In New York, Boston, Washington DC, Charlotte, Atlanta, Chicago and San Francisco, college counselors, study-abroad advisors, faculty members and students will learn why more than 7,000 US students selected Ireland last year for their college studies. They’ll also hear first-hand experiences from participants in the newly launched US Student Ambassador Program.

The Education in Ireland events are part of a broad initiative by the Irish Government to raise the number of full-time US students at Irish universities and colleges by 50 percent in the next three years. They began with a special welcome message from His Excellency Michael Collins, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States. They precede the first annual Education in Ireland tour for US college counsellors, which will take place next March.

The globalisation of higher education is a cornerstone of Ireland’s strategy to help shape future-generation international leaders, technologists, entrepreneurs and thinkers. In virtually every field, Ireland’s universities and colleges stand out internationally. From STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) disciplines to liberal and performing arts, Ireland consistently produces career-ready graduates – skilled knowledge workers that continue to inspire international companies to make Ireland their EU hub. The strategy is drawing substantial numbers of foreign students. Many come for their semester-abroad experience. But a growing number are choosing Ireland for full-time degrees. Boosting the numbers is a top priority.

“Over the years, many talented US students have benefited from a unique educational experience at Irish institutes of higher learning,” said Michelle Dervan, USA Manager for Education in Ireland. “And while some have strong family links to the country, the typical US student in Ireland is a global, career-minded individual seeking a high-quality and affordable college experience. These students add much to the vibrant education scene that makes Ireland a preferred study-abroad location for ambitious kids across the world.”

The week’s events include the following:

New York: Launch of Education in Ireland’s US Student Ambassador Program at the Consulate General of Ireland.

San Francisco: Event for students at St. Mary’s College in Moraga hosted by the Consulate General of Ireland.

Washington DC: Mitchell Scholarship Program Awards Reception at the Embassy of Ireland. The Program honors former US Senator George Mitchell’s contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process. Up to twelve Mitchell Scholars are chosen annually for one year of postgraduate study.

Atlanta & Boston: Receptions celebrating education links between Ireland and the US hosted respectively by the Consulate General of Ireland in Boston and the Consulate General of Ireland in Atlanta.

Charlotte: Address at the WorldQuest High Schools Competition by Paul Gleeson, Consul General of Ireland in Atlanta.

Chicago: High School Essay Contest Winner Announcement at the Consulate General of Ireland. Contestants in grades 9-12 were invited to address the topic: “Ireland is a country renowned worldwide for its inspiring writers, musicians and artists.  In 1,000 words or less, explain what inspires you most in life…”

About Education in Ireland

To learn more about Education in Ireland’s outreach to US high schools and universities, please visit – www.educationinireland.com

The above post is reproduced, with permission, from the original feature on the Education In Ireland website here.

You can also find out more about studying in Ireland by visiting the i-studentadvisor Ireland Study Guide.

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About International Education Week

International Education Week is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. This joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education is part of efforts to promote programmes that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn and exchange experiences in the United States.

The first Week was held in 2000 and today is celebrated in more than 100 countries worldwide. To find out more, visit – iew.state.gov

Due to unprecedented demand for its Summer Schools, NUI Galway in Ireland has added an extra date to its programme of events across the disciplines of computing, engineering and science.

Aimed at students in transition, the summer schools are specially designed to give prospective students a real taste of university life through a wide range of hands-on practical activities.

An Engineering Summer School will take place on Friday, 24 June, offering a taste of experiences as wide-ranging as remotely controlling a wastewater treatment plant, building an eco-house and designing a go-kart.

Participants in the Engineering Summer School will be the first students ever to use the University’s new engineering building. The state-of-the-art facility opens to all students in September.

Limited places are still available for the Computing Summer Camp, which runs from Monday 13 to Friday 17 June, and will introduce computing in a novel, fun and interactive way. Participants will have the opportunity to use leading-edge technologies, from constructing and controlling robots that can interact with their environment, to directing a virtual ‘mini-movie’ that can be uploaded to a website and shared with friends.

From Monday 27 to Tuesday 28 June, the Science Experience Summer Event will offer students two whole days to delve into a wide range of scientific disciplines. The workshop will feature all disciplines of the College of Science including biology, chemistry, maths and physics.

Caroline Loughnane, Director for Marketing and Communications at NUI Galway, said:

“We are delighted with the demand for our Summer Schools, as we feel they are a great opportunity for younger students to see what subjects and courses they will be best suited to in college. It is encouraging to see such high levels of interest in computing, engineering and science – all of which are flagged as key areas of growth for our smart economy.”

Spaces for all Summer Schools are limited so early booking is advised. The last date for receipt of applications is Tuesday, 31 May. To find out more about the Summer Schools or for applications visit: www.nuigalway.ie/international-summer-school/

To learn more about living and learning in Ireland, why not read the i-studentadvisor Ireland magazine.

The announcement was made in New Delhi earlier in the week, at a workshop that involved eleven Irish third-level institutions and 25 Indian education agents.

The international education sector in Ireland is currently estimated to be worth €900million, with every 100 international students coming to Ireland believed to create fifteen local jobs. The Government has identified this sector as a crucial element in their jobs and growth strategy for the next few years. The Minister commented on this saying that “as well as the direct contribution they make to the economy through tuition fees, accommodation and other expenditure, Indian students also enrich our campuses and our cities in many ways and are a crucial means of deepening the links between Ireland and India.”

Out of the 100,000 Indian students who travel overseas to study, only 1,000 currently opt for Ireland. The Government are hoping to significantly increase this number as well as aiming to double their intake of international students from the rest of the world by 2016.

Are you an Indian student looking to study overseas? Have you considered Ireland?

For more information on studying in Ireland, please visit i-studentadvisor.com

Detailed results from the Economist’s ‘Which MBA?’ ranking shows that the full-time MBA programme at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School led to one of the highest rates of salary increase since graduation three years ago. Other positive results for the School in this ranking point to opening career opportunities, the potential to network, some of the best facilities of any European school and strengths in entrepreneurship, strategy and finance.

“We are delighted that the School’s full-time MBA programme continues to rank amongst the global elite,” says Professor Tom Begley, Dean of UCD Smurfit School. “More than ever, employers need people with the ability to think strategically and who possess strong analytical and leadership skills.”

“UCD Smurfit School’s MBA develops and strengthens these skills and provides individuals with a current focus. Our MBA students cite the development of new management skills and techniques and ‘learning in action’ as the major advantage to them and their employers. We will continue to focus on maintaining and building our international reputation as a world-class centre of excellence in business education.”

To learn more about living and learning in Ireland, why not read the i-studentadvisor Ireland guide.

For further information on The Economist ranking visit: www.economist.com/whichmba

Our sister site, i-studentenquiry.com, is a simple online search service to help students find their ideal institution overseas without the stress.

By completing one simple form, listing their study level, personal details, educational background and study preferences, i-studentenquiry can help match students to a range of institutions, in the USA, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy and Germany, who exactly match their search criteria.

i-studentenquiry then forward a list of matching institutions onto the student, and also forward the student details onto the institutions, who will then contact each individual student within days of them submitting their form.

Over the past month, i-studentenquiry have upgraded the design and added lots of additional features to the website, including a new links page, a help page and tool tips to help students who may not understand all the educational terms used in the forms.

To visit the i-studentenquiry website, go to: www.i-studentenquiry.com and select undergraduate, postgraduate or English language to begin completing a form.

Or if you have any further questions or queries about the i-studentenquiry search service, please contact one of our representatives on the following e-mail address: info@i-studentenquiry.com

If you are an international student currently going through the application process, then why not let us know how you are getting on in your search.

The EU project entitled the ’Tawasol Project’, commenced in January 2010 and will run over three years. The project brings together five universities in Jordan and Lebanon with four European university partners including NUI Galway, University of Gothenburg in Sweden, University of Plovdiv in Bulgaria and Roehampton University in London. Following on from the success of the NUI Galway Community Knowledge Initiative (CKI) in developing successful learning opportunities within community through service learning, the University was invited to collaborate with the other eight universities and create the Tawasol Project.

While in Galway the group of educators met with over twenty members of the community who have been involved in service learning partnerships, including COPE Galway, the Gaf Youth Café and the Galway Traveller Movement. They also met over twenty NUI Galway lecturers and students who have developed innovative service learning partnerships. They learned about how postgraduate IT students worked with the Gaf Youth café to help develop a youth centred website and up skilled staff in the use of new technologies.

Speaking at the first Tawasol Project meet in Amman, Jordan earlier this year, Lorraine McIlrath, CKI Coordinator, NUI Galway, said: “Working with universities in such a different cultural context makes our work in Ireland richer and more challenging as we are encouraged to look at the cultural implications of engaging student learning in communities within challenging circumstances. This project will bring together hundreds of students and academics in the next three years for intensive inter-cultural and civic engagement learning opportunities”.

To learn more about living and studying in Ireland, visit: www.i-studentadvisor.com/ireland

The data was collected on students studying at 51 different institutions in Ireland; we’ve reproduced some of the key findings of the survey below:

• The number of full-time students has increased by 10%, to 66% of all international students (17,204).
• International students taking PhD programmes in Ireland have increased dramatically to over 2,000, 8% of the total and well above national averages. The numbers taking Masters programmes have also increased. Postgraduate study is particularly focussed on science related disciplines, but there is evidence of growth in every subject.
• Full-time EU and European student numbers have increased.
• The institutes of technology now host 17% of international students, almost 40% of whom are from EU countries and on exchange programmes.
• They key countries of origin for international students in Ireland are: the USA; China; France; the UK; Germany; Spain; Malaysia; India and Canada.
• Countries with a noteable increase in providing students to Ireland are: France; Canada; Nigeria; Saudi Arabia; Brazil and Romania.
• Humanities/creative arts and business and related subjects are the most important academic disciplines for international students in Ireland.
• International students paid €192 million in tuition fees in 2009/10.

To download the full report from Education Ireland, visit their website here.

To find out more about studying in Ireland read the latest i-studentadvisor Ireland Guide here.

The sessions, aimed at improving mathematics results, will focus on Ordinary Level Mathematics, a key requirement in most level 7 and 8 degree programmes.

Griffith College said:

“The weekend will use the same approach as that used on our highly successful professional revision courses. Each session will focus on a particular question from the Leaving Certificate papers, and cover all the forms of that question used since 2000. The material used by the presenter will be given to students at the start of each session so they can concentrate their energy on perfecting their skills in the questions.

In all, nine questions are covered: five from paper 1 and four from paper 2. Students are invited to attend all sessions. However, if a student feels that they already fully up to speed on a given session, they may alternatively use the time to study in the library, tour the College, use the computer labs to catch up with friends on-line or extend their break in the canteen.

The presenter for the programme is Tomás Mac Eochagáin, the College’s Director of Academic Programmes. Tomás has over 25 years experience of teaching mathematics and in securing excellent pass rates for learners in external examinations.”

The support sessions are offered free of charge, but students are encouraged to book their place in advance to avoid disappointment; without a booking, you won’t be permitted into the sessions.

For a full schedule of the support day, and to book your place, visit the Griffith College website.

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.

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.