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]