The number of international students starting a higher education course at an Australian university plateaued at 66,360 in 2005, showing a marginal increase of 0.8 per cent on the previous year. This marks a changing trend on percentage year-on-year increases since 2004 and 2003, when figures were more commonly around the seven per cent mark. The results issue a warning to many in the university sector who have relied on booming international enrolments to provide much needed additional income.
The figures, published by Australian Education International (AEI) earlier this year, reveal significant declines in the number of new student enrolments from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand and Taiwan. Overall, eight of the top 10 provider countries for Australian universities suffered declines in new enrolments in 2005. New enrolments from China, however, continued on an upward trajectory, increasing by 22.9 per cent last year.
Dean Forbes at Flinders University in Adelaide, SA, said that international student numbers increased significantly in 2005, although this was mostly due to growth in new student markets. “We have found a shift, with slow or no growth in traditional markets but good growth in other areas, especially China, India and surprisingly Canada,” said Forbes. “As Flinders has less dependence on old markets and more focus on new areas and niche markets, we have been able to continue to grow when others have slowed down.”
While new enrolments at Australian universities showed a minimal increase last year, the number of overseas students enrolling into a new year of study actually increased by 8.3 per cent to 163,930, according to the AEI research. Anthony Pollock, Chief Executive of IDP Australia, said, “I can understand the concern some might have had that the industry could be peaking and may turn down, but I don’t believe, with this kind of critical mass we now have, that it’s possible for things to move very dramatically in one direction or another.”
According to the statistics, numbers of students enrolling on to any year of a vocational course increased by 13.9 per cent, while those enrolling on to any year of an English language course increased by 6.3 per cent and new enrolments for secondary schools decreased by 8.2 per cent.
International numbers up at UK high schools
UK high schools saw international student numbers rise by 11 per cent this year, according to the 2006 annual census published by the Independent Schools Council (ISC). This marks a reverse in the downward trend in international student enrolments reported in last year’s survey.
Top growth student markets were Russia and Spain, which posted increases of 38.3 per cent and 30.9 per cent respectively, while growth rates of over 19 per cent were also experienced by France, Germany and Thailand. Hong Kong, the top student provider country, increased its student numbers by 7.8 per cent this year, while China, previously the second top provider country, decreased its market share by 1.4 per cent and was relegated to third position this year by the German market.
The ISC commented that the large increases in the number of European students travelling to the UK for their secondary education was probably due to the increase in the number of independent schools offering International Baccalaureate (IB) qualifications instead of or as well as traditional A-levels.
Sarah Devir from Windermere St Ann’s School in Windermere said that the school has seen enrolments from Germany and Russia increase in the last year. “As a school looking to introduce the IB diploma from September 2007, our research has shown that there is significant interest from many of these countries, but particularly from Germany,” she noted.
Students spend less in New Zealand
According to the results of the latest New Zealand International Visitor Survey, spending by students in New Zealand decreased by 39 per cent to NZ$438 million (US$276 million) in 2005, compared with the previous year.
This figure is based on a survey given to visitors in New Zealand who were staying in the country for less than 12 months and gave their principal reason for visiting as education. Conversely, general visitor spending increased by three per cent to NZ$6.5 billion (US$4 billion) in 2005, boosted by the increased tourism associated with the Lions rugby tour last year.
Stuart Boag at Education New Zealand pointed out that while the figures showed that spending was down for short-term students, the survey did not represent actual student numbers. “One of the key characteristics of the international education market over the past few years has been a rise in the number of students in tertiary education and a fall in language studies and at school,” he said.
Ex-Study Group boss launches Into University Partnerships
Founder of Study Group International (now Study Group), Andrew Colin, is behind a new company, Into University Partnerships (IUP), which has teamed up with the University of East Anglia in the UK to offer academic pathway programmes for overseas students in new UK£35 million (US$66.3 million) state-of-the-art facilities.
Promising that tuition fees will be UK£2,000 (US$3,790) lower than similar UK operations, Colin has announced that IUP is also looking to set up partnerships with other universities in the UK and that the company has access to UK£300 million (US$568 million) of private financing.
Into University of East Anglia will offer a programme of pre-qualification courses, controlled by the university, to improve language and academic qualifications prior to an undergraduate or postgraduate degree, and also enable students to undertake the equivalent the first year of an undergraduate degree. The 700-capacity facilities will be based in Norwich and are due to open in 2008, while the new range of courses will be available from this year.
The University of East Anglia Vice-Chancellor, David Eastwood, said, “This investment presents an unrivalled opportunity to bring together high quality new infrastructure, experienced international marketing and a strategic vision to enable the university to excel in an extremely competitive market for international students.”
Colin at IUP added, “This project has been designed in close working partnership with the University of East Anglia over the last 18 months. I believe we are leading the way and can offer real value to universities, addressing the opportunities and challenges of a volatile global higher education market.” He said he believed joint ventures between universities and private companies were the way forward. “They bring new resources and add to, rather than replace, university functions”.
Joining Colin at IUP are John Sykes, former Finance Director at Study Group, and Steven Smale, previously at the British Council, who heads up the Asian sales development strategy.
Oz scholarships double
In an effort to encourage high achieving students from the Asia Pacific region to study at Australian universities, the Australian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry for Education, Science and Training has announced that it will double the number of educational scholarships available for the region.
The new programme will provide nearly AUS$1.4 billion (US$1.08 billion) in funding over five years for more than 19,000 scholarships for students from Asia. The new scholarships will be available from May.
Association corner
Full name: Canadian Bureau for International Education
Year established: 1966
Organisation’s main role: CBIE is a pan-Canadian non-governmental organisation. Our members comprise universities, colleges and school boards.
Full contact details:
Canadian Bureau for International Education220 Laurier Ave. West, Suite 1550, Ottawa, ON, K1P 5Z9, Canada
Tel: +1 6132374820
Fax: +1 6132371073
Email: info@cbie.ca
Web: www.cbie.ca
What activities has CBIE been involved in recently?
We have been engaged in advocacy work to champion the interests of our members. Our most notable achievement is the introduction of the new off-campus work programme for all international students that was recently extended from a few trial provinces to cover the whole country. We were also chosen to coordinate the Canadian presence, called Destination Canada Showcase, at the Nafsa conference held in Montreal in May this year. This is only the third time in Nafsa’s history that the annual conference has been held outside the USA and was a great opportunity for Canadian institutions to engage with other international educators and concentrate on building international partnerships.
How have international enrolments fared over the last 12 months in Canada?
University enrolments have risen somewhat to 70,000, while overall enrolments across all education sectors in Canada increased slightly.
What plans do you have for the future?
We aim to continue contributing to major events such as the Nafsa annual conference and further develop our provision of brochures and web-based information for international students. We also plan to work with foreign governments and private firms to establish education linkages involving international scholarship students coming to Canada and Canadian educators providing courses and short-term training abroad.
News in brief
Elk Island recruitment programme winds down
Elk Island School District in Alberta, Canada, is to phase out its international student programme, according to a report in the Sherwood Park News. The district established an extensive international marketing programme in 1997 to increase international secondary school enrolments across its schools, but the project has suffered financial losses in the last few years. The programme has been winding down for the past 12 months, according to Tanya Orr, spokesperson for the district, with just 28 overseas secondary students currently studying in Elk Island, compared with 115 last year. According to the article, the international programme lost CAN$700,000 (US$634,632) between 2002 and 2005.
International students demand travel discounts
A court ruling in Australia has found the New South Wales government to be guilty of discrimination for refusing to allow international students travel concession cards. The concession cards have been refused to international students since 1989.
The Vice-Chancellors of the universities of Sydney and NSW and the University of Technology, Sydney, supported the legal action, which was brought by three international students four years ago. “Travel concessions are unquestionably the most complained about issue by enrolled international students,” they said. Meanwhile, in Victoria, overseas students have already launched an equal opportunity claim against the state government to allow them to receive the travel concessions enjoyed by Australian students.
Qualmark accredits student accommodation
Qualmark, an accreditation company for hotels and other tourist accommodation in New Zealand, has launched a quality assurance mark for student accommodation. The first six student accommodation Qualmark licences were awarded to the managers of the University of Auckland residences during the launch at the end of March.
The mark is awarded after the accommodation is assessed against 20 different quality areas and different numbers of stars are awarded depending on the score. Qualmark is thought to be the first such company in the world to accredit student accommodation.
UK college wins award for recruitment
Chichester College in the UK has been awarded The Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in recognition of its innovative international outreach programme. A number of different prizes are awarded by the Queen each year in recognition of any example of excellence found in higher and further education institutions throughout the country.
The college currently hosts 1,800 international students from all countries around the world and won the British Council Beacon Award for International Student Support in 1999/2000 and the Beacon Award for International Marketing in 2000/2001. The Queen’s Anniversary Prize recognises the college’s international strategy as a “model for further education in the UK”.
First UK university campus in China
The first western institution to set up a campus in China was officially opened by the UK Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, earlier this year. The Chinese branch of the University of Nottingham has been enrolling students since the beginning of the academic year.
The campus, which is located in Ningbo, is modelled on the University of Nottingham in the UK. “The Ningbo campus is a vehicle for us to introduce the best practices of a leading international university,” said Professor Yang Fujia, Chancellor of the University of Nottingham.
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