February 9th, 2010 posted by Ian Maull
A pilot programme by Citizenship and Immigration Canada has rapidly reduced the length of time Indian students must wait for a visa to study.
The collaboration between Canada’s visa offices in India and the Association of Canadian Community Colleges has also succeeded in increasing the visa approval rate from 27% to 87%.
The fast-track programme for applicants only came into place 9 months ago but the immediate effect for Indian applicants is obvious. Under the previous system many students had to wait for up to 8 months for a visa decision, with many receiving disappointing responses. Dharam Pratap Singh, a student at Centennial College, described the situation for many Indian students as “a year lost.”
The new system has slashed waiting times, with the average visa application process now taking 2 and a half weeks rather than 8 months. The programme is proving popular in both India and Canada; students appreciate the faster turn-around time, whilst colleges have praised the programme for helping Canada compete with other popular student destinations like the US, UK and Australia. International students are also a great benefit to the Canadian economy, having created an estimated 83,000 jobs and generating $6.5bn.
To find out more about studying in Canada read the latest edition of i-studentadvisor Canada.
TAGS: Association of Canadian Community Colleges, Australia, Canada, Canadian, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, college, fast-track, i-studentadvisor, India, Indian, U.K, University, US, visa, visa application
CATEGORIES: Canada, Education, University, higher education, i-studentadvisor, international education, international student
February 5th, 2010 posted by Ian Maull
The Fulbright-Harkness New Zealand Fellowship has been announced to support study in the United States.
Since the 1950’s the Harkness Fellowships programme has been funded and run by The Commonwealth Fund, an American philanthropic foundation.
For forty years Harkness Fellowships supported study in a wide range of fields, but since 1997 have been restricted to the field of health care.
All of that has changed, however, thanks to former prominent alumni who have become leaders in fields such as business, politics, media and education. Together they have raised funds and support that will once again open the Harkness Fellowship to a range of subjects.
The new Fulbright-Harkness Fellowship will be offered annually and is valued at NZ$15,000 (US$10,000) towards the cost of a fellowship in the US for a minimum of six weeks.
All applications for this years award must be received by March 15th 2010. More information and an application form can be found on the Fulbright New Zealand website.
You can find out more about studying in the US and New Zealand through our online guides here at i-studentadvisor.com
TAGS: Business, Education, Fulbright New Zealand, Fulbright-Harkness New Zealand Fellowship, Harkness Fellowship, health care, i-studentadvisor, Media, medicine, New Zealand, politics, The Commonwealth Fund, United States
CATEGORIES: Education, Fellowships, New Zealand, higher education, international education
February 4th, 2010 posted by Ian Maull
The Beijing International Education Institute (BIEI) has released the results of their first 2010 survey on Chinese students plans to study abroad.
The study was carried out in 12 major cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Jinan, Dalian, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Changsha, Qingdao and Shenyang. Researchers surveyed nearly 6,000 students in both middle school and university, as well as their parents.
The report found that the most popular destinations for Chinese students are the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, France, Singapore and Germany. Of those nations the most favoured was the US, with 43% of respondents favouring it, followed by the UK with 19% and Australia with 12%.
BIEI also found that the most popular courses for Chinese students overseas are finance and accounting, marketing, and business administration with approximately 70% of British-bound Chinese students planning to study business.
For information on studying abroad visit our online study guides to the United Kingdom, Ireland, United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
TAGS: accounting, Australia, Beijing, Beijing International Education Institute, BIEI, Business Administration, Canada, Changsha, China, Chinese, Chongqing, Dalian, finance, France, Germany, Guangzhou, International Students, Ireland, Jinan, marketing, Nanjing, New Zealand, Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Singapore, Students, Study, survey, U.K, US, Wuhan
CATEGORIES: Australia, China, International Students, U.K, USA, higher education, international education, international student
February 3rd, 2010 posted by Ian Maull
With foreign students currently making up just 10% of Taiwan’s student body, President Ma Ying-Jeou is making efforts to attract more foreign students.
Yesterday, at I-Shou University in Kaohsiung County, Ma said: “It is urgently important to make local universities and colleges internationally efficient so as to recruit more students from other countries to help Taiwan sharpen its competitive edge.”
“Judging from Taiwan’s past history, it is a fact that opening to the rest of the world will make our country strong, and we hope to lure more foreign students.”
Ma’s goal is to attract 30,000 overseas students to the Republic of China over the next four years by making all university courses available in English. Currently 39 Taiwanese institutions offer English-language courses.
As well as maintaining scholarship programmes for foreign students the government has also announced a freeze on tuition and other fees for the coming year, as well as a flexible salary scheme to encourage the best researchers and professors to remain in Taiwan as educators rather than move abroad.
Ma has stated that education is a critical factor to Taiwan’s survival, with a well-educated workforce compensating for the Republic’s lack of natural resources.
TAGS: college, courses, English, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung County, Ma Jing-Yeou, President, Republic of China, Taiwan, Taiwanese, University
CATEGORIES: Education, Taiwan, University, higher education, international education, international student
February 2nd, 2010 posted by Ian Maull
The Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) has been announced with the goal of determining whether it is possible to develop “reliable and useful comparisons of learning outcomes” across a range of cultures and languages.
The project is being perceived by many as increasingly important due to the rise in globalisation and the flow of workers and students between nations.
The experimental project, expected to cost around $12.5 million, will focus on three separate disciplines; one on general skills, one on economics, and one on engineering. The Australian Council for Educational Research will manage the development of the discipline-specific tests in coordination with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the body behind AHELO.
OECD expects to test around 200 students in 10 varying types of school in each of these six nations; Finland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico and the United States. The proposal is to test students towards the end of their three or four year bachelors degrees and, in the following year, attempt to determine whether their results can be made comparable.
Richard Yelland, of OECD, hopes that if the experiment succeeds they will be able to create a useful tool for individuals and organisations across the world “who are responsible for higher education.” Yelland estimates that worldwide governments are collectively investing around $1 trillion in postsecondary education, meaning that the proposed tool could generate great interest.
You can find out more about AHELO by visiting the OECD website here.
TAGS: AHELO, Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes, Australian Council for Educational Research, bachelor degree, Finland, investment, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, OECD, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, postsecondary education, Richard Yelland, United States
CATEGORIES: Education, University, higher education, international education, international student
February 1st, 2010 posted by Ian Maull
Over the last few weeks countless students and educational institutions have dug deep to support the people of Haiti in the aftermath of the catastrophic earthquake which struck the country twenty days ago.
The devestating earthquake, whose epicentre was near the town of Léogâne, measured a magnitude of 7.0M and has so far claimed over 170,000 lives.
In Taipei, Belgian student Jam Willems has rallied his fellow international students at the Mandarin Training Center of National Taiwan Normal University to donate their time as volunteers, raising over $1,800. One of the volunteers was a Haitian, from the severely damaged capital of Port-au-Prince.
“I feel we are learning Mandarin in Taiwan with quite an easy life, which is in big contrast to the earthquake-stricken Caribbean country,” Willems said.
At La Sierra University in California students have donated over $1,600 and have plans to hold a benefit concert in February. Many students have also requested a change to their spring break travel plans; whilst La Sierra had planned trips to Arizona, Hawaii, Kenya and Belize they are now likely to set their sights on travelling to Haiti to assist in relief efforts.
In Cedar Valley, Iowa, international student William Montoya from Columbia has established an emergency committee to mobilise students, staff, faculty and Decorah residents. Montoya has used Facebook to build up contacts and supporters, saying: “It’s really easy. Just create a Facebook group, invite your contacts, ask your contacts to send an invite to their contacts and start rocking and rolling.”
To support the disaster relief efforts in Haiti you can visit the Crisis Response Page set up by Google where you can donate directly to UNICEF, CARE and other organisations.
TAGS: Arizona, Belgium, Belize, California, Caribbean, casualties, Cedar Valley, Charity, Columbia, Decorah, disaster, earthquake, facebook, Haiti, Hawaii, Iowa, Jam Willems, Kenya, La Sierra University, Leogane, Mandarin, Mandarin Training Center, National Taiwan Normal University, Port-au-Prince, raise money, relief, Taipei, Taiwan, volunteer, William Montoya
CATEGORIES: Charity, Haiti, International Students, international education, international student
January 29th, 2010 posted by Ian Maull
Ireland has been ranked the third most globalised nation in the world in a report due to be presented to the World Economic Forum at Davos today.
The report, produced by Ernst & Young with the Economist Intelligence Unit, placed Ireland behind Singapore and Hong Kong in a study of 60 countries.
The result was measured “by a country’s openness to trade, movement of capital, exchange of technology and ideas, labour movements, and cultural integration.”
The strength of Ireland’s technology industry has been highlighted in the report, stating:
“In recent years, Ireland has positioned itself as a hub in the global exchange of technology, as a result of its safe operating environment and educated workforce. It may not be the originator of all the innovation that passes through its doors, but the country’s role as a conduit for research and development – through manufacture, packaging and export – has been an important contributor to its high level of globalisation.”
Ernst & Young noted that the economic crisis has slowed Ireland’s growth in globalisation over the last two years but reported that, of the industry executives questioned for the survey, almost half of them expected their international activities to expand over the coming year. Universities and colleges are amongst the organisations seeking to expand their global reach; currently 1 in 12 undergraduates studying in Ireland comes from abroad, with educational groups keen to increase that figure.
For more information on studying in Ireland check out our brand new i-studentadvisor Ireland magazine online now.
TAGS: college, Davos, economic crisis, Economist Intelligence Unit, Ernst & Young, globalisation, globalised, Hong Kong, i-studentadvisor, industry, Ireland, Singapore, Technology, Undergraduate, University, World Economic Forum
CATEGORIES: Education, Ireland, University, higher education, international education, international student
January 28th, 2010 posted by Ian Maull
The Victorian Government in Australia has announced the opening of a new support centre dedicated to international students.
The publically-funded $500,000 facility will be open to visitors during working hours but also offer 24 hour telephone support for students.
“For students who have got any sort of issue, whether they need support, whether they need counselling, whether it is accommodation… whatever the issue, they are able to contact this centre,” said Victorian Premier John Brumby. “It is open 24 hours a day and I think it’s a world-leading step.”
Wesu Chau of the Australian Federation of International Students welcomed the new centre, and encouraged the establishment of other such facilities across Australia: “…I know the centre, they have a system in place to monitor all the needs that are required from international students. And hopefully later on the Victorian Government will invest more money into supporting international students.”
As we reported in September, the Australian government has been keen to seek advice from international students on how to improve their educational and social experiences in Australia via direct meetings with student representatives.
For more information on studying in Australia read the latest issue of i-studentadvisor Australia online now.
TAGS: Australia, Australian Federation of International Students, centre, government, i-studentadvisor, international student, John Brumby, Premier, support, Victorian, Wesu Chau
CATEGORIES: Australia, higher education, i-studentadvisor, international education, international student
January 26th, 2010 posted by Ian Maull
The UK’s Roehampton University has announced the creation of 200 new scholarships open to international students, varying in value up to £2,300 for MBA students.
The scheme is aimed at students completing the professional practice certificate in Special Educational Needs established through the UK-India Education Research Initiative (UKIERI).
As well as participating in UKIERI, Roehampton has established further partnerships in India with the Gujarat government as well as the University of Baroda.
Roehampton vice-chancellor Paul O’Prey said “In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), the government’s assessment of the quality of research conducted in our universities came out as one of the best of any modern university. A third of our research is rated internationally excellent.”
Speaking of Roehampton’s Indian connections, O’Prey added: “India is becoming a very important part of our academic activity and we are becoming popular with Indian students wanting to study at our university at Master’s level.”
For more information on the scholarships, contact Roehampton University via their website here.
To get all the advice and guidance you need on applying to UK universities check out the latest edition of our UK e-magazine.
TAGS: Gujarat, i-studentadvisor, International Students, Masters, MBA, Paul O'Prey, professional practice certificate, RAE, Roehampton University, Scholarship, SEN, Special Education Needs, U.K, UK guide, UK-India Education Research Initiative, UKIERI, University of Baroda, Vice Chancellor
CATEGORIES: Education, India, U.K, University, higher education, international education
