Alex Zelinsky’s Post

🌍 Exciting insights from a recent survey by IDP Education reveal that a significant 54% of prospective international students feel the upcoming US presidential election won't impact their decision to study in the country! Interestingly, only about one-third indicated that the election would influence their choices, with a preference for a Kamala Harris victory among those concerned. This marks a notable shift from previous elections, as only 35% now view the election as a factor in their decision-making. Despite the political climate, the enduring reputation of US institutions shines through. As Simon Emmett, CEO of IDP Connect, pointed out, "many international students have lifelong goals of studying in the US." This demonstrates the strong brand that US education holds globally. In the wake of policy changes in Canada, the UK, and Australia, there’s also an emerging trend of students looking to the US as a top destination. The focus remains on the quality of education, which respondents ranked as the most significant factor in their perception of the US as an attractive study location. Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA, emphasizes the need to prioritize international student success, ensuring that we continue to attract the best talent to our world-leading institutions. Let’s keep fostering an environment that supports international education!

This is an ambitious strategy, and it is clear that government regulation on the education sector is intensifying. Students welcome all initiatives that treat international education as an integral part of the education sector and provide support accordingly. This acknowledgment will help to recognize that at our universities, a significant portion of the international population primarily identifies as students, not customers or "cash cow". Specifically, linking the number of international students admitted to university resources, especially accommodation, is a correct and welcome approach. Universities should build sufficient student accommodation, and cafeterias, and hire enough teachers and staff to properly serve their students. Students are pleased to see more details about how the federal and state governments might allocate funding and policies to support more university student housing, such as including university student accommodation within the scope of affordable housing. Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association will conduct further research on the new policies and provide suggestions. During this intensive policy rollout phase, we urge Jason Clare MP and the Council for International Education to strengthen direct engagement with student representatives to enhance the quality of the new policies. We are very willing to strengthen cooperation with the ISANA Inc International Education Association and The Group of Eight to improve the representation of international students. #internationaleducation #internationalstudents

New secretary of education @Bridget Phillipson has addressed the International students at the Embassy of Education Conference today. Here is the full speech: abroad and cultivated friendships with people from different cultures – those ties make the world a safer, more vibrant place. This new government is mission-led. And I am leading on the mission to break down the barriers to opportunity. I am determined to make Britain the international home of opportunity. So I want genuine partnerships with countries across the world in higher education and beyond. We already have deep education partnerships with countless countries around the globe, and I want to build more. From our closest neighbours, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, to major regional powers, India, Nigeria, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, important allies, the US and Australia, to world leading systems like Singapore and Japan, and many others. Whether that’s through British international schools abroad, or cross-border collaboration on skills training. School trips and scholarships, exchange programmes and language learning, policy conversations that span the early years to learners with special educational needs. And I want our universities to work with their international partners to deliver courses across borders. Education must be at the forefront of tackling the major global challenges of our time. Artificial intelligence, climate change, poverty, misinformation, polarisation, war and instability. Education puts us on the path to freedom. Intellectual freedom. Economic freedom. Social freedom. Cultural freedom. Through education, we can enlarge and expand those freedoms, we can show that government is a power not just for administration but for transformation. The answer is partnership. And the answer is education. As I close, I want to extend an invitation to all your education ministers to attend the education world forum here in London next year from the 18th to the 21st of May. You can expect a rich exchange of ideas, visits to schools, colleges and universities, and enlightening keynote speakers. This is a time of change here in Britain. A new age of hope. A new era of optimism for our country. A place where once again education and opportunity are the foundations of a better society. A place where our universities are nurseries of global friendships, as well as places of economic growth. To continue reading please follow the link: https://lnkd.in/eUXMXu7y

The current international education landscape is favourable to TNE. We are at a historical juncture where both traditional receiving and sending countries of international students see TNE as the solution for their different priorities about internationalisation, migration, and economic development. https://hubs.li/Q02F0gVF0

Back in the UK for a few days this week - I’ve been thinking about ways we conceptualise and understand the international, the global (and perhaps most of all 'the East and the West') in International Education. There are a multiplicity of ways of defining the sector (I have a section on this in my thesis), though in my mind these seem to obscure rather than clarify individual schools. Equally, categorisations are posited predominantly in western terms and understandings rather than necessarily understanding a given school community in a more defined context. In this sense, as Mary Hayden and Jeff Thompson have suggested, what is more important in how we understand the sector, not least given the variety and diversity of international schools as institutions, is ‘what takes place educationally, within and outwith the institution’. This is particularly the case given the size of the international school sector - it's been estimated by 2025 the sector will be bigger than the entirety of the state and private sector in England.  On that note a short blog post on ways how we can conceptualise and understand internationalism, and how it links to definitions and understandings of international schools.

Happy International Education Week Everyone! This week the Institute of International Education released its latest Open Doors Report for the 2023/34 academic year which is considered the official data on international students studying in the U.S. and US students studying abroad. This report is supported by the U.S. Department of State and Department of Education whose Secretaries participated in the annual report’s announcement via video. Here are some interesting facts to share related to international students studying at community colleges, the Commonwealth of Virginia and at Northern Virginia Community College. ·        A total of 1,126,690 international students are enrolled at US colleges and universities which is a historic record. This is a 6.6% increase from the previous year. ·        International student enrollments at Associate degree granting institutions have increased for a second consecutive year by 12.7% but at NOVA the increase has been 17% during the same period! ·       NOVA has risen to the 9th Associate degree granting institution receiving the most international students from #10 the previous year. ·       NOVA is the 4th leading institution in the Commonwealth of Virginia hosting international students among our four-year partners.     

This University World News article neatly summarises how policy is impacting international education (spoiler alert: it is doing so in an unprecedented and very drastic way), and suggests what institutions can do to soften the blow and survive unscathed. We at AIG Education Group have often argued about a more sustainable international education business model. Policy change in international education will undoubtedly force all players to reshape their thinking and strategic approach. What Edwin van Rest brilliantly suggests, though, is that the focus should shift from the pure volume of international students coming in to diversity, onboarding, retention, and employability. This means, in short, 'recruit quality students and ensure they successfully complete' rather than the more commercial 'let's get as many international students in as possible'. What are your thoughts? https://lnkd.in/eJeGfA7M

🚨 Big Changes Coming to International Education in Australia! 🚨 Next week, the Albanese Government will introduce crucial legislation aimed at enhancing the integrity and sustainability of our international education sector. Here’s what you need to know: 1. Enrollment Caps: The Minister for Education will set limits on new international student enrollments, ensuring sustainable growth. 2. VET Sector Focus: Specific advice from the Minister for Skills and Training will guide allocations, reflecting a strong focus on quality in vocational education. 3. Tighter Regulations: New rules will prevent providers from owning education agent businesses and improve the vetting process for new educational providers. Additionally, a crackdown on non-genuine agents and providers will protect the sector’s reputation. 4. Student Accommodation: Universities will need to provide additional student housing if they wish to enroll more international students than the set limit. 5. Consultation and Framework: A draft International Education and Skills Strategic Framework is out for consultation, promising a structured approach to future growth. This is a pivotal moment for us! Let’s discuss how we can adapt and thrive under these new regulations! https://lnkd.in/gG5Nh5a9 #EducationReform #InternationalStudents #HigherEducation #VocationalTraining #AustralianEducation

This is an excellent article, but I would question the headline, we can probably count on one hand the number of UK #highereducation institutions that are in fact making any significant revenue from TNE. All too often #TNE activity occurs in silos, & is faculty led with little executive &/or financial oversight. Even with all the noise TNE is no “golden bullet” & as this article makes clear carries significant reputational & financial risk to the institutions that undertake it. All TNE partnerships whatever the model - franchise, partnership, online delivery &/or branch campus etc. should be entered into with full academic & financial oversight, plus existing TNE partnerships should be fully audited & evaluated for risk. “Has the UK’s #transnationaleducation money-spinner spun out of control? “#Teaching UK #degrees abroad promised adventure, sunshine & a regular pay cheque. But navigating an environment in which many students couldn’t speak English, senior #academics acted like dukes & oversight from the UK was patchy at best left Anthony Killick disillusioned! On a typically boiling mid-week afternoon last year, two fellow #university #lecturers & I were sitting in mutual perplexity under the #campus pagoda of a UK-validated university in the Middle East. A well-respected manager at the university had been unilaterally using his faculty’s website to advertise programmes that did not exist in a desperate effort to get prospective students through the door. He succeeded in that respect, but the programmes – highly technical in nature, requiring UK validation, as well as new staff & equipment – had yet to materialise. Now the parents of those students were on campus, lividly demanding to know how the futures of their children could be treated with such disregard. Not for the first or the last time, we were astounded by the gap between what we understood as best practice & even legality in a UK context & the realities of the partner institution we worked for, with its own embedded sets of practices, structures & characters, some of which brought about occurrences of this magnitude far too frequently. Working abroad, we had all expected to encounter cultural difference & to have to adapt our practice to locally specific expectations. But this was not cultural difference, it was gross misconduct.” Asia Careers Group SDN BHD - Investing in International Futures AGCAS British Council BUILA Department for Business and Trade Department for Education Higher Education Policy Institute Jisc Office for Students UCAS UKCISA Universities Scotland Universities UK Universities UK International Universities Wales