There are barriers which need to be addressed in both the Turing and Taith schemes to benefit from their full potential, said stakeholders during a roundtable organised by the All Party Parliamentary Group for International Students and UUKi.

To ensure the future success of Turing, some high level support to tackle immigration obstacles is needed, participants at the House of Lords event heard.

Emma Meredith, director of global engagement and interim director of skills policy, Association of Colleges, highlighted that funding for pre-mobility visits is not feature of Turing, as it was for Erasmus.

Such support is especially important to accommodate special education needs placements where often additional visits are needed to ensure suitable measurements are in place for a student or group, said Meredith.

Meredith added that staff mobility opportunities are too missing from the scheme which is now its second project cycle with £106 million allocated to support 38,000 planned mobility projects.

Meanwhile, the Welsh Taith scheme is now one year old, in its first project cycle with 6,000 planned mobilities planned this year.

“Both schemes represent a major commitment to young people and to the skills agenda,” said Charley Robinson, head of global mobility policy, UUKi.

Both schemes represent a major commitment to young people

“Both schemes also represent a significant shift towards more global opportunities, with 95 countries funded by Taith this year and over 150 destinations funded through Turing this year.”

Sarah Leach, head of global mobility programs, University of York, agreed that the global aspect has been a huge benefit of the new scheme, with Australia, Canada and Japan being the top destinations chosen by York students – all of which would not have been funded by Erasmus.

She added that another benefit of Turing is being able to offer shorter term mobilities of minimum four weeks, which she believes could be more attractive to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

However, Leach said that there is a lot more that can be done in terms of long-term funding, describing the situation currently as “shortsighted”.

The Financial Times reported that university administrators said the Turing scheme has been “plagued with problems” since launching, including the scheme’s system of annual allocations resulting in severely delayed payments, with some students missing out on experiences altogether.

This is the last year universities can access leftover Erasmus funding before the Turing and Taith schemes will become key sources of external funding for UK schemes and stakeholders have previously raised concerns about the project cycle.

According to Robinson, engagement for both schemes has been very high, with the Turing scheme being “heavily oversubscribed”.

“The external funding is extremely important to facilitate and grow outward mobility,”

Turing already makes up half of mobility funding at 49% of universities in its first year of operation, said Robinson.

“We can only expect that to increase as Erasmus funding tapers off.”

UUKi is calling on the UK government to extend the time that short-term exchange students are permitted to stay in the UK on visitor visas from six months to one academic year. While those staying for less than six months can use a standard visitor visa, students staying longer need a student visa, which has strict language requirements and high costs.

International students studying in the UK participating in the roundtable agreed, highlighting that this may be a deterrent to studying in the UK, along with the cost of living.

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The Netherlands lags behind much of Europe when it comes to long-term outward mobility, with 3% of students abroad for the entirety of their course, according to new analysis. 

International education organisation Nuffic examined outward mobility data and found that Dutch students were spread across 98 countries with three-quarters of students choosing destinations in the European Economic Area. 

The total number of Dutch students studying full degree programs abroad has doubled over 10 years to reach 20,000 in 2019. 

“Although the Netherlands lags behind at European level in terms of diploma mobility, the opposite is strikingly true in terms of credit mobility,” Nuffic researchers wrote in a new report. 

There are no precise figures on short-term exchanges, but, by analysing Erasmus+ data, Nuffic found that over 14,000 Dutch students went abroad for internships or semester exchanges in 2018/19. 

The most popular destinations for these exchanges were Spain, the UK and Germany. The pandemic saw the number of students taking part in short-term exchanges drop from 25% in 2018/19 to 14% in 2020/21. 

“A study or internship abroad is of great value to Dutch students”

“A study or internship abroad is of great value to Dutch students. They develop skills for the internationally oriented labour market where they end up after their studies,” said Nuffic researcher Anneloes Slapdel-Henschen.

“Moreover, internationally competent students are better equipped for multicultural societies and the cooperation across national borders that is necessary for solving global challenges.”

Belgium is the most popular country among Dutch students for long-term study, due to “the language, the low tuition fees, the availability of rooms and the accessibility of programs such as (veterinary) medicine, dentistry and psychology”, according to Nuffic researcher Saoradh Favier.

The UK and the US are the next top destinations, but Britain has become less popular following Brexit, seeing a 19% decrease in students. 

“No other destination country in the top 10 shows a comparable decrease,” the researchers wrote. 

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A university in Western Australia has suspended the recruitment of undergraduate international students from Punjab and Haryana in India.

In an email seen by The PIE News, Edith Cowan University said to agents that the reason for the suspension was an increase in the number of visa refusals from these regions, as well as concerns raised regarding students’ academic progress.

“We want to take the necessary precautions to protect the interests of genuine students,” the email said, which was sent on February 14 this year.

Applications via ECU’s on-campus pathway provider, Edith Cowan College, have also been suspended.

“We want to take the necessary precautions to protect the interests of genuine students”

Other changes at ECU include the enforcement of a 300-word requirement for the statement of purpose for all courses to ensure students can show they have “genuine intentions” to study and to comply with immigration requirements.

ECU will be increasing financial checks for all students from India and will be verifying the authenticity of their financial statements to ensure that they have the necessary funds to support their studies at the institution.

“Furthermore, we will not be accepting ‘cash’ salaries as acceptable sources of funds. We require that students provide us with verifiable proof of income to ensure that they have the necessary funds to support their studies,” the email to the agents said.

In the past, Indian students have used unscrupulous lenders to finance their studies abroad, putting themselves under serious financial pressure – something ECU’s new measures will likely help to address.

In another move to enhance ECU’s GTE screening process, video interviews will be introduced as part of the application process.

“Edith Cowan University is a quality driven institution with settings in place that attract quality students from around the world who thrive and succeed with our university,” Edith Cowan University deputy vice chancellor and vice-president (International), Jake Garman told The PIE.

“We foster and maintain highly effective working relationships with numerous agents in India, as we do in countries across the globe.

“We foster and maintain highly effective working relationships with numerous agents in India”

“Part of ECU’s commitment to ensuring all our agents are providing the highest quality service for our potential students, is our rigorous monitoring of shifts and trends in the international student marketplace that could impact on the quality of that service.”

Garman said that GTE requirements are live and proactive with ECU strategies in place to protect the integrity of the application process for the benefit of the institution’s agent partnership network and the potential students wanting to join the university.

“ECU recently held a comprehensive Webinar for ECU Education Agents in India to provide a dedicated opportunity for our agents to understand the details of GTE changes,” Garman added.

Last year Australia’s immigration department became aware of fraudulent student visa applications submitted via agents from some regions of India, which exacerbated the country’s visa backlog crisis at the time.

One Indian agent told The Indian Express newspaper in June 2022, that the DHA detected approximately 600 fraud cases from the Haryana and Punjab regions – the same regions that ECU has suspended undergraduate recruitment from.

In July last year, Catriona Jackson, chief executive of Universities Australia, told The PIE that her organisation was aware of the matter and understood it to be occurring across all educational sectors, not just Australia’s universities.

And in November 2022, Phil Honeywood, CEO of the International Education Association of Australia, told The PIE that visa fraud in the country was a “concern, particularly out of Nepal and three states in India”.

Immigration data showed at the time that visa approvals from India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka for student visas plummeted, with vocational education applicants particularly affected.

Honeywood told The PIE that the Australian Home Affairs department “reacted swiftly” to visa fraud concerns and “student visa approvals have been averaging only 9% out of Nepal for the past several months”.

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The US will begin allowing student visa applications up to a year in advance, it has been announced.

In a bid to get ahead of visa processing times, the US government added a clause on the state department’s website that could see prospective students issued an I-20 form, in order to obtain an F-1  or M visa, up to 365 days before their start date.

But students will not be permitted to enter the US until they are within 30 days of the beginning of their university program.

The Department of State announced the news with immediate effect. However, the stipulation has yet to be updated on the Department of Homeland Security’s website.

F and M student visas can now be issued up to 365 days in advance of the I-20 program start date, allowing more time for students to apply for a visa. Students are still not allowed to enter the U.S. on a student visa more than 30 days before their program start date. pic.twitter.com/jHUaNZYkE8

— Travel – State Dept (@TravelGov) February 21, 2023

Previously, students could only officially obtain an F-1 visa up to 120 days before their program start date, and could only claim an I-20 form up to six months before.

Speaking about the update to The PIE News, Virginia Commonwealth University’s associate vice provost for global initiatives, Jill Blondin, said the development was “exciting”.

“It demonstrates a way to think outside of the box to manage the high demand for visas,” she said.

Miriam Feldblum, executive director of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, was heartened by the move.

“The Presidents’ Alliance has been working with U.S. government officials to improve the experience of international students with our immigration system at every stage, from visa application process to USCIS processing to ensure greater flexibilities for students needing special student relief as well as experiential learning opportunities and pathways to green cards. The consular change is a positive one and goes alongside other improvements,” she told The PIE.

Reacting to the update on LinkedIn, assistant VP of Webster University in Missouri, Samrat Ray Chaudhuri said the move is a “significant update for all US-bound international students, agents and DSOs/admissions officers at US-universities”.

“Universities offering new programs can get a better understanding of their enrolment funnel much earlier than the start of classes,” he wrote.

“This is going to be a key for planning and academic units can have ample time to find instructors and resources to accommodate growth in their numbers. Opening additional sections or closing down sections with low enrolment can be better planned,” he added.

“Universities offering new programs can get a better understanding of their enrolment funnel much earlier”

It comes as the Times of India reported some students from Hyderabad – those who are not eligible for the interview waiver program, which was extended to December 2023 last year –  were going to Vietnam and other Asian nations to try and beat the current visa processing times in their home country. 

One student said that if he hadn’t gone for a visa interview in Vietnam in January, he likely would have “lost an academic year”.

The news of the application time extension could be seen as an attempt to keep visa processing times to a minimum and clear up a backlog that, while better dealt with that other major study destinations across the world, still hampers the country.

With students in Hyderabad going to Vietnam alleging that wait times for interviews can be up to 70 days, the news may be welcome to the hundreds of thousands of Indian students attempting to obtain F-1s.

On the same day, USCIS also announced a clarification on the validity period of employment authorisation for F-1 students already in the country that are “experiencing severe economic hardship”, also known as Special Student Relief.

“[In this case], we may grant off-campus SSR employment authorisation to an F01 nonimmigrant student for the duration of the Federal Register notice validity period,” the update read – which is typically 18 months – six months more than the previous authorisation of a year.

“We are heartened by the announcements of SSR along with TPS for a growing number of countries that have been experiencing emergent circumstances. These updates will facilitate for students with these special circumstances the ability to adjust their course loads, and take on more work opportunities,” Feldblum said.

The USCIS announcement also said that the extension would not be allowed to exceed past the end date of a student’s program.

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“Making dreams a reality is a common thread throughout the lives and stories of our Alumni Awards finalists,” said Elizabeth Tresnan, campaign director for Study UK, at North American awards ceremony at The British Embassy in Washington DC.

The British Council’s Study UK Alumni Awards is celebrated in multiple locations throughout the world, with finalists then eligible to apply for the worldwide award in one of the four categories: Business and Innovation, Science and Sustainability, Culture and Creativity, and Social Action.

Tresnan said the awards – held on February 17 – offer alumni the opportunity to not only be recognised for their achievements, but also, “a chance to continue to build professional networks, strengthen relationships with the UK and UK universities, and to benefit from international development opportunities.”

As each finalist was announced, their accomplishments in their respective fields were showcased.

Iyanna Halilou is an investor at Moxxie Ventures and a partner at the MBA Fund. A current MBA student at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Halilou was recently named a top rising star in venture capital by Business Insider.

Speaking with The PIE about her Business and Innovation win, Halilou said, “This event is a symbol of my education in the UK. For me it signifies resilience and never giving up.” She said coming to UK as an English learner, before attending Durham University.

“Tonight is the pinnacle of all of the things I’ve been able to achieve to date,” she continued. Halilou said she is both honoured and humbled to be selected for the award and hopes to be an inspiration for African women.

The winner of the Science and Sustainability category, Giovanni Pittiglio, attended University of Leeds and now works as a research fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

“It’s important to celebrate what a one can achieve after their education in UK and how the knowledge acquired in a UK education can be applied to serve others on a global scale,” Pittiglio told The PIE.

Social Impact winner Michelle Szydlowski is also applying her UK education globally. Educated at the University of Exeter, her specialty is conservation, exotic animal medicine, and anthrozoology. Her research focuses on the health and welfare of captive elephants and the marginalised communities that care for them.

“This event highlights the importance of a UK education”

Szydlowski shared with The PIE that her win was also “a win for non-traditional student populations.” As a neurodivergent woman who earned her graduate degrees later in life via distance education, she seeks to impress upon others to let nothing stand in their way of their education.

Rachel Koller Croft was unable to attend the event in person, but sent a video message to thank The British Council and the University of East Anglia for the Culture and Creativity award and for the inspiration and confidence it gave her to succeed as a writer.

In addition to the award, the four category winners each receive a $1,500 prize to continue their professional development.

“This event highlights the importance of a UK education and the difference it has made in the journey of alumni. They are trailblazers in their fields and truly ambassadors for the UK,” Tresnan told The PIE.

Likewise, director of English language, education, and society at The British Council, Camila Morsch, spoke with The PIE about the transformative nature of a UK educational experience. “These awards help foster long-term collaboration between UK and the home country of the alumni. It’s a connection to the UK that does not go away. And the awards highlight the deep impact each has made in their community,” she said.

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Mental health services at Australian universities need to be tailored to international students’ cultural needs if they are to be effective, a leading mental health charity has said.

Orygen, which is based in Victoria, told The PIE News that while most Australian educational institutions provide some form of mental health support for their international students, service engagement is often limited.

The comments come after research was published by the University of Melbourne and Orygen in January which claimed international student deaths by suicide will continue if more targeted mental healthcare isn’t introduced.

The research was carried out after a 2021 Victorian coroner’s report that found 47 international student suicides had occurred in the state in the decade to 2019, as reported by The Guardian.

“While our recent research found no evidence-based suicide prevention programs available anywhere in the world, we did find that many educators and peak bodies undertake a variety of activities,” Samuel McKay, research fellow in suicide prevention at Orygen told The PIE.

“Unfortunately, this support is rarely tailored to international students’ cultural needs, which limits service engagement… Similarly, all educators have orientation programs that generally include information about mental health support and other programs to help students manage the transition to Australia, but again these programs do not appear to lead to effective service engagement.”

McKay said that findings from the Victoria Coroner showed that when students did engage with services, the pathways for support were often complex and not readily available, making it difficult for the students to obtain the relevant support when it was needed.

“In combination, what the current evidence shows us is that institutions want to do something about this issue, but in practice, the current approaches are piecemeal, lack adequate and sustained resourcing and don’t seem to be quite hitting the mark,” McKay added.

“Current approaches don’t seem to be quite hitting the mark”

“Ultimately, what we need are readily available services and programs that can meet students where they are and provide them with the support that they need in that moment. These needs are diverse and often related to the different mental health challenges international students face.”

Phil Honeywood, chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia, echoed concerns, telling The PIE that as with many study destination countries, Australia has a shortage of inter-culturally trained mental health counsellors.

He said that solutions to the problem are now under active consideration by the recently reinstated National Council for International Education.

“International education stakeholders have been concerned for some time now about mental health cases associated with overseas students in Australia.

“While the numbers are small in the context of hosting upwards of 500,000 students, we believe that the increase in cases has been exacerbated by some specific issues,” Honeywood told The PIE.

Recent research has found that lockdowns have overall “worsened problems like loneliness, stress, anxiety and alcohol misuse”.

Honeywood cited pressures associated with the Covid pandemic saying, “With both our national borders and our campuses closed throughout 2020 and 2021, overseas students who remained in Australia definitely experienced increased loneliness as well as a loss of income from part-time work.

“Even in 2022 we found that many universities retained a primarily online teaching mode which exacerbated the loss of campus life and face-to-face engagement for many overseas students. Happily, this year we are back to campuses being fully open.”

Honeywood also noted that when Australia’s previous federal government reopened the country’s national borders in December 2021, it announced that international students could undertake paid work for unlimited hours each week while they studied full time.

“There is no doubt that many students then came under mental health pressure, from families back in their home countries, to work long hours in order to send money back to struggling family businesses.

“We hope that this will lift a lot of the pressure off students”

“The new federal government has announced that the cap on work hours while studying will be reinstated from June this year. We, therefore, hope that this will lift a lot of the pressure off students who can inform their families that it will be illegal for them to continue working the long hours that they have been to date,” he added.

Universities Australia’s chief executive Catriona Jackson told The PIE that universities understand the range of challenges international students can face when they move abroad to study, from social isolation and language barriers to financial pressures and navigating a new culture.

“We also know that some students come to Australia with existing mental health conditions that may feel overwhelming to manage in a new country.

“Targeted support services are available at universities to help students navigate these challenges.”

She said Universities Australia works closely with organisations like Suicide Prevention Australia to ensure the right support frameworks are in place for both domestic and international students, and will continue to build on this work to ensure students can access the best possible support.

“Any student struggling with their mental health should reach out to their university support services,” Jackson added.

If you need support, help is available.

Australia
Lifeline: 131 114
Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636

New Zealand
Lifeline: 0800 543 354

UK
Samaritans: 116 123

US
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: 988

Canada:
TalkSuicide: 1 833 456 4566

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The Australian government is looking for “robust and resilient ways” to regulate the country’s international education sector.

In a new discussion paper for the Australian Universities Accord, a review of the country’s higher education system, the panel behind the document say that regulation must be part of the “mainstream life” of institutions.

The 12-month review will look at the role of international education as part of a broader examination of higher education. The paper acknowledges the importance of the sector to Australia both financially and geopolitically.

The paper points to over-reliance on single countries as student source markets as a threat. It also discusses the transformation of traditional source countries like China and Malaysia into competitors, as students increasingly choose these destinations for higher education.

The panel asks 49 specific questions, covering a range of topics including financing, skills gaps and research capacity. They ask stakeholders to “be bold” when responding to the questions that most resonate with them.

“The Accord is our chance to get the policy and funding settings right”

Higher education institutions have welcomed the release of the paper, with Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson describing the accord as the “biggest opportunity for policy reform” the sector has seen in decades.

“The Accord is our chance to get the policy and funding settings right to ensure universities can continue supporting the national interest – now and in the decades ahead,” Jackson said.

“Universities will bring the bold and innovative thinking that this significant reform moment demands as we work in partnership with the independent panel and government to shape our sector’s future.”

The paper also discusses how the VET sector and higher education institutions can work in closer harmony.

Troy Williams, ITECA chief executive, said the accord “offers a pathway to a more integrated tertiary education system”.

“The goal is where the higher education and skills training sectors operate as one but retain their separate strengths and identities,” he said, adding that ITECA will use the consultation process as a chance to set out the case for reform to the regulation and funding of the tertiary education system.

Submission to the consultation will close in April, with an interim report expected to be submitted to Australia’s education minister in June.

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