so difficult to get a visa. The U.S. didn't seem like a friendly place. It was kind of a hostile environment." Nationally, the number of international students dropped 2.4 percent in 2003-04 and 1.3 percent the following year, according to the Institute of International Education. Enrollment started leveling off last year, and the institute expects it to grow this year, based on the number of student visas being issued. The international students come from around the world, but primarily from India, China, the Republic of Korea and Japan. They're drawn to U.S. graduate programs in science or business that may not be available in their own countries, said Peggy Blumenthal, executive vice president of the Institute of International Education. Or they may simply find the American teaching style, which focuses on discussion and hands-on learning, more appealing than traditional lectures. "International students come to the U.S. for the kind of education they couldn't get at home," Blumenthal said. California is the most popular destination for international students, with USC as the top choice.………..Nationwide, the most popular fields for international students are business, science and engineering — primarily because that's where the top career opportunities are overseas, Blumenthal said. Even in other fields, a degree from a U.S. university can be valuable because so many companies in today's global society are international, she said. An ability to speak English and work with Americans can give overseas students an edge, said Yuejia Wu, 22, a CSUCI student from China. [View Full Article]

New trend in tertiary education

Once they complete secondary education, a lot of local students tend to fly abroad. However, many of us are not aware that Mauritius also attracts a number of international students. More and more foreign students come here for their teriary education. Full-time students as well as those who follow one semester only come to Mauritius from various countries across the world - even from America and Europe. School leavers from neighboring countries such as India, Seychelles and Kenya are also attracted to our country. But why do they choose Mauritius?

The University of Mauritius as the lead tertiary education institution attracts more of these international students for different reasons. ………… For most of them, one of the main reasons why they decided to come and study in Mauritius is to escape the competition in their country. But despite being the nationality in majority at SSR, Indian is far from being the only foreign nationality, as there are also students from South Africa...... [View Full Article]

Education consultancies lack transparency

Kathmandu, Oct. 5: Educational consultancies that are working in the name of sending students abroad for higher education have been running without transparency, specific policies or code of ethics, speakers at the programme organised by Education Journalists' Group on Friday commented. The ministry does not have any legal provision and policy to punish those opened without registration or indulged in malpractice, said Ashok Kharel, under secretary of School Administration at the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES). The ministry has only been keeping record and giving 'no objection letter' to students who have applied to go abroad for study under self-finance and the ministry's scholarship quota. Kharel, however, informed that ministry had stopped giving such letters for some universities of Bangladesh and Denmark. …………There are about 400 consultants in the Kathmandu Valley alone working as consultants for students willing to go abroad to study. But the actual number of such consultants is not known. [View Full Article]

US visa demand graph moves upward: consulate opened in Hyderabad

Oct 11: In view of the revelation of the department of commerce of US which reports the arrival of around more than 4 lacs people from India to US in the year 2006 US has decided to open a new Consulate General in the capital of Andhra Pradesh.
The decision has been taken on the basis of the fact of 1/3 visa seekers being from Andhra Pradesh.
In 2006 an increase of 18 percent in the visitors to USA has been registered. Due to this increase India will come in the list of the top ten countries visiting USA.
US assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, Maura Harty said that this high growth area is likely to grow by 61 percent which is indicated by the fact that already this year 725,000 visas have been issued which is an increase of 58 percent.

US has the highest number of students in its institutions from India and currently 50,000 student visa applications are under consideration for this year. Indian population constitutes 17 percent of people visiting USA every year. [View Full Article]

Foreign students drawn to China's schools

The number of overseas students in China has continued to rise as the country's reputation for higher education receives more international acclaim, officials with the Ministry of Education said.

More than 100,000 Chinese students study abroad annually, ranking it the top country in the world with students heading overseas. Latest statistics from the ministry indicate that China received more than 162,000 students from 185 countries and regions last year. The number was triple that of 2000.

Ninety-four percent of them were self-supporting and the rest had government scholarships.

"China's educational sector has made remarkable progress, especially in teaching quality and methods," Cao Guoxing, director of the International Cooperation and Exchange Department under the ministry, told China Daily.

The government has signed agreements with 30 countries and regions on mutual recognition of academic certificates and degrees. [View Full Article]

US visa demand grew 61% in '06

NEW DELHI: The demand for US visas in India is the highest in the world, registering a growth of 61% in the last year alone, with a 55% growth just from New Delhi.

……..However, the downside of this explosion in demand is that visa fraud is increasing exponentially as well. The US embassy has now tied up with the CBI to net touts and middlemen involved in visa racket.

"We caution visa applicants not to be fooled by advertisements for visa document packages or promises of guaranteed visas," Harty said.

But the US policy of welcoming Indian visitors and students will continue, she said. "Foreign visitors account for nearly $105 billion in spending and other economic activity in the US annually. International students contribute an additional $13 billion each year to some 4,000 academic institutions." [View Full Article]

Mid-career professionals moving to the US for MBA

For young and mid-career Indian professionals, taking a break to join an MBA course in the US seems to have become a very attractive option. Besides getting an MBA degree, the career move also helps in moving to the US and, in many cases, finding job opportunities. There’s always been a large percentage of Indian students heading to the US for MBA courses.

While this trend has not changed, there’s a degree of difference in the profile of students. In fact, Indian students are increasingly going to the US at the mid-career level, after gaining a few years of work experience. Many top US colleges too, prefer applicants with some years of work experience to add diversity to their classrooms.

The recent QS Applicants Survey carried out globally by analysing responses from thousands of worldwide MBA applicants, showed that India had the largest number of MBA applicants at the World MBA Fair — a well-known global roadshow. The survey also found an MBA was seen as a viable option for aspiring Indian leaders to improve careers and salaries. [View Full Article]

The Mobile International Student

Much of the analysis of trends in international student mobility comes from the perspective of individual countries. American academic groups worry about the relative ability of colleges in the United States to attract the best foreign talent. British groups do the same, and so forth. A new analysis from the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education — a think tank based in Britain and affiliated with the Association of Commonwealth Universities and Universities UK — attempts to take a broader perspective. The dominant position of the United States remains clear — it continues to attract more students from other countries than anyplace else does. But the report identifies weaknesses for American colleges, as well as both strengths and weaknesses for some of the competitors to the United States, including some whose raw numbers have attracted attention of American educators.
Three other countries are identified as “emerging contenders": Malaysia, Singapore and China.[View Full Article]

Will a billionaire philanthropist's new American-style university stem the flow of Indian undergraduates heading West?

British universities which assume there will be an unending stream of students coming from India in search of a quality higher education may be in for a shock in a few years. Indians are beginning to think about building their own elite, private universities – and are ditching the erstwhile British model for American-style higher education.
………... A savvy businessman, Agarwal will capitalise on the Indian demand for universities, and for a more multidisciplinary, American approach to higher education.
Among Indian students who go abroad for their university degrees, the majority prefer to go to the United States – not to the UK – despite the historic ties between India and Great Britain. Of 123,000 Indians studying abroad, nearly two thirds are enrolled in US institutions. This preference is part of Indians' efforts to distance themselves from British influence.... [View Full Article]

America to study & work, China for reform tips

New Delhi, Oct. 10: A record number of Indian students have applied for visas to study in the United States over the past year, a senior US state department official said here today. “Visa demand is skyrocketing throughout India. The overall demand for visas (of all categories) is up 61 per cent in India, one of the highest visa growth rates in the world,” the US assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, Maura Harty, said. More than 50,000 young Indians have applied for student visas over the past year — a record number, Harty said.…….“Our consular posts in India process over 100,000 temporary worker visas per year, more than in any other country in the world. India has more students studying in the US — 80,000 — than any other country,” she said at a media meet. ……“The department of commerce estimates that this year, India will move into the ranks of the top 10 countries sending visitors to the United States,” she said. [View Full Article]

Ragging: A Sickness in our Educational System and Society

Over the last few months, the Indian media has carried stories about incidents of ragging at Indian colleges, including at some of India's most prestigious and well-known institutions (1). The incidents, several of which involve acts
of brutal violence perpetrated on helpless first year students by groups of senior students, raise many disturbing questions: why does this culture of violence exist among
Indian students and Indian society? It is an article of faith among the Indian middle classes that only the Indian masses are capable of irrational violence. ……….Clearly a deep-rooted malaise in Indian educational system, ragging is simultaneously a symptom of a deeper sickness in Indian society. …………I believe that Indian educational institutions have a lot to learn from the American educational system in this regard. It is not the case that there are no incidents of ragging--termed 'hazing' here-- in American educational institutions, but policies, response measures, campus safety provisions, and the threat of lawsuits ensure that such incidents are kept to a minimum and offenders are adequately prosecuted. [View Full Article]

Students urged to revive Indian intellectual traditions

NIZAMABAD: It is unfortunate that the students of a country which has great traditions in education are now looking at foreign shores for higher education, ………….
The entire world is looking at the Indian intellectual heritage and civilisation, Appala Prasad said and explained that the West was now looking at India for solutions to many world problems. The European and Americans had begun research into the secrets of the Vedas. Unfortunately due to the Western cultural domination many Indian families are looking at America and European countries for higher education, he lamented.…………….It is the responsibility of the students to fight for a National Educational Teaching System to revive the glorious Indian intellectual heritage. [View Full Article]

It's cheaper to do MBA in Japan

PUNE: Japan, the second-largest economy in the world, could be a cheaper destination to do your MBA than Pune. Mombusho Scholars Association of India (MOSAI) vice-president Umesh Joshi narrated this story to demolish myths about Japan being an expensive destination for higher studies. ………. “India sends between 300-500 students annually to Japan, of the 1.20 lakh overseas students who go there. Most of the Indian students go for language studies, which is a pity since the country has more to offer in high tech areas, than just language studies,” Mr Joshi stated. He added that MOSAI will offer round-the-year counselling and information to students wanting to explore Japan as an educational destination. There is a practical, long-term reason for Indian students to study in Japan, Mr Joshi remarked, given the level of investment being made by that country in core projects in India. Japanese companies, which will invest in India under those programmes, will naturally prefer Indians who have studied there, understand their culture and are familiar with the language. A course of study in Japan more or less guarantees a job with a Japanese company in India and for the Indian, it is a benefit since s/he learns tremendous self discipline. [View Full Article]

England: 'We pay £20 for each hour of contact time'

International students complain of information overload and lack of value

International students in the UK, who pay fees of up to £5,500 a term, complain that universities here expect them to absorb too much knowledge when term starts, then just leave them to self-directed study. They say class sizes should be smaller, so that their tutors know them better. And what, they ask, is the point of lectures in which all academics do is read out bullet points of a PowerPoint presentation and then leave?……."International students are paying much more than home students. Few contact hours means we are getting less value for our money. Someone I know calculated that we pay £20 for each hour of contact time." [View Full Article]

Europe Falls Short in Higher Education

U.S. and British universities consistently win kudos, and that could spell trouble for the Continent's competitiveness

Europe is renowned for taking good care of its citizens. Universal health care, a generous safety net for the unemployed, and free education from preschool through graduate studies—all are widely available in the Old World, thanks to a long tradition of social protection. But one area where Europe falls short is higher education. Rankings of the world's top universities are consistently dominated by U.S. institutions. Indeed, in the 2007 edition of a respected annual survey ………… the U.S. took 8 of the top 10 slots—the same number as last year. U.S. schools also grabbed 7 of the top 10 positions in a recent ranking by the Times of London Higher Education Supplement in Britain. …………Lack of financing is a key weakness. …………European leaders are aware of the global race for brainpower, and educational reform is already under way in some countries. [View Full Article]

Growing Number of Young Children Studying Overseas

The number of Korean middle and high school students studying overseas is setting new record highs every year, and now it appears a growing number of elementary students are also heading abroad.……….."These days parents tend to think it would be better for children to learn English as early as possible and they're very active in sending their children to study abroad," an overseas study agency said………Meanwhile, the number of Korean students studying in foreign universities or higher education institutes has topped 200,000 for the first time. This year 217,959 Koreans went abroad to study at overseas universities, graduate schools or language institutes for adults, up from 190,364 in 2006. As of April 1, 2007, there were 59,022 Korean college or higher institute students in the U.S., 42,269 in China and 19,056 in Japan. [View Full Article]

University funding among lowest in OECD

PUBLIC spending on higher education remains well below the levels in other developed countries, the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development says.………….Australia ranked with the United States, Korea, Chile and Japan as countries with more than half their annual investment in universities from private sources.
Australia's public spending on higher education was among the lowest of the 34 developed countries covered by the OECD report, with only Russia, Brazil, Japan, Italy, Korea and Chile spending less in public funds on their institutions as a proportion of their economic output.…….. Australia and Korea as spending a very small amount of public money on pre-primary education - just 0.1 per cent of the country's total output - eight times less than countries such as Denmark, Hungary and Israel. Australia also has the highest proportion of international students, with 17.3 per cent of the campus population coming from abroad. In contrast, the US has just 3.4 per cent of overseas students. Almost all these students are full-fee paying. ……….Universities could use international students to bump up their numbers in the face of fewer domestic students... {View Full Article]

Quest for International Measures of Higher-Education Learning Results Raises Concerns

A fledgling international effort to develop comparable assessment standards for measuring how much students are learning at higher-education institutions throughout the world is provoking concern from several quarters, even though the project is still in its preliminary stages.
The push is being led by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, whose 30 member countries include many of the world's most advanced economies, such as Australia, Japan, the United States, and several European nations. The effort grew out of a meeting last year of the group's education ministers and secretaries, at which the apparent dearth of available data on student-learning outcomes prompted discussion about how to fill that void. [View Full Article - By Subscription - The Chronicle]

International spouse redefines identity in U.S.

…..I came to State College from Taiwan to join my husband three years ago. I’m like many of the international women I meet here — new brides, new moms or new job-quitters out of necessity. Before leaving Taiwan, I dreamt that in America, I would have a big kitchen with fancy, high-tech cooking equipment. But while the first few weeks after arrival were very exciting for me, I realized my honeymoon was over. I had what Americans call a “reality check.” Maybe you can’t imagine how stressful it could be. I had brought my personal savings and wanted to deposit it in a bank. Surprisingly, no bank would let me open an ac¬cunt. The reason is very simple but not understandable to me: I don’t have a Social Security number. International students’ spouses can’t have a Social Security number because they are not allowed to work. Still, I didn’t understand why I couldn’t save my own savings in a bank. …… all household bills are addressed to my husband. …… it is risky…… I’m forced to depend on my husband ….., the Social Security number problem doesn’t affect my eligibility to obtain a driver’s license. However, a similar story happened again when I applied for a license. At the center, I was asked for proof of residency. I showed the attendant two mailed thank-you letters from Global Connections, where I volunteer, but he didn’t approve. Legally, I have many restrictions to follow, but there is no restriction to stop my desire to learn. [View Full Article]

U.S. Continues to Slip in Educational-Attainment Levels, Says Report Comparing OECD Countries

The United States boasts one of the most highly educated populations in the world, but other countries are overtaking it by turning out young college graduates at a faster rate, especially in the sciences, according to a new report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD.
The annual report, "Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators," presents comprehensive data on the education systems in the Paris-based organization's 30 member democracies, and is scheduled to be released today. [View Full Article - by subscription - The Chronicle]

Overseas students’ £130m economy boost

Overseas students contribute nearly £130m to Scotland's economy in tuition fees alone, according to a report published yesterday. A study by the British Council, the UK's international body for cultural relations, found that higher education now makes more money for the UK economy than financial services or the vehicle trade.…….The education sector has soared in value from £23bn in 2001-2, partly due to growing numbers of international students. They pay full fees at a market rate - money which is in addition to that coming from the public purse to fund the education of UK students - which allows universities greater flexibility in the courses they teach and the research they pursue.………. Scottish universities first courted students from the EU and now India and Asia. [View Full Article]

University augments foreign aid packages

Some international students say they receive little help from their governments when it comes to school, ………..Hai Yen Nguyen and Kaushal Amatya , both international students, said their countries do not provide federal financial aid for students seeking an education in the U.S.…….. Vietnam…….. government provides only a few scholarships for students studying in other countries and for two to three years.……government officials believe students who come to the U.S. for school will want to stay awhile before returning to Vietnam and working in the country. ………. Nepalese government does not provide scholarships because of the complications involved with the visa application. "When you apply for a loan and then a visa, your visa application can be denied because it appears that you don't actually have enough money to afford school," Amatya said. Private loans can be taken through students' parents but it can be difficult to adjust their savings according to the changes in tuition,………."Tuition increases each year," Amatya said, "but the scholarships don't increase. It is hard to save up for what the scholarship doesn't cover." [View Full Article]

Nepalese student discovers comfort, hospitality in America

Taking on a heavy course load, balancing social, academic and recreational life, and cramming for the ever-dreaded class exams is a reality for college students. As if that was not enough, adding a language barrier is only expected to make things more difficult.………………Seeking a degree in the United States was the only option for Bhandary, as “the [higher] education of females is not promoted in Nepal - it ends with the completion of high school.”This educational experience for Bhandary does not come without a price, however. At an exchange rate of one American dollar for 75 Rupee, the Nepalese currency, the cost of tuition, twenty thousand dollars per academic year, is a burden on her family. Scholarships are not offered for out-of-country students attending public universities.[View Full Article]

IAU launches MBA course for Indian students

DAVANAGERE: This college want local students to get a degree in MBA from USA and also get a fine job in multinational company to lead a happy life at Indian cost. According to B S Gupta, Director of Gupta College of Management and Technology, Bangalore, pointed out his college was first in country to offer the MBA degree from International American University (IAU), Los Angeles California, USA, to the Indian students. There were three management programs available to students, Doctor in business administration, equivalent to PhD and two years full term MBA and executive MBA for people who have two years experience in their fields. The degrees offered by IAU are worldwide accepted as this was dynamic and modern university with high standard of teaching. Here the faculty from USA will come to teach one subject every semester to students… the students will be taught regular MBA course in four semesters. [View Full Article]

Foreign-Student Boom Both Helps and Hurts British Universities

A report published today by the umbrella organization representing the chief executives of all British universities highlights the growing importance of international students to both their financial heath and the survival of certain subjects that the government has deemed to have “strategic importance.”………..The level of foreign enrollment in strategic subjects such as biological sciences, engineering, and technology is much higher than in other disciplines, the report says, with 21 percent of undergraduates and 71 percent of graduate students coming from outside Britain.………. the large number of foreign students, particularly at the graduate level, is “worrying because it raises the question of whether we can renew our academic and research base from within the U.K.” —Aisha Labi [View Full Article]

Post-MBA plans stymied for many International students attending US B-Schools

Come August, hundreds of students travel abroad for their Master’s education. If you are one of those seeking an MBA from a top business school or any school for that matter in the US, you might want to consider your decision carefully. Interesting turn of events with respect to H1B visas and limitations faced by highly skilled people may be something you want to ponder about for a while. Hold onto that job back home or start your job search afresh; it is better than being left bereft after two years with a huge debt hanging on your shoulder.
………..If you have been following MBA related news, you might have heard about the H1 debacle this year and which will probably get worse next year. 65,000 plus another 20,000 Masters quota of H1B visas are given out every year and should ideally last for 2-3 months. This gave some freedom and time to post-graduate international students to explore diverse careers and make wise choices.,………. MBA does not allow you to pre-pone or post-pone your graduation date. Some proactive students succeeded in completing their exams earlier, getting a completion certificate which allowed them to jump lines in order to be eligible for advanced degree quota of H1Bs. [View Full Article]

One in every two students drop out of school in India

Even as India observes International Literacy Day Saturday, a study has found that one out of every two students enrolled in schools drop out before reaching ninth standard.
According to the revealing study carried out by the human resource development (HRD) ministry, one out of every four students does not go beyond class five. By class eight the dropout rate gets worse at 50.8 percent.………...It further underlined that as many as 60 percent of SC and 67 percent ST girls leave school without completing upper primary cycle of education, compared to 51 percent of girls from the general population.………….'Government is implementing the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (Education for All) programme for universalisation of elementary education by 2010………….Even as India is increasingly being recognised internationally as a knowledge hub, on the flip side only 10 percent of its total student strength is enrolled in higher education. [View Full Article]

Taking a Short cut

The land Down Under is coming out tops. Australia is now among the most exciting destinations for Indian students looking to go overseas to study, with New Zealand too rapidly gaining popularity. And traditional graduate or post-grad degrees isn’t what everyone is making a beeline for, with the new trend in both countries being of a large number of students opting for vocational courses such as chefs, hairdressers, physiotherapists and in veterinary services and hospitality.

“One year diploma courses give international students a specific industry based training after which they are very likely to get jobs. Besides, students also have the portability to get back to undergrad courses whenever they want to,” explains April Amosa. [View Full Article]

[Column] An equal playing field in higher education

"Academic cliques and the ranking of universities lead to secondary education that is all about university entrance exams, which ruins the bodies and souls of our children. The only way to resolve the contradictions of education is to abolish the university entrance exam system and implement university 'equalization…….
Korean education is madness itself. It is the result of a "crazy world where you take one test that determines your life." The country has been overtaken by the scandalous discovery that many prominent members of society have falsified their educational background, but that story is little more than a splinter in the harsh realities faced by the whole country when it comes to education, from students, parents, and teachers. [View Full Article]

Number of foreign students in UK rising

The number of students from China studying in Britain has soared in the past decade, figures show today.
Almost 51,000 Chinese students are taking courses at UK universities - accounting for almost one in six of overseas students.
According to the study published today, the number of students from outside the European Union has more than doubled in the past decade.
……….
In the past 12 months alone, postgraduate students from India have soared by a third, while numbers from the United States and Hong Kong are also on the rise.
Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors, said many were taking up places in "economically important" degree courses - such as engineering and the sciences - which were shunned by home-grown school leavers.
………….
This comes as business leaders complain that too few British teenagers are taking shortage subjects at GCSE and A-level - leaving the economy exposed to China and India. [View Full Article]

Private Deemed Universities in India

Though the third-largest system in terms of enrollment, with more than 10 million students, India has almost half of the world's institutions of higher education—almost four times more than in the United States and Europe and over seven times the number of institutions in China. Most of the 18,000 institutions in India are colleges and only around 370 are universities. While universities award their own degrees, the colleges award degrees through the university to which they are affiliated. ……….. Academic degrees in India can only be awarded by a university. Both the national Parliament and the state legislatures can authorize the establishment of universities. …………. The distinction between a private and public institution in Indian higher education is somewhat blurred. ………..
Private Growth
Over the past 20 years, the higher education capacity in the country has increased largely through private institutions. [View Full Article]
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How Education Pays: College Board Report Lists Benefits for Individuals and Society

A college education pays in more ways than one, according to a report released by the College Board on Wednesday. In addition to higher personal earnings for the graduates themselves, the report says, society at large benefits. College graduates are more likely to volunteer, vote, and donate blood, according to the report, and they have a higher tolerance of differing views.
The report, "Education Pays 2007: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society," is the latest in an annual series from the College Board. Based on data from a variety of sources, it gives a broad overview of the benefits of various levels of educational attainment, from less than a high-school degree to the highest professional degrees, and how those benefits vary by gender and race or ethnicity.

To continue reading this premium article, you must have a Chronicle account AND a subscription or an online pass. [View Full Article - By Subscription - The Chronicle]

More Indians going to New Zealand for higher studies

Chennai, Sept. 11 (PTI): The number of Indian students opting for higher studies in New Zealand is on the rise, according to an official of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.
Jugnu Roy, Trade Development Manager, told PTI at a New Zealand Education Fair here today that 2,800 applications were received last year and an increase of 45 per cent this year was expected this year.
New Zealand offered high quality education in engineering, especially bio-technology and computer science, she said.
"Recently, the government changed the rules to encourage more PhD scholars to come to New Zealand when it announced that foreign students could pay the domestic fee and not the international fee," Roy said.
The education fair today was the seventh consecutive one held here. [View Full Article]

Have Degree: Can Work

With the revision of work rules in a number of foreign countries, the most recent being Australia, Indian students are now being presented with the option of staying back in the country where they receive their degree in order to gain that elusive international work experience. Educators in the United States regard these revisions as the latest in a series of attempts by other countries to chip away at the dominance of American higher education. The country also claims to be the first to offer international students the opportunity to gain work experience after completion of studies.

No matter what the reason, the fact remains that these work revisions are opening up lucrative and challenging professional avenues for Indian students studying across the globe. [View Full Article]

Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD touts new seventh grade Hindi, Mandarin language, history classes

………..“All the Chinese students want to attend college in the United States, which creates extra competition for American students trying to attend college here. Our new programs give our students that extra edge to compete,” Parpia said.………..“Because of the population explosion in China and India, their universities cannot enroll all the students who want to attend college,” Parpia said. “ They cannot keep up with demand.”
…….. more of America’s top colleges and universities are reserving slots for Chinese and Indian students.
“They know how to study, they have a great work ethic, and they are bilingual, because they learn English in their home country. They make great students at any university. Our students need to be able to compete with that.” [View Full Article]

Which colour? Too much choice!

There you stand, thinking, "So which one shall I buy?" It doesn't matter very much whether you select red, blue or pink - or does it?
Most students who decide to study abroad already know where they want to go. Well, almost. The obvious choices are Australia, the UK, the US and maybe the lesser-chosen destinations of New Zealand and Canada. There are even a few who opt for France, Germany or Japan, which is a bit like choosing mauve or cerise (is that a colour?).
What about Sweden, Malta (guess where?) or South Africa; surprisingly, once in a blue moon (why that colour?), someone does ask for such an alternative.
It's a strange thing, fashion. While we all pride ourselves on being individual, fashion drives us to all follow the crowd. So if all of my friends are going to the US, it must be a good idea, and thus so will I. But that's like saying all of your friends are buying red this season, and so now you will, too, whether or not it actually suits you.
Now, maybe I've taken this colour thing a bit too far. After all, choosing your country of study is a serious decision. [View Full Article]

Estonian Youth in a Global Context, Kairos Future

Today’s youth live in an increasingly globalized world, communication channels become wider and distances become shorter, but more and more young people trust only themselves and their loved ones. This is the conclusion of the new survey ”Global Youth”, made by Kairos Future, an international futures research and strategy firm with headquarters in Stockholm. The aim of the survey is to provide companies, authorities and organizations with strategic information concerning future consumers, employees and citizens. Quality of life and status – that’s what the young ones want
– Most young people in the world want quality of life and they choose a nice living environment to good work opportunities. However, the long-term trend is moving in the direction towards work with high status and good career opportunities, ……..The world’s youth believe it is important to get higher education. Seven out of ten 16-29 year olds want to study at university and one out of eight is going for a doctor’s degree, but they have different motivation factors. [View Full Article]

Turkish students still prefer U.S. schools

Increased visa restrictions and questionable practices of U.S. universities do not deter Turkish students who still prefer to cross the Atlantic in pursuit of post-secondary and graduate education. Experts believe that the United States will continue to have a pull, but will have to contend with other countries also vying for Turkish students. Fewer Turks traveled to the United States to study in the past year, but recent data shows that U.S. universities still lead the list for study-abroad opportunities. Data from the Institute for International Education indicates that the number of Turkish students choosing U.S. universities fell in the last year. In the 2005-2006 academic year about 11,600 Turkish students studied in the United States, down from less than 12,500 the year before.
This places Turkey as the eighth most important country sending students to U.S. higher education institutions. In the academic year 2005-2006, 2.1 percent of all foreign students in the U.S. were Turks.
Turkey falls behind India, China, South Korea, Japan, Canada, Taiwan and Mexico in sending students to the U.S. [View Full Article]

Imperfect international aid

LAST WEEK, a University representative informed me that due to a senseless post-Virginia Tech policy change, I would have to pay $66 per year for my corpse to be sent back to Malaysia in the event of my death. This, despite the fact that my family has resided in the Vienna, Virginia, for the past four years as legal resident aliens. Due to another unpublicized "policy change," the University has suddenly decided to enforce the rule that all F-1 student visa holders will not be eligible for in-state tuition, regardless of whether students and their families reside and pay taxes to the state of Virginia.
………… these policies reflect both the University's unwillingness to treat international students as a diverse group of individuals with different circumstances, and its poor record? in helping international students financially. [View Full Article]

How does it affect the common man?

While economists and policymakers are divided on the merits and demerits of a strong rupee, It has certainly wiped the smile off exporters' faces. IT/ITES companies too are not happy with their falling bottomlines. ………... Students who took study loans from India a year back to go abroad will lose out, for the dollar rates were higher then. As for students who are now planning to take a loan to go abroad, they are unlikely to gain too much in real terms. ……….. Even those who are spending more abroad now are doing it just because they can buy a few dollars more. It's more a psychological thing. In real terms, it's only a few dollars more. [View Full Article]

Market Focus: Education -- Learning the Recruitment Ropes

Higher education institutions are finding that there's more to recruitment than perfect SAT scores or glowing recommendations. Rapidly developing trends are forcing schools to make recruitment strategies more efficient, more effective, and more service-oriented. In other words, schools are starting to look a lot more like businesses. ………..The U.S. education market is facing "competition from all different angles that simply didn't exist 10 to 15 years ago……… The shrinking pool of potential college freshmen is a primary concern: Not only is the number of U.S. high school graduates anticipated to decline by 2010, but the international student pool in the U.S. is diminishing as well. Schools abroad are improving curricula and building their reputations. ……..Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Korea. "These countries have burgeoning emerging economies that need a lot of training and retooling so [they are] investing a lot on their education at all levels." [View Full Article]

In the US, mind your language

Frankly, my first day was just the way I had imagined it would be. I was clueless as I walked through the enormous campus, searching for my class, struggling with a map and walking around in circles. Your classmates will change with the lecture, making it difficult to have a set of friends you can hang out with. You are on your own all day, walking in a crowd, yet totally alone. It can be overwhelming at times, but it has taught me to be independent, focus only on studies on weekdays and keep the weekends for partying. Most people make friends during international orientation and through cultural organizations they sign up with. …………………American universities attract thousands of Indian students every year, a large number of which are vegetarian. It isn’t difficult to find an Indian restaurant or a decent sandwich joint that has vegetarian cuisine. Plus, most international students cook at home once or twice a week. ………… Hence it’s a good idea to opt for apartments rather than dormitories on campus. Apartments are cheaper and give you the freedom of cooking and sharing your space with multiple friends. In spite of that, a lot of students opt for dormitories in the first year to make friends and meet new people. [View Full Article]

U.S. Graduate Schools See Rise in International Students

The number of international students accepted by U.S. graduate schools has risen for the third consecutive year, reports The Financial Times.
Many attributed the eight percent rise in foreign graduate students to improvements by the U.S. government to the tedious student visa process. But even after three years of growth, 78 percent of U.S. graduate schools reported fewer international applicants this year than in 2003, according to a survey by the Council of Graduate Schools.
The number of foreign applicants to U.S. graduate schools declined in 2004 and 2005 after the state department imposed restrictions on students seeking visas after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. [View Full Article]

Malaysia: Center for education excellence

……. The vision of the Government is to make Malaysia a centre of educational excellence.
Malaysia's international education sector has grown tremendously during the past decade and Malaysia is fast becoming a centre of educational excellence in the region. Malaysia currently houses more than 50,000 international students from more than 100 countries. The country is set to welcome 100,000 international students in Malaysia by the year 2010. The higher education institutions in Malaysia are being provided by 18 public higher educational institutions (which include an international university), 27 private universities, 4 reputable foreign branch campus universities, more than 500 private colleges as well as various other higher educational institutions from the UK, US……….. [View Full Article]

Rules for foreigners to be tightened

….. With the incident of Iranian students assaulting a watchman and few other violations by foreign nationals, the Mysore police wants to tighten the rules for international students.The police who feel foreigners in India have more freedom than any other nation in the world, wants outside students to respect the law of the land. …………Even as the number of foreign enrolments in the University of Mysore and colleges under it increases every year, the Special Branch on Immigration and foreigners at Police Commissioner’s office has initiated strict measures. Recently, two African students were deported for flouting the passport rule.“Foreigners who violate passport and visa rules and stay without providing Residence Certificate or indulge in illegal acts will immediately be deported………“A few are involved in illegal activities like drugs, driving without licence, drunken driving and assault and abuse on locals. “When in a foreign land, they are expected to behave properly, respect the law and observe discipline,” he said. [View Full Article]

More International Graduate Admissions

A new report shows business schools are increasing numbers of international students as well as expanding their own programs overseas
Come fall, U.S. business schools will reach even more international students. According to a study released Aug. 28 by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), a jump in overseas applications and admission offers will increase international student populations at U.S. schools—particularly business programs. It also predicts the significant expansion of U.S. programs abroad.
According to the group's interim findings, admission offers for international business students rose 10% for the upcoming school year, while applications were up by 15% from last year. It's the second straight year of sharp increases in applications and offers of admission to international students.
Equally Competitive
How many of these international students will actually make it to campus is another matter, ………. After September 11, stricter visa requirements decreased the number of international students coming into the U.S. Some of the restrictions that were put in place have been eased………. "We're hoping to see that the changes made by the State Dept. will alleviate some of the barriers for student visas and will be reflected in our enrollment numbers, but there seems to be a backlog of complaints from our consulates." [View Full Article]

China Caps Graduate Enrollments in Response to Rising Unemployment

Beijing — China will limit the growth of graduate enrollments to 5 percent in the coming years as unemployment rises among holders of master’s degrees around the country, the state-run news media reported today.….. China’s graduate students, who number 1.5 million, second only to the United States, had become less competitive in the country’s job market.……. the rapid expansion of enrollments had led to a lower-quality education. Ms. Wu advised universities to pay more attention to educational quality than quantity.Many university officials said they opposed an expansion in graduate enrollments ordered in 1999 by the ministry, citing growing demand. The officials said they lacked the faculties and facilities needed to handle the increases.[View Full Article]

Record of Hong Kong, Macao students apply for study

The number of students from Hong Kong and Macao who have applied to study at universities in Taiwan during the 2007-2008 school year marks a record high, a Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) official said yesterday. ……….. the council organized two short tours inviting students from the two areas to Taiwan as part of its efforts to enhance the students' understanding of the island. A total of 220 young students from Hong Kong and Macao joined the tours which took them to several local universities………. the visiting students attended several seminars which helped them gain a better understanding of Taiwan's education policies……..Citing past figures, Lo said that about 90 percent of students who join the tours end up enrolling in universities in Taiwan. [View Full Article]

Localizing the workforce starts right at the top

China is widely expected to become the world's largest employment market in the future.
Yet although China's working population looks set to grow through 2020, 72 percent of workers are currently employed in the agricultural sector. More critically, only 4 percent of the current working population holds a university qualification.………The good news is that there are 65 million overseas Chinese worldwide. Their roots lie in the mainland and they are keen to bring their own ideas, capital and skills physically into the country. This will alleviate China's executive talent shortage issue to a certain degree.

Chinese mainland returnees: born and raised in China, studied or worked in the US or Europe and then returned to China. They offer international experience, plus language and cultural skills but are in short supply. [View Full Article]

China's charm offensive

China's honing of its soft power strategy transforms the world as its gains influence on the international stage.
……… The Chinese government had done a great deal of preparatory work for this visit. They had invested a lot of money in language schools and cultural programs in Cambodia, built a kind of Peace Corps program there, gave out scholarships for children who would go on to study in China, and created a huge aid program. ……… Now you have 110,000-140,000 overseas students in China. (Some, of course, are students who probably would have liked to study in the US but visas have become more difficult to obtain since 9/11.)[View Full Article]

Foreign student numbers rise in US

The number of foreign students accepted by US graduate schools has risen for a third consecutive year, according to a survey to be released on Tuesday. Many in academia say the 8 per cent rise is a clear sign that US government efforts to improve the tedious student visa process are working.But even after three years of growth, 78 per cent of US graduate schools reported fewer international applicants this year than in 2003, according to the survey by the Council of Graduate Schools.……….The US State Department responded by revamping its policy, extending visas for science and engineering students and increasing staff levels to shorten visa processing times.The survey found that nearly a third of US graduate schools have established joint or dual-degree programmes with international universities – an indication of the growing globalisation of higher education.[View Full Article]

Graduate Schools Again Admit More International Students, but Total Still Lags From 2003

The number of foreign students who received admissions offers from American graduate schools rose in 2007 for the third straight year, according to survey results scheduled for release today by the Council of Graduate Schools. This year's 8-percent increase is less than last year's 12-percent gain (The Chronicle, September 1, 2006), but is still expected to contribute to the gradual recovery in the number of international students at American colleges and universities, which dropped sharply in 2004. [View Full Article - By Subscription - The Chronicle]

Foreign-crazy Ludhiana attracts foreign students

………. Ludhiana is witnessing a reverse trend these days. Know for having craze to study abroad, the city has enrolled 18 foreign students in Punjab College of Technical Education this year taking the total number of foreign students to 32.
……… This year, at least, 18 new foreign students joined the college. Students from Zimbabwem Mozambique and Tanzania joined the college in various management and computer courses, like BBA and BCA. At present, students ………….. “This is the fifth year in a row that we have enrolled students from South African countries. In addition, we now have three faculty members from three countries Kenya, Cameroon and Tanzania to facilitate the process.”
…………“India is the best place to study computer technology...." [View Full Article]

Indian Students Flock To The U.S.

Sixty years after gaining independence from Britain, India's students are flocking abroad for higher education. Today, India is the leader in sending its students overseas for international educational exchange, with over 123,000 students studying outside the country in 2006. More than 76,000 of them have chosen the United States as their academic destination.
The U.S. receives more international students from India than from any other country, a trend that continues to shape and impact the cultural, economic and diplomatic dialogue between the two countries. Vigorous efforts have been undertaken by such U.S. government leaders as Under Secretary of State Karen Hughes to persuade Indian students to study in the U.S. This past …………… India surpassed China as the international community's leading exporter of students to America, and it seems likely to remain so for years to come.
With 10 times more college campuses than any other country in the world, the United States easily lends itself to the burgeoning international student population, which brought over $13 billion to the U.S. in 2006. [View Full Article]

Taiwan behind in English proficiency, paper reports

LOW SCORES: Taiwan's English-learning environment faces five main obstacles to effective English learning, including proper facilities and standardized teaching materials Taiwan is performing badly on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), a recent report said.
In a report which listed the 20 countries that had the most people taking the language-proficiency test, Taiwan was only 17th, after Japan (12) and South Korea (14), and worse than Vietnam (13) and Pakistan (15), ………….
The results are accepted in many countries, including England, Australia, New Zealand and some European countries, and more than 100 colleges in the US accept IELTS in addition to the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). [View Full Article]

HIGHER EDUCATION IN NEPAL; TRUTH AND CHALLENGES

Modem higher education in Nepal does not have a long history. It started with the establishment of Trichandra College in 1918 during the Rana regime. ………….. Later community colleges also came into existence in the Kathmandu valley as well as outside the valley. ………..
It was only in 1959 that Tribhuvan University was established in Kathmandu and Nepalese were proud of having a university of their own which designed the courses of study, conducted examinations and published their results. ……. the New Educational System plan was introduced and all the community colleges were nationalized and brought directly under T.U. The government adopted the policy that education was the responsibility of the state and this policy had a tremendous impact on the nation. Some educationists, teachers and students were against the New Education System Plan but the government was fully determined to introduce the new plan and it did. [View Full Article]

U.S. Education Secretary wooing students from Brazil, Chile to reverse post 9/11 decline

SAO PAULO, Brazil — U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings looks more like a college recruiter this week, traveling through South America with American university leaders to woo back international students spooked by lengthy visa delays linked to post-9/11 security."American higher education is open for business to students from our neighbors,………The number of foreign students enrolling in American universities is rebounding following a drop due to extra visa security precautions after the Sept. 11 attacks. But the number of visas are granted to students seeking to study for a year or more is still less than before the terrorist attacks.…………..And competition for students is growing fast from nations like Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. Even South Africa is in the race to attract South America's best and brightest.…………American universities depend on foreign students for teaching and research help, and policymakers consider them essential so that future foreign leaders will be familiar with the United States. It also has an economic effect: Foreign students provide of billions of dollars annually to the U.S. economy.[View Full Article]

Fears over foreign flight of top students 2007-8-20 Change font size:

ABOUT 40 percent of Chinese undergraduates who score the highest marks at college entrance examinations chose to study abroad, according to a latest survey. Most of them settle down in foreign countries after they finish studies there, said the survey, which tracked 130 top scorers at college entrance exams from 1977 to 1998.
……..many of the top-notch students do not stay in China for advanced studies despite the country's rapid development in the past decades.……the government should find better ways to attract talented students to stay. Statistics from UNESCO show that Chinese students make up 14 percent of global international students, ranking the top in the world. The US, Britain and Japan are their most popular destination.[View Full Article]

The Ministry of Education plans steps to elbow out some colleges

The Ministry of Education (MOE) plans to work out a set of measures to speed up the process of forcing colleges and universities out of the market if they cannot recruit enough incoming first-year students.
Although nearly all senior high school graduates in Taiwan were given admission this year, 16,705 chose not to attend a college or university when the new academic year begins in September. MOE officials said the public higher learning institutions that are funded by the government and charge lower tuitions had planned to recruit 43,346 students.……..The mushrooming number of colleges and universities now guarantees admission to all senior high school graduates who are interested in advanced learning, and whose parents are willing to pay the tuition.……….. more people are questioning the quality of Taiwan's higher learning institutions.…….. the number of high school students or graduates who want to spend extra time on studying in order to gain admission to college or university has dropped as much as 40 percent or more this summer.[View Full Article]

Better graduates needed

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) yesterday urged educational institutions to help cope with the predicted population decline in the next 20 years by producing graduates strong in language, vocation and ethics. HEC deputy secretary-general Suchart Muangkaew said he had spoken about the role of higher education and its impact on Thailand's future at a recent seminar in Illinois in the United States. Representatives from eight other countries, including Japan, China, South Korea, Indonesia and the US, were at the seminar. [View Full Article]

Why High-Achieving Hispanic Students Go to Hispanic U.: Report Sheds Light on Their Choice of Colleges

High-achieving Hispanic students often focus on location, cost, and campus atmosphere, not prestige, in selecting their colleges, according to a report due out today.
"The level of pragmatism these college students had in making decisions was impressive," said Deborah A. Santiago, the report's author and vice president for policy and research at Excelencia in Education, a nonprofit policy group.
The report, "Choosing Hispanic-Serving Institutions: A Closer Look at Latino Students' College Choices," is based on interviews with about 100 students and is not nationally representative. But it provides a window on why Hispanic undergraduates are heavily concentrated in the country's small cohort of Hispanic-serving institutions. [View Full Article - By Subscription - The Chronicle]

Indian Prime Minister Describes Plan to Create 40 New Universities

India's university system, which the government has largely neglected in recent years, is now the focus of a reform and development agenda, the country's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, said on Wednesday, as he announced plans for several new higher-education institutions.
To ensure that at least a fifth of Indians age 18 to 24 go to college, up from around a tenth, Mr. Singh announced that the government would set up five new Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, eight new Indian Institutes of Technology, seven new Indian Institutes of Management, and 20 new Indian Institutes of Information Technology. [View Full Article - Subscription - The Chronicle]

Foreign students put India on the global education map

In the years from 5th-13th century AD, eastern India's ancient university of Nalanda was home to foreign students from as far away as China. Thousands of years later, history spills over to the modern-day Indian nation that continues the tradition of being a centre of educational excellence and a lodestone for students from all over the world.Sixty years after it attained independence, India boasts of 310 universities and 16,000 colleges offering the widest spectrum of courses. Its centres of higher learning like the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are global brandnames.Adding to the quality of education is the fact that English is the generally accepted mode of teaching and living standards are economical - attracting thousands of students from at least 100 countries.A large number of students come to India from countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Fiji, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Ghana, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nepal, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Syria and even the US."They (the global populace) look at the Indian education system with trust," said Educational Consultants India Limited (Ed. CIL), a body under the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry."India is today recognised as a world centre for education. Indian entrepreneurs are making waves throughout the world.[View Full Article]

U.S. universities go global to keep edge

An increasing number of U.S. universities have opened branch campuses overseas to tap new markets, enhance their reputations, collaborate on research and make the world a better place.
University officials say the globalization of higher education benefits the United States. Scientific breakthroughs are occurring all over the world, and participating in this research will help the United States maintain its edge in innovation, they contend. Plus, studying abroad makes American students more prepared for the global economy.
…………..Foreign students have long been a fixture on U.S. college campuses, especially in graduate-level science and engineering programs. [View Full Article]

US Promotes Higher Education In Chile And Brazil

U.S. Government Officials and University and College Presidents Promote U.S. Higher Education in Chile and Brazil
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Farrell will lead a delegation of U.S. college and university presidents to Chile and Brazil, August 18-24.
Meeting with students and leaders in higher education, government, and business, the delegation will promote the quality, dynamism, and diversity of U.S. higher education, as well as the desire to expand educational partnerships in the hemisphere.
The delegation will carry the message that the U.S. welcomes and values international students in the United States, and will highlight the importance of international education to strengthening our ties and preparing globally competitive American students.
This pairing of U.S. government and higher education leaders is the third in a series of delegations growing out of a commitment to greater partnership in the national interest made at the U.S. University Presidents Summit on International Education co-hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings in January 2006. [View Full Article]

Why do Africans love studying abroad?

Increasingly, Africans are choosing to study abroad. The British Council has just announced a dramatic increase in the number of Nigerians applying for student visas in the UK but these days, African students are going further for their degrees to Eastern Europe and Asian countries such as India and China. So what does this students’ exodus say about African universities? Is there a perception that degrees at home are worthless? Will overseas degrees lead to better job prospects?
I studied in UK three years ago. It helped me to interact and appreciate other cultures and people from different parts of the world such as China, Indonesia, etc. Studying in a foreign country broadens your scope and outlook. That is education on its own. It is not about the quality of African degrees because university staffing is international everywhere. Some organizations are actually uncomfortable employing foreign academics because they know that most of what they learnt in their universities are not applicable to them. …………………the stability in the education abroad especially Europe and America while others want a world-recognised certificate……
………….. Those who got their degrees abroad are promoted above those who got theirs locally. The managers think that a foreign degree has quality and it is affecting the mentality of the youth towards getting qualified abroad.[View Full Article]

Matching Up to the Group of 8

………….The federal study compared the United States with the other members of the Group of Eight on a range of indicators related to educational attainment by citizens and educational investment by the countries themselves.
On several fronts the United States still leads the pack. It remains the most attractive destination for the world’s students, at a time when the number of people seeking higher education outside their own borders has swelled to 2.7 million in 2004, the year examined in the NCES study. Of those 2.7 million, about two-thirds were enrolled in the Group of Eight countries, and nearly a quarter of those, 22 percent, were enrolled in the United States. The United Kingdom followed with 11 percent, Germany with 10 percent, and France 9 percent. Canada, Japan, the Russian Federation and Italy lagged.
While the United States enrolled far more foreign students than its peers, the U.S. had among the smallest proportions of foreigners in its mix of students, given the large enrollment of American colleges and universities over all. Foreign students made up 16 percent of all students at colleges in the United Kingdom and 11 percent in Canada, France and Germany, for instance, but just 3 percent in the United States.
The U.S. also continues to spend more money per capita on higher education (and education generally) than its European peers and Japan, spending a total of $24,100 per person on higher education and a total of $37,500 on education over all in 2003. [View Full Article]