View Point
The Internet has had the greatest impact on growing the international education market, according to one source at a UK university. And it seems that many countries are implementing web technology, as well as other means, to attract potential students into their higher education systems. Around the world, countries are realising the cultural and economic benefit of international education. Some less traditional study destinations are hoping to counteract the outflow of their own students to overseas destinations by encouraging international students to study in their countries. A number of Asian countries have recently launched government-backed campaigns to promote their education systems overseas. The Korean government pledged US$800,000 at the beginning of this year to support a new web project aimed at making it easier for international students to find out about, and apply to, Korean universities (page 2). This follows in the wake of a similar campaign by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in Japan to increase the number of international students studying in Japan to 100,000 (page 3). A new entrance exam for international students wanting to go to university in Japan is being introduced this year in 10 overseas countries, in order to make the application process less time consuming and confusing.
Germany has also joined the global bid for international students through the launch of the "Joint Initiative for the Promotion of Study, Research and Training" last year (page 2). The web-based initiative hopes to enable Germany to compete more effectively for students in an effort to preserve the quality and standard of education and research available in the country.
As the opportunities available for students wanting to study overseas become more numerous, so the question of visa issuance becomes more of an important issue. Less well-established study destinations are starting to cash in on the large number of visa refusals experienced by some students for key destinations, such as the USA. One agent in China reports that Malaysia is now the easiest country for her clients wanting to obtain a student visa (page 11).
However, our feature on visa developments highlights some of the difficulties faced by the larger student destinations in creating a visa issuing procedure which is not prohibitive for genuine applicants, yet which is still effective at screening out those less likely to stick to their visa requirements once inside the country (page 10). The student visa process in Australia underwent an extensive overhaul last year and agents in many countries now report that Australia's lower costs, reputation for safety and transparent visa arrangements have made it an increasingly desirable destination for their clients.
The terrorist attacks in September last year have resulted in a greater number of student visa refusals for some nationalities wanting to study in the USA and also initiated tighter checks for students from certain countries. The implementation of the Student, Exchange and Visitor Information Service (Sevis) will have a great effect on students wanting to study in the USA and may also help increase demand for other destinations such as Canada (page 6). As most institutions in the USA are reporting that international student enrolments have all but recovered to pre-September levels, it will be interesting to see whether the implementation of Sevis will have a greater impact on the popularity of the USA as a study destination than the terrorist attacks themselves.
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