After a stellar career in international education, AIRC executive director Brian Whalen is set to retire at the end of the year. Whalen recently sat down with The PIE and reflected on prominent themes that have been woven throughout the personal, professional and academic parts of his life.

“I think about it in terms of categories of human experience,” Whalen tells The PIE. “My dissertation was on home and homelessness in the American imagination. And one of the themes was to tease out the different dynamics of American journeys overseas and intercultural journeys. And so intellectually, I developed a really strong interest in the whole notion of home.

“Where are the places we call home and why do we call them home? And can we carry home with us? And can we ever really return home? And all of those different rich themes that have existed in many cultures around the world throughout history.”

Reflecting back, Whalen says, given this early academic interest in the psychology of home, he had an intellectual reason to enter the field of international education.

“Maybe we’re all searching for home in one way or another, and it is in our international education, where we find many homes,” he suggests.

Whalen proffers that working in international education, one connects with people in different cultures, situations, and contexts. “And we relate to them, and have empathy, and we can identify with them in some way. And that’s one of the joys of our work.”

In discussing the intersection of his work and personal life, he says, “International education is often a journey that involves your family or significant others.”

“Maybe we’re all searching for home in one way or another, and it is in our international education, where we find many homes”

When Whalen’s wife was working on her master’s thesis in Italian art history, the two spent three months in Italy. Whalen’s maternal grandparents were born in Italy, and he felt a strong connection to the country and its people.

Two years later the couple returned to Italy to work and spent five years there and it is where their children were born. “It was a real family commitment, raising a family within an international education framework. So that’s the emotional side [of international education] for me.”

His son has lived in Greece and his daughter in Ecuador for the last 13 years. “They’re completely bicultural, bilingual and have succeeded in business and in living [an international] life. And so, it’s continuing to be kind of an emotional experience in that way.”

In terms of the professional aspect of this triad, Whalen speaks of early days in the field at University of Dallas and Boston University. In a period before fax machines, computers and mobile phones, he says the relationship with mentors was critical.

“There was no professional development that I knew of, no handbooks, no seminars or webinars, and no Forum on Education Abroad. NAFSA existed, but we didn’t know so much about it overseas.”

They gathered in informal mentor circles to discuss “what we’re doing and how we’re dealing with the challenges that we have and sharing ideas and best practices”.

During that time, he developed lifelong, collegial friendships and had reliable, knowledgeable, trustworthy mentors that helped shape the trajectory of his career.

“And that led me to realise that we all need mentors within our different fields. We need to cultivate those relationships and we need to give back as well.”

Whalen asserts, “There’s a certain amount that we can transmit via written publications, webinars, and workshops, and those are really important. But the individual mentoring relationships that we have are never going to fade away in importance.”

Looking ahead to his official retirement from the field, Whalen is excited for the next chapters in his life and intends to continue to give back to the sector.

“The world has become increasingly interconnected. Globalisation has really impacted our sense of who we are and our place in the world. I definitely want to continue to engage with the field in a productive and helpful way.”

“I definitely want to continue to engage with the field in a productive and helpful way”

In circling back to his original dissertation topic of many years ago, Whalen frames his career trajectory around that concept of home that has been so central in his life.

“I’ve always been struck by the overwhelming majority of our colleagues, no matter what area of international education they work in, international educators have this skill set. It’s not just cross-cultural communication or intercultural communication, or empathy.

“It’s a constellation that I would call homemaking – the ability to feel at home and to be at home in so many different contexts. That is extraordinary. It really is. And it is a blending of the personal and the professional and academic that makes it so incredibly special.”

The post Brian Whalen, AIRC, US appeared first on The PIE News.

While the continuation of the two-year graduate route and rogue agent crackdowns were a welcome sign, stakeholders have called the government’s ban on dependants of postgraduate-taught course students “deeply disappointing”.

One leading figure pointed out that this would likely have an adverse impact on not just net migration figures, but on student numbers themselves.

“We are deeply disappointed to see this policy take effect to end the right to bring dependants for those on postgraduate taught courses,” said AnneMarie Graham, chief executive of UKCISA.

“This policy will also disproportionately affect potential international students who are unable to travel with dependants and will mean that they choose to study elsewhere,” she warned.

Agents are also on high alert after the news broke on May 23, in what appears to be preparation for the release of record-breaking migration figures from the Office for National Statistics on May 25.

Amrith Weerasekera, who runs the Campus Direct agency assisting students from Sri Lanka, predicted that the move would result in a sharp drop in numbers from South Asia.

“I believe this new change will drive away genuine students from the UK since there are many students who will not travel without the dependants,” he told The PIE News.

“Especially with education empowering more women, it’s not fair for any country to deny them from bringing children and spouse.

“Most south Asian students are very close to family and being away from them will cause them other stress and put family life at risk,” he noted.

Nick Hillman, who runs HEPI – which recently released a groundbreaking report showing international students inject £42bn into the UK economy – also touched on the fact that women would be worse affected by the ban in a tweet.

SI-UK, which works to bring thousands of students from across the globe to the UK, said the move would “clearly affect postgraduate taught student intakes to, and the global engagement of, UK universities”.

“It’s not fair for any country to deny them from bringing children and spouse”

“International students make a positive and vital contribution to the UK HE sector: internationalising the student experience, contributing to ground-breaking research, and forming an international alumni network including many overseas prime ministers and business leaders,” Charlie Carter, director of UK operations told The PIE.

Welcomed warmly, however, was the ban on visa-switching – where universities were seeing international students drop off courses just months in to go and work in the care industry.

Under new legislation, all students must complete their course before attempting to change their visas.

“I’m pleased to see the policy change regarding switching the visa – it was much needed,” Shivani Bhalla, head of international student recruitment at Brunel University London, told The PIE. Also crucial, she said, was the comments made regarding agents.

Home secretary Suella Braverman mentioned in the announcement that there would a crackdown on “unscrupulous education agents” who are selling “immigration not education”.

Bhalla also noted, however, that the sector “mustn’t forget” that the graduate route is still going as the two-year option for post-study work.

“I’m pleased to see the policy change regarding switching the visa”

“Many UK universities had a healthy international student recruitment intake pre-Graduate Route as well. We just need to re-energise our market characteristics,” she urged.

“We welcome commitment to the International Education Strategy’s targets and continued support for the Graduate Route,” noted Graham.

The Bevan Foundation, a policy think tank geared towards public policy reform in Wales, made the point that the devolved countries – and smaller institutions – would hurt more than anyone else.

“Welsh universities earned just over £185 million from international students in 2015-16,” noted Isata Kanneh, the Bevan Foundation’s access to justice project lead.

“International student fees fund education for UK students – the changes might have a negative impact on university finances, but they are not likely to do much to affect migration.”

Weerasekera also warned that this would be an issue – and that not just the universities, but the cities themselves, would be affected.

“Most of the businesses [in smaller cities] rely on students and dependants for housing rentals, labour and many other things which drive the local economy,” he said.

He also predicted that governments would need to step in to keep some institutions going.

The post UK: dependants ban “deeply disappointing” appeared first on The PIE News.

Flexibilities implemented by the US Department of Homeland Security’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program during the Covid-19 public health emergency have been terminated, the DHS announced on May 11.

The accommodations were related to interruptions with travel and the delivery of instruction and were implemented as a temporary measure to facilitate the least disruptive learning process for international students during the pandemic.

While guidance ended on May 11, international students who are actively studying on F and M visas are allowed to finish this academic year under the Covid-19 guidance through to the end of this summer.

The exception to this is online courses, which will not count toward a full course of study that exceed the regulatory limits for the 2023/24 academic year.

New international students, or those or re-entering their institution, are required to enrol in programs that comply with distance learning guidance for non-immigrant students.

Over the course of the pandemic, some schools permanently adopted changes to their programs. DHS indicated schools must submit a ‘Petition for Approval of School for Attendance by Non-immigrant Student’ with the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System if they want to introduce any permanent, material changes following the pandemic.

Altering modes of instructional delivery is considered a material change and must adhere to official guidance regarding limitations of online and hybrid instruction. Thus, non-immigrant students are not permitted to remain in the US to study in programs solely online.

In addition, according to the department, with the termination of the flexibilities, SEVIS records for F or M students studying fully online cannot be labelled “study abroad” and must be terminated. Only students attending an overseas institution as part of a formal study abroad arrangement may be labelled “study abroad”.

“During the pandemic, numerous institutions changed their grading policies”

However, students on F and M visas may continue to work in their on-campus employment remotely. DHS stated, “Schools should be able to explain how the students are providing services associated with the employment while not at the location of the employer.” Remote work for those participating in OPT and STEM OPT extensions are also permitted to continue, so long as it complies with OPT regulations.

During the pandemic, numerous institutions changed their grading policies. While this is not considered a material change, and does not necessitate approval from DHS, SEVP-certified schools must be prepared to supply related documentation and rationale to the Department upon request.

Another pandemic-era change was the acceptance of electronic signatures on I-17s and the allowance of I-20s being sent via email. DHS has permanently updated their guidance to continue to allow both measures.

This guidance comes on the heels of the SEVIS annual report, which indicated that the US has not fully rebounded from pre-pandemic numbers.

There were 1,362,157 international students on vocational and academic visas in the US in 2022, a 10% increase from the previous year. In 2019, there were a total of 1,523,758.

All four US regions saw an increases in international students from 2021 to 2022, with the Northeast and Midwest rising by 11.6% and 11.5%, respectively. Increases in the West of the US were more moderate at an 8.3% increase.

A total of six SEVP-certified schools each enrolled more than 15,000 international students, an increase of two schools from 2021.

K12 enrolment increased by 7.8% from 2021 to 2022, equivalent to a rise of 3,887 students, and no K12 schools hosted more than 700 international students in calendar year 2022.

The post Pandemic-era DHS flexibilities in US terminated appeared first on The PIE News.

The 144 companies, individuals and educators vying to be crowned winners in 20 categories at the 2023 PIEoneer Awards have been announced in a hotly contested year.

Finalists from 26 countries have been shortlisted from over 300 entries. Winners will be announced at the lavish PIEoneer Awards ceremony on September 22 in London.

An organisation specialising in promoting study abroad opportunities to Black college students in the US, a public-private partnership aiming to promote Women in STEM Entrepreneurship in Latin America and a scholarship program for refugees from Myanmar to study with Western Sydney University are just some of the outstanding entries that made the 2023 shortlist.

Six finalists for the Outstanding contribution to the industry from five countries include heavy hitters and influencers from the sector including Studyportals’ Edwin van Rest, Global University Systems Canada’s Cyndi McLeod and Bobby Mehta from BUILA and the University of Portsmouth.

The UK represents heavily in the student support category, with Study Group, FTI Consulting, University of Bristol and QA Higher Education all joining Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences from the Netherlands and studentVIP in Canada as finalists.

In the exciting Emerging leader of the year award, a new category this year, UKCISA’s Yinbo Yu, De Montfort University’s Francis Glover, UUKi’s Andy Howells come up against each other.

They are joined by PhD candidate Elliott Lancaster at Keele University, Katrin Klodt-Bussmann from HTWG Konstanz – University of Applied Sciences in Germany, Sea Change Mentoring CEO Ellen Mahoney, co-founder of SCORE Test Prep & College Counseling, Pilar Lindley, and program director (Language Programs and Short Courses) at English Unlimited, Ivan Kumar.

Organisers have also added a Digital innovation of the year category for student recruitment to recognise exceptional work done in the past year in a fast-changing sector.

Seven outstanding business schools in six countries make up the finalists in a new Business school category, while the Study abroad and exchange experience of the year has also been introduced for 2023.

“There are many exceptionally talented, influential and inspirational up-and-coming leaders working in the sector”

“The Emerging leader of the year award is one of the four new categories we have introduced this year, and it has proven very popular,” Clare Gossage, COO and co-founder of The PIE, said.

“There are many exceptionally talented, influential and inspirational up-and-coming leaders working in the sector, who are making a big impact or contribution to their own organisation or the wider industry, and going above and beyond the normal scope of their role. We wanted to create a platform for them to gain recognition for their work on a global scale and outside of their own organisations.

“I can’t wait to see who the judges select as the winner this year, it’s going to be very competitive!” Gossage added.

In the attendee-favourite International alumni of the year award, seven fantastic entries from Vietnam, India, Albania, India, Egypt, Cameroon and New Zealand will vie for the 2023 recognition.

As the world continues to grapple with a climate emergency, the Sustainability international impact award – last year won by EHL, Switzerland for its food operations on global environmental sustainability program – will be highly anticipated.

An Intercultural outreach Initiative in Ecuador, Germany’s IU International University of Applied Sciences, the Universities of Sydney and Coventry, a zero waste marketplace app for students created by a University of Birmingham graduate and a ‘SDGs at Work’ awareness and engagement initiative in Canada have all been shortlisted.

See the full list of finalists for the 2023 PIEoneer Awards here.

The post 2023 PIEoneer Awards finalists revealed appeared first on The PIE News.

Australia and India have agreed a mobility deal that universities in Australia say will “support the flow of more students, researchers and skilled people” between the two countries.

The Australia-India Migration and Mobility Partnership Arrangement was announced as Indian prime minister Narendra Modi met his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, on a visit to Sydney.

The deal will “promote the two-way mobility of students, graduates, academic researchers and business people, while also enhancing cooperation to prevent irregular migration and people smuggling”, the partners said.

A Mobility Arrangement for Talented Early Professionals Scheme has been created specifically for India, the governments revealed.

A new Centre for Australia-India Relations, that will act as national platform to bring government together with industry, academia and the community, will be head-quartered in Parramatta in Greater Western Sydney.

The meeting is the sixth time Albanese has met Modi in his first year as leader of Australia and it built on the outcomes from the Australia-India Annual Leaders’ Summit in March, government noted.

“Prime minister Modi’s visit to Australia has strengthened the close and strong relationship that Australia enjoys with India,” Albanese said.

“This is a relationship we need to invest in. Our strong partnership with India will deliver benefits for Australia in trade, investment and business, and in regional security and stability.

“Australia is a better place because of the contributions of Indian-Australian community, and we want to see more connections between our countries.”

The wide-ranging bilateral discussions also included the countries’ trade, investment and business relationship, collaboration on green energy, and a new Australian Consulate-General in Bengaluru and India’s plans for a Consulate-General in Brisbane.

Local media has reported that under the agreement, Indians under the age of 30 with key skills and proficient English skills will be eligible for two-year working visas without requirements to first have a job or further study confirmation. Places for the scheme will initially be capped at 3,000 per year, The Australian reported.

“Universities fully support the government’s focus on growing our relationship with India”

Australia has long been searching for solutions to crippling skill shortages.

The Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, that came into force on December 29 last year, also opened up some 1,000 Work and Holiday Program places for young Indian travellers.

“Universities fully support the government’s focus on growing our relationship with India, which is flourishing,” Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said in a statement.

“We congratulate the prime minister for taking a front foot approach to strengthening these ties, through which we all stand to benefit.”

Jackson called the arrangement, designed to increase the flow of students, researchers and skilled people between the countries, as “a good thing”, nothing that universities “are key to maximising the economic potential of the relationship with India”.

“The new arrangement will also facilitate greater collaboration between our researchers, whose work is essential to the success, safety and prosperity of both our nations,” she continued.

In 2019, Indian students contributed $6.1 billion of the total $40bn that international education contributed to Australia’s economy, according to Universities Australia.

“We already have more Indian students studying in Australia than before the pandemic, but it is in our interest to build on this,” Jackson added.

Executive director of the Australian Technology Network of Universities, Luke Sheehy, noted the “clear, ongoing commitment” by the respective governments to strengthen connection.

“Growing our capability in people-to-people links is important for Australia and significant for the university sector because education is at the centre of this great relationship,” he said.

A qualifications recognition agreement announced earlier this year was welcomed as “great news” for Australian transnational education providers.

ATN universities have also been at the forefront of recent “pivotal partnerships” with India, such as Deakin University campus in Gift City, the “first-of-its-kind” dual degree agreement between RMIT and the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, as well as UniSA offering a bachelor of Digital Business in India co-developed and co-delivered with Accenture, Sheehy emphasised.

“Both prime ministers fundamentally understand the transformative power of education”

“Both prime ministers fundamentally understand the transformative power of education, how it plays a leading role diplomatically, as well as economically. Education is as vital to our bilateral strength as other key areas like renewable energy, defence and security,” Sheehy said.

“ATN universities have been closely aligned with India for decades and we will continue to lead this area of higher ed well into the future.”

Modi and Albanese met previously on May 20 at the 2023 Quad Leaders’ Summit in Hiroshima, together with Japanese PM Kishida Fumio and US president Joe Biden.

The first cohort of 100 Quad STEM Fellows, an initiative announced at the 2021 summit in Washington, begin their studies in the US in August 2023.

The post Australia and India agree to boost student mobility as Modi visits Sydney appeared first on The PIE News.

Every year on the third Thursday in November, South Korea comes to a halt as thousands of students sit the Suneung, the country’s infamous end-of-school exam.

This gruelling eight-hour test determines whether a student stands a chance at gaining entry to the country’s SKY universities, a term for the country’s most prestigious institutions: Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University. 

Attending one of these universities can change the course of a young person’s life. 

“That acts a little like a caste system. It says who you’ll work for and who you’ll marry and what car you’ll drive,” says Chris Dale, co-founder at Queen’s College Seoul. “The students are actually told in the study rooms: study for another hour and you’ll have a better looking wife.”

“They are kind of fanatic about it,” says Kyuseok Kim, team leader at State University of New York Korea. 

But the odds are stacked against most. To stand a chance of gaining entry into SKY universities, students must typically fall in the top 1% of test-takers. 

“Education here, it’s a very, very stressful experience,” says Dale. Some blame the skyrocketing youth suicide rate (South Korea has the highest suicide rate among OECD nations) on the academic pressures placed on school children. 

In a country known for “education fever” and obsessed with its own elite institutions, what does the future of international study look like?

Attitudes to foreign study

Almost 300,000 Koreans were studying abroad in 2018, before this number declined during the pandemic, with many flocking to the US, China and Japan, among other countries. 

Some countries facing population decline are expected to send fewer students abroad over the long term as competition for internal university places decreases, such as in China. But, while South Korea’s population is declining, so too is confidence in the higher education system, outside of the elite universities. 

“During the Covid pandemic, the quality of our education in Korea [was] exposed to everyone, because everyone was able to see what was going on inside class, on campus, because everything was virtual,” Kim says. And many were unimpressed with what they saw.

“Despite the declining school age population, the number of students who want to go abroad early at a young age and get a degree quickly as well as jump into the global job market has increased even more after Covid-19,” says Emily Yoon, regional manager for North Asia at Kaplan International Pathways. 

For some, international education is a backup choice to SKY universities. When students don’t get the grades needed to apply to those universities, there is often “a mad scramble” to see what other options are available, says Dale. “That’s when people start searching for things like A-levels in one year”. 

International destinations

The US remains the destination of choice among South Koreans. In 2021/22, over 40,000 Koreans were studying in the US, accounting for America’s third largest source market. Students commonly aim for top-ranked and Ivy League schools. 

“The US is the most popular destination and I don’t think it’s going to change”

“The US is the most popular destination and I don’t think it’s going to change,” says Kim, but the figures are declining over the long term. The number of South Korean students in the US peaked in 2010/11 at 73,000, according to Open Doors data. 

“They don’t like the uncertainty politically and they think it’s a bit scary,” says Dale. The US is also losing out to other destinations.

“Now, more and more Korean students are choosing to study in a country in a more reasonable and smart way that can reduce the total study period and expenses,” says Yoon. 

Families are attracted by the post-study work options in the UK and Canada, while closer-to-home locations such as Singapore and Hong Kong are also emerging as destinations of choice. 

But the US isn’t ready to let go yet. “The US institutions are so aggressive to recruit Korean students to turn the trend back to what they experienced in the past,” says Kim. 

Transnational education

Instead of going abroad, some young Koreans are taking transnational courses from their home country. “As the craze for overseas education grows every year, the number of domestic global campuses and international schools of overseas universities has increased even more in Korea,” says Yoon. 

In 2012, the Korean government invested $1 billion in launching Incheon Global Campus, an education hub that aimed to internationalise Korea’s higher education system and entice foreign students to the country to counteract the outward drain of students each year. 

SUNY Korea, a branch of the State University of New York, recruited record numbers of Korean students during the pandemic but the Incheon campus as a whole is lagging behind its initial targets. While South Korea was home to a record 200,000 international students in 2022 (of whom 40% of came from China and almost 23% from Vietnam), Incheon Global Campus remained far from reaching its target of 10,000 students. 

“Efforts to increase awareness and visibility take so much longer than expected,” says Kim. “We are competing with the other education hubs in Singapore and Malaysia or even Qatar or United Arab Emirates.”

K12

Decision-making about international education can begin at an early age. In South Korea, traditional international schools are, for the most part, limited to foreign passport holders or Korean children who have lived overseas for several years. 

The other option is to attend hagwons, private institutions that can incorporate foreign education. But choosing to pull your child out of Korea’s state education system is a big decision. 

“It’s a really big decision for families to make”

​​”If Korean nationality students want to go to one of these schools, then they basically have to waive their rights to a Korean education and then they can’t jump back into the schooling as well,” Dale says. “So it’s a really big decision for families to make.

“If you choose that route, then you’ve got to have the cash to pay for international university because you can’t get into Korean university.

“Demand is going to remain high, I think, for quite a while, but it’s certainly not a high growth area,” Dale says of international schools. 

The future of international education

Although “education fever” is real in South Korea, change is slow. Kim describes Korean families as “very conservative”, saying that many worry about taking new chances and exploring different opportunities. 

“Koreans often feel a little anxious if they’re taking a different path in a culture that is held together really tightly,” agrees Dale. 

But new options, like branch campuses and online education, are slowly making their way into the ecosystem. According to Kim, Korean people are starting to think about “something different”. 

The post “Education fever”: Changing international study trends in South Korea appeared first on The PIE News.

A campaign aimed at celebrating the contributions of international students to the UK has relaunched this week, a decade after it first started.

#WeAreInternational highlights the “economic, cultural, social and civic” impact of international students in the UK, as well as promoting the country as welcoming destination.

Writing in The PIE News, Andy Howells, assistant director, external affairs at UUKi, said, “With threats of unwelcoming policy change to some groups of international students from government, aimed at curbing immigration, we are seeing our welcome factor decline – especially in comparison with other study destinations. 

Today, home secretary Suella Braverman announced that international students on taught master’s courses in the UK would now longer be permitted to bring dependants with them. The new rule, along with a raft of measures, is expected to come into force in January 2024.

“We must counter this by telling positive stories”

“We must counter this by telling positive stories of the many ways in which international students contribute to the UK.”

Today, home secretary Suella Braverman announced that international students on taught master’s courses in the UK would no longer be permitted to bring dependants with them. The new rule, along with a raft of other measures, is expected to come into force in January 2024.

The#WeAreInternational campaign was initially launched in 2013, supported by universities and sector organisations, before UKCISA took the lead on continuing the campaign in 2019.

Sector organisations Universities UK International, UKCISA, BUILA, London Higher and Study UK have formally relaunched it this week.

Universities across the UK have joined the campaign, celebrating the international students on their respective campuses.

At @StaffsUni we are proud to have a strong, diverse international community of over 3300 international students from across 122 nationalities

Today, hear from our students about their experiences of studying in the UK and their aspirations. #WeAreInternational pic.twitter.com/L2CT7aQ0c7

— Staffordshire Uni (@StaffsUni) May 23, 2023

Former UK Universities minister, Lord Johnson of Marylebone, lent his support for the campaign, highlighting the £41.9 billion economic benefit international students generated in the 2021/22 academic year as “just one part of the immense value that international education brings to the nation”.

“International student flows are critical to the UK’s competitiveness as a knowledge economy and boost our soft power across the globe,” he said.

We are proud to have a strong, diverse international community of more than 27,000 staff and students, with over 100 languages spoken. #WeAreInternational pic.twitter.com/9c0NFI4e4i

— Uni of East London (@UEL_News) May 23, 2023

#WeAreInternational – which was named marketing campaign of the year at the 2017 PIEoneer Awards –has long advocated for international students in the UK. Its creators pushed for a change in post-study work right policy in 2017, rules which were changed two years later.

An initial call for international students to be taken out of net migration figures has still not been recognised by the government.

The latest UK net migration figures, to be released on May 25, are expected to show a significant increase, despite government commitments to reduce migration.

Speaking on the World at One on BBC Radio 4, director of UUKi Jamie Arrowsmith called for a “much more nuanced and informed debate” around migration, including the net migration statistics.

“We have long called for more nuance in those statistics”

“We have long called for more nuance in those statistics to look at who is actually remaining in the UK over the long term, so actually shifting away from net migration which shows short-term flows towards somethings that looks at who is actually staying in the longer term.”

Arrowsmith noted online that, “With all of the negative political rhetoric and media speculation, it’s vital we recognise the amazing contribution international students make – and celebrate their stories”.

Johnson said, “By bringing together the voice of international students across the UK, the #WeAreInternational campaign helps to quash false narratives and show how our overseas students are a great benefit to our university campuses and our country.”

The post #WeAreInternational campaign relaunches appeared first on The PIE News.

International students on UK taught master’s courses will be banned from bringing family members with them as dependants, the government confirmed today. 

Only students on postgraduate courses currently designated as research programs, which includes PhD students, will be able to bring dependants under new rules set out by home secretary Suella Braverman. 

The move is a temporary measure while the government finalises an “alternative approach” which it says will ensure “the best and the brightest students can bring dependants to our world leading universities, while continuing to reduce net migration”. 

The changes will come into effect for students starting courses from January 2024, according to Sky News.

It has previously been reported that students enrolled at top-ranking universities or on “high-value” courses would be allowed to continue bringing dependants, but there has been debate about the practicalities of implementing a merit-based policy. 

International students are also no longer able to switch from a study visa to a work visa before completing their course, following a growing trend of newly-arrived students dropping out to work in the care sector. 

Other measures announced include a clampdown on “unscrupulous education agents” who are selling “immigration not education” and a review of the “maintenance requirements” for students and dependants. The government has yet to release further details on these policy changes. 

The graduate route, which allows international students to stay and work in the UK once they graduate, remains unchanged. 

“This package strikes the right balance between acting decisively on tackling net migration and protecting the economic benefits that students can bring to the UK”

The rules have been set out ahead of the release of the latest net migration figures on Thursday, which are expected to show a significant increase, despite government commitments to reduce migration. 

Around 136,000 visas were granted to dependants of sponsored students in the year ending December 2022, an increase from 16,000 in 2019. 

In a written statement, Braverman said, “The International Education Strategy plays an important part in supporting the economy through the economic contribution students can bring to the UK, but this should not be at the expense of our commitment to the public to lower overall migration and ensure that migration to the UK is highly skilled and therefore provides the most benefit.”

Research released last week found that international students contributed £41.9 billion to the UK’s economy in the academic year 2021/22.

Braverman added, “This package strikes the right balance between acting decisively on tackling net migration and protecting the economic benefits that students can bring to the UK.”

Jamie Arrowsmith, director of Universities UK International, said the changes would have a “disproportionate impact on women and students from certain countries”.

He added that the announcement provided “some clarity for students and universities after many months of rumour and speculation but leaves some questions unanswered”.

“The rise in the number of dependent visas has been substantial and has likely exceeded planning assumptions in government.

“We recognise that, in some places, this has led to local challenges
around access to suitable family accommodation and schooling, with implications for the student experience.

“Given this, some targeted measures to mitigate this rise may be reasonable, for example looking at eligibility for particular types of course (such as one-year taught postgraduate programs) or enhancing the financial assurances that prospective students are required to provide,” he said.

The post International master’s students to be banned from bringing dependants to UK appeared first on The PIE News.

Five times more Japanese students were studying abroad with The Japan Association of Overseas Studies members in 2022 than the previous year, according to data from the organisation. 

JAOS surveyed 40 education agents to estimate the number of Japanese people studying abroad. Between them, agents reported 34,304 students were enrolled in foreign study programs, including language courses and online education.

The survey found that the number of students travelling to study abroad increased from around 6,000 students in 2021 to just under 30,000 students in 2022. 

Meanwhile, the number of students taking online courses at foreign institutions dropped from 8,974 students in 2021 to 4,799 students last year. 

These trends were a result of the relaxation of Japan’s border control policies in the latter half of 2022, JAOS said in its report. 

“In particular, the September 2022 removal of the requirement to submit proof of a negative PCR test upon returning to Japan has led to an increase [in] students of both long-term and short-term study abroad programs,” the organisation noted. 

But outbound student numbers have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, an estimated 78,000 Japanese students studied abroad with JAOS members. 

The top destination for traditional Japanese students recruited by JAOS members was Canada, followed by the US and Australia. 

Of those taking online programs, about 40% (2,085) were enrolled in courses in the Philippines, making it the leading country by a significant margin, followed by China. 

The report also pointed to Dubai, South Korea and Malaysia as emerging destinations for Japanese students, as all three saw marked increases. 

The Japanese government has proposed a new plan to send 500,000 students abroad annually by 2033. 

JAOS said this “represents an aggressive and ambitious goal” and that it will be “essential” for the government to involve education agents and private sector service providers in its plans. 

As part of its efforts to promote study abroad, the government plans to increase financial support for students hoping to study abroad. JAOS said this move would help counteract the depreciation of the yen and global inflation, which are creating barriers to studying abroad. 

Japan’s birth rate fell to a record low of 799,728 births in 2022, despite government efforts to counter population decline, a trend which could impact future student mobility.  

“The Japanese government can encourage a significant number of high school students to consider studying abroad”

Tatsuhiko Hoshino, executive secretary at JAOS, told The PIE that, despite this, he expects the number of Japanese people pursuing overseas study will continue to increase for the next decade, in part due to planned promotional efforts to high school students by the government. 

“It is anticipated that by promoting study abroad to this group, the Japanese government can encourage a significant number of high school students to consider studying abroad, surpassing the declining population trend,” he said. 

The Japanese government also announced plans in March to recruit 400,000 international students to the country by 2033, which some have suggested is a move to help counter the country’s declining young population and falling numbers at Japan’s lower-ranked universities. 

Speaking to the i newspaper, Jeffrey Hall, lecturer at Japan’s Kanda University, said filling the gap at “struggling” universities with international students could “save lower-ranked universities from financial ruin”.

The post More Japanese studying abroad as online education dips appeared first on The PIE News.

Australian international education giant IDP Education has acquired the UK-based student peer chat service The Ambassador Platform, it was announced on May 23. 

The Ambassador Platform facilitates conversations between current and prospective students at universities, with both one-on-one and group sessions made available through the software. 

It comes just seven months after IDP announced it would acquired the international student support agency Intake Education. 

“By acquiring The Ambassador Platform, IDP will be able to accelerate its plans to incorporate peer-to-peer engagement as part of its student placement business,” said IDP’s CEO Tannealle O’Shannessy. 

“We believe [it] will further differentiate our offering to students and universities,” she added. 

The acquisition’s total consideration will be up to £9 million, the organisation confirmed, which IDP will pay for with “existing cash balance” – and won’t have a “material financial impact” on the company. 

IDP has already been boosted financially in 2022 and 2023 by “explosive” growth in student placement in Australia, the move seems to aim to capitalise on that growth by having peer-to-peer tools while expanding to other countries further like the UK. 

The Ambassador Platform, however, possesses a similar USP to a product already in the IDP roster – Unibuddy Discover, which it partnered on with Unibuddy in April 2022. It’s not clear whether IDP and Unibuddy are still collaborating. 

Speaking to The PIE, Nik Higgins, one of the co-founders, said it was important to make clear “it’s business as usual at The Ambassador Platform”.

“There are some absolutely fabulous things in the pipeline”

“There won’t be any disruption for our customers – we’ll operate as a separate but wholly-owned entity of IDP,” he said.

“There are some absolutely fabulous things in the pipeline as a result of our new relationship with IDP.

“These relate mainly to new, joint product offerings we will be co-creating with IDP, which will allow our customers to do more with their student voice, from lead generation to conversion.

“This is a unique new value proposition that only a combination of IDP’s scale and reputation and TAPs peer-to-peer technology can build,” Higgins explained.

While mostly aimed at higher education, The Ambassador Platform did also expand into K-12 learners in late 2021. 

The platform is currently listed as being used by over 150 institutions “across five continents”. 

However, CEO and co-founder of The Ambassador Platform George Olesen said the move would be “a unique opportunity to combine with a market leader” in order to accelerate the platform’s overall growth. 

Ciara McNally, a customer success manager with The Ambassador Platform posting on LinkedIn, called May 23 “a very exciting day for The Ambassador Platform team”. 

“We’re looking forward to working with IDP’s 800+ global customers, and helping them to attract, convert, and retain more best-fit students through the power of peer-to-peer recruitment,” she said in response to the announcement on the social media site.

“Students trust their peers for advice when making decisions”

For IDP, it will complement its current roster of counsellors, O’Shannessy said, noting that “students trust their peers for advice when making decisions as life-changing as studying overseas”.

“We started The Ambassador Platform to help higher education providers unlock the power of their students’ voices in their marketing and recruitment campaigns,” Olesen said upon the announcement. 

“This transaction will accelerate our efforts in this area and is an exciting milestone for the company,” Olesen added.

“We’re now the only peer-to-peer platform that is part of a global education group and we’re scaling up to bring our technology to every higher ed institution in every anglophone market,” Higgins said.

“It will allow us to deliver an enhanced experience for prospective international students – peer-to-peer is one part of the decision making puzzle and IDP are the world’s trusted experts with the rest of the pieces of that puzzle!”

Starting out as The Access Platform, The Ambassador Platform has been running since 2016, after being co-founded by Olesen and Higgins, who are “thrilled” with how the acquisition has turned out. 

The post IDP acquires The Ambassador Platform appeared first on The PIE News.