We just talk about the good stuff

As the world marked World Refugee Day on June 20, organisations across the sector reflected on their role in providing equitable access to higher education.

After being launched in September 2022, one scheme’s pilot to help students in Afghanistan start or resume higher education in the US is now seeing some of its 250-strong cohort graduate in May and June.

The Qatar Scholarship for Afghans project, which also ensured an even split of men and women, is a collaboration between various outfits across the world, but with key input from the Qatar Fund for Development, The Afghan Future Fund, Schmidt Futures, and EAA.

The PIE spoke with Edris Tajik, a student from Afghanistan who was studying at Herat University when he was made a refugee.

Through the project, which sends students to the US to finish their studies, he has graduated with a bachelor’s degree in politics from Bard College, New York.

“Access to education is a fundamental human right. The consequences of this lack of access are far-reaching. Not only does it impede individual growth and potential, but it also delays societal and economic development.

“Denying education to refugees not only interrupts their rights but also misses an opportunity to promote the minds that could contribute to global progress,” Tajik told The PIE.

He said that in his home country, his education was limited to textbooks and “dry lectures”. While some professors challenged the system, most did not.

“However, as a student at Bard, I found myself in the midst of vibrant and fruitful classes where we had the opportunity to engage, promote and challenge ideas,” he said.

Due to his attendance at Bard, he also obtained internship positions that have allowed him to bolster his career pathway.

“The consequences of this lack of access are far-reaching”

According to data cited by King’s College London, which marked the day with its “Compassion into Action” theme, only 6% of refugees have access to higher education – which the UN is striving to bring up to 15% by 2030.

“As someone who personally experienced [lack of access] in the early years of my life in Iran, where I was unable to attend official Iranian schools, I can say that education should not be a luxury,” Tajik added.

IIE, which also facilitates part of the project, also marked World Refugee Day with an opinion piece from the head of its Thailand faction in Bangkok.

“In 2021, IIE launched the Odyssey Scholarship, a full scholarship for refugee students pursuing four-year bachelor’s degrees or two-year master’s degrees.

“But with the global refugee population now at more than 110 million, there’s more to do. Universities are a lifeline to answering the call,” wrote Jonathan Lembright.

Lembright lists a plethora of suggestions in how universities in the US can get involved, including leveraging branch campuses internationally to help overcome “restrictive visa policies”.

Additionally, he suggest “short course practical training” and “hybrid delivery options”.

Tajik, who said that the impact of QSAP’s efforts were “strongly felt”, suggested similar thoughts for enhancing the program as it enters its sophomore year.

“For instance, [QSAP] could consider expanding their mentoring program or introducing workshops to help students better navigate their academic journey,” he noted.

World Refugee Day also overlaps with a key anniversary of DACA – the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals scheme.

“I knew DACA meant I could legally work in the country that I consider my home”

On June 13, the Presidents’ Alliance, which has long campaigned for refugee, DACA recipients and international students alike to obtain equitable access to education in the US, reiterated a call for a permanent pipeline for Dreamers and DACA recipients.

Felecia Russell, who works for the Presidents’ Alliance as its higher ed immigration portal director, is a DACA recipient, and reflected on its effect on her life.

“Eleven years ago, I remember sitting at home with tears falling from my eyes because I knew DACA meant I could legally work in the country that I consider my home.

“With DACA, many doors opened for me; I went on to earn my master’s and my doctorate, a privilege I know not all undocumented people have.

“However, I live my life in two-year increments because DACA is a band-aid and not a permanent fix,” Russell wrote.

A recent bill that has been sponsored by both a Republican and Democrat representative would help to achieve legal status for DACA, but the President’s Alliance continues to call for further direct legislation.

“While we implore lawmakers to deliver a permanent legislative fix that only Congress can enact, we also call on the Biden administration to continue to fortify DACA and expand opportunities for Dreamers,” said director of policy and strategy Diego Sanchez – another DACA recipient at the Presidents’ Alliance.

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More than 140,000 individuals were funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for mobility programs in 2022, bringing it close to its pre-pandemic level, the organisation has said at its general assembly in Bonn.

With budget for the year increasing to about €775 million as a result in part to Ukraine aid programs, DAAD said it worked to respond to multiple crises during “challenging times”. In 2021, DAAD had €634.7 million at its disposal.

The budget increase has allowed the organisation to fund more individuals overseas for mobility programs than ever before in its history.

The DAAD Annual Report 2022 details how the organisation’s 2022 was “shaped by Russia’s attack on Ukraine”.

“In the past year, we witnessed the return of imperialism and aggressive war to Europe,” DAAD president  Joybrato Mukherjee said.

“Russia’s attack on Ukraine has brought a delusional pursuit to forcefully adjust history back to our continent. These significant changes have an impact on higher education institutions and the DAAD, too.”

DAAD put contact to Russia on hold and initiated “large-scale” support programs for Ukraine, including expanding the Hilde Domin program and developing guidance services for members concerning cooperation under difficult circumstances, he added.

The Hilde Domin program offers at-risk students and PhD candidates opportunities to study at German universities, with three rounds selecting 132 individuals for stipends. Afghanistan was the most represented among those offered scholarships with 59 Afghans selected as part of the Brückenstipendien Afghanistan program.

In 2023, DAAD will, together with the German federal ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, begin supporting refugees in Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries. The focus will be on female displaced people, with the aim of at least 80% of recipients being women. Target countries are Pakistan, Bangladesh and Kyrgyzstan, the document noted.

“The past year was a good year for global academic exchange, despite all crises: the end of the pandemic gave rise to an increase of personal on-site academic cooperation once again,” DAAD secretary general Kai Sicks said, adding that the 140,000 funded individuals is “almost back” to the pre-pandemic levels.

In 2019, DAAD supported 145,659 individuals, with 85,078 recipients within Germany. The total number of overseas recipients has risen to almost 70,000, an increase of close to 10,000 before the pandemic.

“The end of the pandemic gave rise to an increase of personal on-site academic cooperation once again”

Not all relations with Russia have ended, with DWIH Moscow director Andreas Hoeschen maintaining relationships on an individual level at the German research centre in Russia’s capital city.

“The halting of cooperation at an institutional level does not mean that we are letting down individuals,” Hoeschen said in the report. However, the centre is operating as an exchange platform for German organisations with science experts in Russia only on an individual basis, he noted.

There were also “intense negotiations” concerning future DAAD budgets, with “great national and international support in this”, Kai continued. The German Bundestag confirmed a “robust budget increase” in November.

The #IgotfundedbyDAAD hashtag saw some 2,000 past and present scholarship holders talk about the impact of DAAD scholarships on their careers and lives.

“These were touching reports and statements that reached people’s hearts and that encouraged us in what we do,” he added.

Of the total 140,873 staff, students and doctoral candidates receiving DAAD international mobility funding in 2022, 71,051 were from Germany and 69,822 from abroad.

More than 20,000 of these people were DAAD scholarship holders, and just under 50,000 received funding as part of the ERASMUS+ program, the organisation noted. Others were funded via DAAD projects at higher education institutions both at home and abroad.

Some 10,000 Ukrainian students, researchers and staff were supported by DAAD and ERASMUS+ in 2022, a year when German higher education institutions enrolled 349,438 international students, almost 74,000 of whom were new students.

It also established a ‘Pop-up School’ teaching in Ukrainian for displaced students from Ukraine at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary in March 2022.

Last year also saw the organisation celebrate 70 years in London and a half century in Rio de Janeiro Brazil, as well as open new offices in Tbilisi, Georgia (supporting Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan), a new German research centre in DWIH San Francisco, a new campus for the Vietnamese-German University in Ho Chi Minh City, along with a number of important events.

In total, there are six DWIH centres globally. In addition to San Francisco and Moscow, locations include Tokyo; New Delhi; Sao Paolo; and New York.

There are 60 DAAD offices around the world. Since 1950, the DAAD has helped a total of 1.7 million students and researchers from Germany and 1.2 million funding recipients from abroad to advance their academic careers.

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International educators, university recruitment representatives and high school counsellors will gather in Bangalore, India, in August for learning and development experiences and networking opportunities facilitated by Gen Next Education.

Gen Next Education is an international education organisation dedicated to enhancing access to global education and empowering students and educators globally.

The g2 – the globalED gathering: Embracing the New Frontier of International Education event on August 17-18 is aiming to drive change among these stakeholders and transform networking within the admissions, recruitment and counselling community.

“g2 offers attendees a unique opportunity to engage with the broader international community, share best practices, and gain valuable insights into the evolving landscape of college admissions across the globe,” said Gen Next.

The event will feature a wide variety of interactive workshops and dedicated networking time. Sessions include best practices for preparing high school students for education abroad, guidance on global admissions procedures, examinations of emerging student markets and tips and tools for working with independent education consultants.

g2 will be bookended by university fairs, so university representatives can interact directly with students.

Gen Next will also hold an admissions, recruitment and counselling virtual global edition on June 21-22.

Offered on ConnectEd, the online event will offer school-based counsellors, independent educational counsellors and university ​admissions officers from across the globe a platform for professional development and networking.

“At Gen Next, we believe in the power of collaboration and the ability of educators to drive positive change in global education,” founder and CEO of Gen Next Education, Girish Ballolla said.

“The g2 gathering is an incredible opportunity for educators from diverse backgrounds to come together, share best practices and shape the future of education worldwide.”

Notably, g2 is committed to inclusivity and supporting counsellors worldwide. In partnership with universities in attendance, Gen Next is providing scholarships for 100 high school-based counsellors, to ensure that they have the opportunity to participate with peers in the international education community.

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Finland’s universities may begin to increase tuition fees for international students under policies announced by the country’s new government.

The coalition confirmed it will move towards full coverage of tuition fees for non-EU students, meaning that universities will no longer receive government funding towards the cost of teaching international students. 

Currently international fees start from €4,000 but non-EU students may soon have to pay more to cover the full costs of tuition under the new measures . 

The policy was outlined in a document published by Finland’s new government after a month of negotiations between four parties, including the far-right Finns Party. There is no specified date for the changes to come into effect. 

The education ministry, which initially proposed the policy earlier this year, predicted that the move could result in a 43% drop in the number of students coming from outside the EU. 

The decision has been contested by student groups and some universities. SYL, one of the country’s student unions, described the initial proposals as a “disaster” for Finland’s plans, set out by the previous government, to triple the number of international students by 2030.

“Our main core value is free education for all,” said Yuri Birjulin, international affairs and EU advocacy advisor at SYL. “The students will integrate also better in the society if they… don’t have a very separate financial situation from the domestic students.”

“Our main core value is free education for all”

Higher education will remain free for Finnish and EU students but Roosa Veijola, european policy advisor at SAMOK, the country’s other student union, said she was afraid this policy could create a pathway to the introduction of domestic tuition fees. 

Universities Finland warned that the decision will have a “negative impact” on opportunities to attract and teach international students, while Helsinki-based universities told The PIE News the rise will have limited impact on their student recruitment, but the changes are expected to make it harder for the country’s rural universities to recruit international students. 

Hanna Isoranta, chief specialist at Study in Finland, speaking to the PIE before the change was announced, said the organisation would have to “work even harder” to attract international students if fees are increased. 

Finland first introduced tuition fees for international students in 2017. Despite this, the number of foreign students in the country has continued to increase over the past few years, with 53,000 international students applying to the country’s universities in January 2023. 

Students have in part been driven to the country by the introduction of a two-year post study work visa in 2022 as well as the former government’s Talent Boost program, launched in 2017, which aims to promote Finland as an internationally attractive place to work and study. 

But the new government, elected earlier this year, has promised a “controlled” approach to education-based immigration in a raft of new proposals that include clamping down on students and international graduates claiming state benefits. 

Residence permits will be revoked if students claim social assistance, while those applying for permanent residency will be subject to a language test and will have to prove they have not claimed unemployment benefits while in Finland, other than for a very short period of time. 

On the other hand, the government is planning to introduce more incentives to stay and work in the country after studying. It suggested permanent residence permits will be granted to those who have completed a master’s degree in Finland and who have sufficient knowledge of Finnish or Swedish.

Universities Finland also celebrated the government’s commitment to spending 4% of the country’s GDP on research and development, a goal agreed by political parties in 2022, and to increase the proportion of the population with a university degree. 

Meanwhile student groups criticised cuts in housing support and to adult education funding. 

“A sustainable future cannot be built on student debt,” Joonas Soukkio, president of SAMOK, said in a statement. 

Norway has recently announced it will introduce fees for non-EU students.

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The Dutch education minister Robbert Dijkgraaf’s plans for internationalisation of higher education in the Netherlands have been fiercely debated, with some even calling for complete cessation of international scholarship funding.

During a debate in the lower house of the Netherlands parliament on June 15, numerous members also called for a swift remodel of which languages university programs are taught in.

“The international student’s freedom of choice is the Dutch student’s limitation,” said Peter Kwint, MP for the Socialist Party.

Kwint went as far as to say that the timeline – which will see much of what the Dijkgraaf put in the letter will only take effect in 2025/26 – will “take far too long”, especially as the proposal was awaited for “months”.

Hatte van der Woude from the conservative liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy party, who in 2022 was a core advocate for stopping the recruitment of international students until the overcrowding issue could be solved, said she is glad that the recommendations are in place now.

“I ask the minister to stick to that. Postponing is no longer possible,” van der Woude insisted.

Independent MP Pieter Omtzigt also went as far to say that the scholarship system is also wired more towards internationals.

“We have saddled [domestic] students with tens of thousands of euros in debt for years.

“EU students who come to the Netherlands next academic year will receive numerous financial benefits if they come to study here. How on earth is the minister going to explain that?” the eurosceptic MP said.

“The international student’s freedom of choice is the Dutch student’s limitation”

Universities of the Netherlands, which submitted a response to Dijkgraaf’s letter for the debate to be given to those in parliament, argued that it has been advocating for the removal of certain “bottlenecks” in its internationalisation agenda since 2018.

“Universities identified the instruments we need from the public authorities. These instruments have been lacking to date, while it is important to preserve all the profits of years of joint commitment to internationalisation.

“Now that specific measures are being discussed, universities want to stress the importance of a nuanced package of measures with room for customisation, given their different profiles. This will set the course for the longer term,” the letter read.

During the debate Kwint directly addressed this, saying, “The institutions support the issue of internationalisation, but they each want an exceptional position based on their border location and type of study program.

“Everyone and their mother consider themselves an exception. You are an exception only if it has been decided by the ministry. There must be clarity about that,” Kwint stated.

“We are concerned about the possible stacking of measures, emergency buttons, implementation burdens and adjustment. Autonomy is an important factor in maintaining our top international position,” Universities of the Netherlands told The PIE News after the debate.

“Universities themselves want to take responsibility for solving the bottlenecks and the long-awaited legal steering instruments are certainly going to help,” a representative added.

Fred de Vries, who heads up internationalisation at the University of Twente, told The PIE that due to the Netherlands being the country it is, with the multiple borders it has, there will always be institutions that don’t get the good end of the bargain.

“In the biggest cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam, Utrecht – there are so many students at these universities, and they say ‘well, we want stricter measures’ – but in Maastricht, in Groningen, in Twente, people say ‘no, that doesn’t work’.

“There is no one size fits all approach, so we need this adaptability that’s very difficult to capture in the rules and laws,” de Vries relented.

MP for the centrist D66 party Jeanet van der Laan noted that the bottlenecks are still present, with “students attending lectures sitting on the ground due to crowds”, but that universities having more autonomy over it would be the solution.

“In some cities there is no room to be found – customisation and taking control is our starting point.

“I’m also hearing members say that all bachelors should be in Dutch, that’s just not possible,” said van der Laan.

Both Kwint and Omtzigt argued that at the very least, the primary language in universities should be Dutch.

Dikjgraaf himself said that there must be a legal obligation for what level of Dutch domestic students must achieve, but it will always be different for English taught courses.

“Dutch students must have good expressive skills – but it’s a different story for foreign students”

“Dutch students must have good expressive skills – but a different story applies for foreign students – you cannot expect the same from them.

“As far as I’m concerned, it will be a compulsory component to their studies, but outside the curriculum.”

The University of Twente, de Vries said, has solutions for just that, with its own language centre that students and staff can utilise at any time during their studies for a simple nominal fee.

“We make it very easy because we know it’s important. For us, it’s not something new,” de Vries added.

The language requirement, he said, plays into the issue of university autonomy heavily due to some universities being on the border with Germany and France.

“All universities will have to reassess what the profile of a program actually is; for whom are we doing it? And what’s in the curriculum? How strong is the international profile, and then, how logical is it to do it in English?” de Vries said.

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Cambridge Education Group has announced ONCAMPUS Ireland will open at UniHaven College in Maynooth later this year.

The new teaching centre will begin operating two-semester foundation programs from October 2023.

It has been created in partnership with the Irish medical education pathway provider Castel Education that CEG and its parent company Bridgepoint acquired in 2021.

Along with its portfolio across the UK, Europe and the US, CEG is “pleased to give international students the opportunity to study in a country with such a renowned reputation for its standard of education”, Brendan Webb, CEO, Commercial said on the announcement of the location in Ireland.

“We strive to support students in developing key skills for lifelong success through our partner universities, and this new centre in Ireland will help launch the academic and professional careers of a new cohort of international students,” he said.

UniHaven has secured both QQI and ILEP approval to run the Level 5 international foundation program in Ireland from 2023 over the last three years, CEO of UniHaven Brian McDonald said.

“We are delighted to be one of Cambridge Education Group’s Irish foundation providers and to be at the heart of the launch of the ONCAMPUS Ireland brand,” McDonald highlighted.

Two programs – a business & social sciences pathway and a engineering & science pathway – are designed to allow students to progress to undergraduate degrees at a range of top-ranked partner universities in the country.

CEG was reportedly up for sale before sources that Bridgepoint told Education Investor said that any acquisition deals had collapsed as a result of “unrealistic price expectations”.

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International education organisation INTO University Partnerships has launched its own digital community platform to connect international students.

The INTO Community platform offers students a “seamless experience” to interact and engage with fellow students and faculty in real time regardless of their location.

“INTO Community platform elevates student support and success to a whole new level through the power of technology,” John Sykes, CEO of INTO, said in a statement.

Students will be able to access resources, events, job opportunities and mentors, as well as gain “personalised advice and assistance” on visa requirements and housing, among other services.

“The innovation combines the dynamism and functionality of social media with INTO’s unrivalled knowledge of students’ needs and expectations. This can transform students’ experience and boost their academic and career success,” Sykes added.

INTO Community has been rolled out at INTO University of Alabama at Birmingham, INTO London, INTO Newcastle, The University of Australia’s UWA College, as well as Coventry University in the UK.

Earlier this year, INTO announced a strategic partnership with Coventry to “boost career outcomes” for students via a range of intensive employability programs.

Some 2,000 students have already joined INTO Community, with the organisation hoping to onboard half of its centre partners in the UK, US and Australia by the end of 2024. By that time, INTO expects to form a community of 6,000+ active members.

“The platform also helps prevent students dropping out of their confirmed programs”

Students with offers, current students and alumni can access the private and invite-only channel from the initial stages of their international education journey through to the alumni stage, INTO noted.

“By forging deeper emotional connections from the very beginning, the platform enables stronger engagement, resulting in enhanced conversion and enrolment rates. It also helps prevent students dropping out of their confirmed programs,” said Namrata Sarmah, INTO’s chief product officer.

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