Education tourists – misguided migration

In this guest post to IHEC Blog, Study Group’s Michael Cornes, considers the recent revisions to the UK’s international student visa system and their implications for the country’s higher education sector and economy in 2012.

The UK’s coalition government wants to reduce net migration from ‘the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands’. Unfortunately due to a technicality, international students have been included in this political catch-all, as they remain in the country for longer than 12 months –according to the UN definition, this makes them migrants.

In an attempt to restrict the flow of international students, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) has revised the Tier 4 visa system, implementing a series of stringent financial, academic and work-related measures to make it harder to secure a visa. The education sector has protested at the changes, fearing they will damage Britain’s ability to export its globally renowned ‘gold standard’ education, at a time when universities need to attract quality international students.

One of the revisions included a new English language level requirement: Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) B1. This was originally set at the higher B2, until the government realised huge numbers of international students would be instantly prevented from studying here (80% of our Chinese students arrive with CEFR levels under B2, yet 98% of them progress to university, for example). The B1 grade was therefore introduced.

The CEFR levels were an interesting choice of measurement for the Home Office and UK Border Agency. Letters between a senior member of the UKBA and one of the co-authors of the CEFR revealed that the UKBA was warned the scale wasn’t suitable, and that minimal consultation took place between the two parties. The government forged ahead regardless.

The decision to exclude genuine international students from learning English before progressing to university has been put into perspective by recent figures from the UK’s Higher Education Statistics Agency, which showed that 503,795 students at British institutions "studied wholly overseas" in 2010-11, up from 408,685 in 2009-10 and 388,135 in 2008-09. This is concerning. While transnational education (TNE) will be a big part of the future HE landscape, the UK benefits most from those international students who are based in Britain. Universities UK’s report on HE’s role in the country’s financial recovery, stated that the sector will be worth £10.4 billion by 2015, and the majority of that will be derived from off-campus expenditure by overseas students. If TNE increases, then the UK’s economy will surely suffer as a result.

International students should be classified as education tourists, not migrants. Prominent think tank The Migration Observatory has confirmed that only 6% of international students remain in the UK after five years – a period of time which could have been dedicated to A Levels and then a three year degree, (without considering further post-graduate study). Lumping international education in with general immigration policy is a dangerous game to play.

Elsewhere the UK’s biggest competitors in the education export industry are taking advantage of our weakening position with proactive steps to secure more foreign students for their universities. About 30% of all current international students in the world are already studying in the United States, and the Obama administration has introduced the Study in the States programme to encourage sector growth. Meanwhile Australia called for an official review into its international education sector after registering a A$2.7 billion drop in revenue in just one year.

International students do little more than arrive, learn and then leave, and in the process they contribute significantly to the UK’s higher education sector and the general economy, yet our government seems intent on driving them away. We still have the opportunity to rightly promote our ‘gold-standard’ universities and fill them with future leaders of industry from emerging economies all around the world. The UUK is now lobbying for international students to be excluded from net migration figures and we are wholeheartedly with them; let’s not jeopardise our privilege to educate, with a politically motivated debate on immigration which has nothing to do with these genuine, valuable, education tourists.

Study Group is a global leader in international education, providing the highest quality educational opportunities for students from over 140 countries. Beginning in 1994 with 7,000 students per year, Study Group now has an enrolment base of 60,000 around the world.

Will We See A Spike in Study Abroad Interest and Participation to the United Kingdom Due to the Royal Wedding?

I'm approaching this question from a U.S. student and programming perspective.  I don't know the answer but I suspect yes.  The folks that can best track study abroad  interest to the UK are those at GoAbroad.com, StudyAbroad.com and IIEPassport (anyone want to share traffic data to London & other UK programs?).  The folks that can best track study abroad participation are those at IIE compiling Open Doors data.  We shall see...

As I was searching Twitter during lunch for my daily "Study abroad related tweet of the day" I came across many tweets from students who were talking about studying in England and London and this got me thinking about the question.  The Amanda Knox situation has had an impact on study abroad interest to Italy which makes me wonder what impact the Royal Wedding will have on U.S. student interest on studying in London.So I thought it would be interesting to conduct a brief search through Twitter and to copy and paste any posts related to studying abroad in the United Kingdom and they follow:

Dreaming about London on this special day... Can't wait to be there for Fall semester 2011!!! @royalwedding #London #fb#studyabroad

Why Prince William and Catherine Middleton Should Inspire All Students http://ow.ly/4JFor #StudyAbroad #GlobalEd #IntlEd

Just saw Peter Alexander on @Todayinterviewing #studyabroad students for their reaction at the#royalwedding!"

I have decided in order to go to London this fall, I need to purchase a royally perfect hat. #royalwedding #studyabroad

Shove me in a suitcase and send me to Oxford, already. The anticipation is killin' me. #excited #england #studyabroad #yay

What a coincidence that I get an email about applying to studyabroad in England...

i WILL study abroad in london, and i WILL meet prince harry, and i WILL be the next princess. #dreams

Close to dropping everything and running off to London. The things that Study Abroad meetings will do to you..

Are there any princes left in the world? Because listen ima studyabroad, meet one, and have my own royal wedding. Okay.

Did any UK study abroad students make it to the Royal Wedding? Feel free to post photos!

I wana study abroad in England.

when I study abroad I will meet a royal and get married #obsessed

My dad called me at 6:12 am to tell me to study abroad to meet and marry prince harry...

Oh! I want to study abroad in UK. Fighting for my dream come true. First step study English language now!!!

Can't wait to study abroad aka hit up London and have #princeharryfall in love with me. #itwillhappen

I'm going to study abroad in London and then stay there to become apart of the royal family. Do you approve, though?

I am strategically planning my study abroad in college to coincide with Prince Harry's wedding.

Of special note: This snapshot of Twitter posts related to study abroad and the United Kingdom was conducted at 12:30pm Chicago time which was several hours after the Royal Wedding coverage concluded. It would have been interesting to see related posts during the live coverage.

US-UK Fulbright Commission Celebrates 60th Anniversary

The UK in the USA website of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (official website of the British Embassy in the United States) reports in their Newsroom that Ambassador Sir Nigel Sheinwald hosted a reception on March 4th in celebration of the US-UK Fulbright Commission’s 60th anniversary. During the reception, the US-UK Fulbright Commission announced their plan to increase the number of new awards by the year 2010 by 30%. This is excellent news for future Fulbright applicants as the United Kingdom is the most competitive country in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program competition. You can read more about the reception and this new development here.

Aberdeen City Council Investigates Economic Impact of International Students

During my research efforts I came across a very interesting document and the type that I have never seen before in the field of international education. The Economic Impact of International Students in Aberdeen City: Aberdeen City Council Briefing Paper 2008/03 is quite interesting in that it is the first time that I’m aware of where a city has investigated the impact of international students studying within its boundaries. The Aberdeen City Council, at the request of the Migrant Worker Action Plan Working Group, investigated the economic impact of international students on the city and considered the number of international graduates that remain in the city upon conclusion of their studies “by examining issues and challenges that need to be considered when predicting future trends in international student numbers.” You can access the Aberdeen City briefing paper here.

Global Horizons for UK Universities by Fielden for CIHE (2008)

During my recent research efforts I came across the executive summary from a report by The Council for Industry and Higher Education (CIHE) entitled “Global Horizons for UK Universities” to be very interesting so I thought I'd inform readers.

You can access this six page document here:
www.cihe-uk.com/docs/PUBS/0711IntHEsumm.pdf

Forecasting International Student Mobility by the British Council

The British Council has partnered with the Economist Intelligence Unit on a new project designed to predict international student demand for education. According to the British Council the project “revisits Vision 2020 (a British Council report from 2004 forecasting the global demand for international student places in English speaking destination countries) and builds on its strengths. However, the methodology used differs and so do the outputs. The model has been piloted in China and will be rolled out across the UK priority sending countries over the coming year. All macroeconomic market data used in the predictions will be updated frequently. The forecasting tool has statistical robustness which means that all of the findings can be measured against a degree of statistical confidence.” You can access more information here: www.britishcouncil.org/eumd-information-forecasting-student-mobility.htm

Foreign Students in the UK Face New Requirements

According to a July 30th report in Reuters UK, foreign students coming to the UK will be required to provide documentation that they are sponsored by a licensed institution and provide financial evidence that they can support themselves and their families. Additionally, the new rules require foreign students planning to study in the UK to supply their finger prints. These new rules were implemented by the Home Office in an effort to control the increased abuse of the system by non-students and colleges.

The United Kingdom Announces Funding Cuts to Two Scholarship Schemes

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband announced a reduction in the Chevening scholarship Scholarships Programme from £27.3m in 2007-2008 to £18.86m this year and an end to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) contribution to the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship plan beginning in 2009-2010. Universities UK argues that this measure is in direct opposition to the United Kingdom’s initiatives to increase foreign student enrollments and may impact British students’ opportunities to study abroad. Current funding levels allow over 1,500 foreign students to study in the United Kingdom every year.

The Chevening Scholarships Programme is the British Government’s flagship for international postgraduate scholars administered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

More on this at the following BBC News article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7306689.stm