In our day-to-day professional work in international education, we all struggle to manage information flow, identify opportunities, synthesize possible solutions, and act appropriately to better ourselves, our audiences, and our world. To help in this often overwhelming task, Social Media & International Education (SMIE) Consulting offers this free weekly e-news brief to share our perspectives and to provide some wisdom along the way. Happy reading!
- The world of international education has changed since the pandemic began. This Wednesday’s AIRC webinar
assesses some of the seismic shifts and responses by governments to recapture momentum and growth. Register now.
- In a process (e.g. study permits in Canada) that is to assess a student’s capability, including expressing their reasons for wanting to study in another country, is inserting ChatGPT
into the equation a good idea? Was bound to happen, right?
- Are we all incapable of expressing ourselves with co-worker to the point where we need ChatGPT to be an add-on to Slack
or are we just that lazy? In international education, would you use that tool if it were available?
- Looks like the future of foreign-owned tech companies like Byte Dance/TikTok that run afoul of national security interests in the US is increasingly bleak. The Biden administration endorsement of the Restrict Ac
t moves unilateral action from theory to reality.
International Education News
- International students are increasingly returning to study abroad, but are their motivations changing? IDP’s latest Emerging Futures II
report shares that quality and strong employment outcomes are the main two drivers of student’s choices.
- As we discussed on last week’s Midweek Roundup, the poorly-worded (we hope) Dept of Ed guidance
related to Title IV funding restrictions, is impacting all areas of international education. Karin Fischer from the Chronicle paints the broader impact.
- One thing is for certain, Indian students’ hunger for US study
knows few bounds at the moment. Since announcing earlier this year that Indians should consider applying in 3rd countries for their student visas to avoid long delays in India.
- The massive new US consulate
in Hyderabad is set to open on March 20th providing a much needed boost to US colleges hoping to ramp up their Indian student numbers for the coming fall term. Perfect timing ahead of the summer rush!
- Kudos to Ravi Ammigan at U of Delaware and colleagues at Emory and Stony Brook for their research on international students’ reflection essays
on their experiences in the US, highlighting some of the shortcomings we need to address.
- Encouraging to see this move by USCIS to allow premium processing
for F-1 students’ OPT applications. But as NAFSA suggested in another article, USCIS should be improving their overall processing times for all OPT apps not just for those who can pay for it.
- Of course, it is good to see surveys of US students eager to study abroad
, but the sample size (200+) from this Terra Dotta effort that suggests 76% are considering study abroad is by no means definitive.
- Are there silver linings to declining Chinese students studying abroad? Reading this ICEF Monitor piece
, the geopolitical shifts in power are contributing to growing diversification of top sending countries to Australia, Canada, and others.
- Are post-study work policies
the solution or a “race to the bottom”? It depends on the country really and how big of a need there is for international students to fill skilled jobs that domestic students aren’t.
- Australia - To be honest, the Association of Australian Education Representatives in India (AAERI) statement
against Edith Cowan U’s decision to shut down recruitment of students from two northern Indian provinces due to low visa approval rates is not surprising, but ignores the problem.
- Australia - Are international students returning to Australia causing locals to scapegoat them for pre-existing housing shortages
in the “inner cities” (that phrase has a very different meaning in the US)?
- China - Many higher education institutions have had issues with interactions with the China Scholarship Council
over the “real” reasons some of these scholars are sent abroad. How has your college responded if approached by CSC?
- India - Universities in developing countries trying to break into the elites regarding international education look to global rankings to make their case to prospective partners. Is this the best way to go? Indian unis
are driven this way.
- United Kingdom - What would happen if large parts of UK higher ed became “uneconomic” if the Sunak government
restricts international student admissions to the country? What uneconomic means, it can’t be good.
- United Kingdom - Interesting to hear that the UK seeks to be a STEM superpower by 2030
. In order to make that happen, apparently, serious investment will be needed from international business to truly impact local communities.
- United Kingdom - This perspective
from the British Council’s East Asia consulting team is that the UK must adapt to the increasingly China-induced gravity that impacts the region’s students. Yes, but no easy answers to retaining competitiveness.
If you’d like a more in-depth analysis of the main news stories each week, check out our Midweek Roundup international education live chat on Wednesday at 1pm ET on the SMIE Consulting Facebook
page, YouTube
channel, Twitter feed
, and LinkedIn
. A podcast version is available as well on all major podcast provider platforms.
