Robert Stevens, chief executive of Education New Zealand attributes the rise to the tendency for people to stay in education for longer or re-enter tertiary education from the labour market during times of economic hardship.

However, the rise may also be due to some intensive marketing strategies implemented over the course of the last few years. Stevens said that his organisation and other education providers had worked hard to attract new students from China, India, Vietnam, North America, Brazil and Germany last year.

One notable campaign saw Education New Zealand run secondary school cricket competitions in New Delhi. Stevens said: “Those competitions really helped put New Zealand on the map for education options and it was through a very simple marketing campaign.” Although he added that it was too early to have any firm statistics about the success of such campaigns he also said that anecdotal evidence and feedback had been very positive.

Similar to Australia, the bulk of international students in New Zealand come form China, Japan and India with the majority choosing to study English. However there were also significant numbers studying business and tourism. New Zealand and Australia have traditionally been very popular destinations for international students because of the high standards of education and equally high standards of living in the countries but it would seem that current difficulties with Australian student visas are encouraging more students to choose New Zealand as their study destination.

Have you chosen to study in New Zealand over Australia? Let us know what influenced your decision.

Research from the Ministry of Higher Education and Research found that Morocco was the largest provider of foreign students to France, totalling around 30,000 individuals.

12% of France’s 1.4 million strong student population are foreign, more than a third of whom are based in Paris or the Ile-de-France region.

44% of those foreign students hailed from Africa, followed by 24% from Asia, 22.6% from Europe, and 8% from North and South America.

The research found that the largest foreign group, Moroccan students, were most likely to study science, engineering and technology subjects. Their 27,100 Chinese counterparts, a steadily increasing figure, are “well represented” in business, engineering and arts schools.

Almost 40% of foreign students in France are studying doctorates.

Look out for our i-studentadvisor Europe guide later this year, covering France and a variety of other European nations.

The funding is being made available through the Prime Minister’s Initiative for International Education. The launch of the Fund coincides with the release of figures, which show that the UK is once again the top destination for US students studying abroad and the US is still the top destination for UK students studying abroad.

Commenting on the launch of the Fund, Higher Education Minister David Lammy said:
“The UK and the USA have excellent higher education systems, and for many years students from both countries have benefited from the close working relationships that have developed between our two countries. These new partnerships, funded through the Prime Minister’s Initiative for International Education, will build on this and encourage even more links between universities and students across both our systems. The relationship between the UK and US is important, and we remain committed to that and to building on it for the future.”

The Fund is linked to extensive research carried out in cooperation with the US Institute of International Education earlier in the year on higher education partnerships between the UK and the US. There is a long history of collaboration between the UK and US on joint research initiatives across many disciplines, as well as an abundance of staff and student exchanges. There are currently more than 5,000 UK university staff with research links to the United States and more than 3,500 US research students currently working in the UK. Joint UK-US research projects currently underway include: exploring stem cell therapy for macular degeneration; conducting an extensive study of the Earth’s atmosphere; identifying materials that act as superconductors; and studying the role of sugar in cell-to-cell communication.

Sharon Memis, Director of British Council North America said:
”Education links are crucial for increasing long term cultural relations and this new initiative represents a continued investment into the development of transatlantic education partnerships.

“

The British Council’s UK-US Universities and Colleges New Partnerships Fund is introduced as education partnerships receive a growing spotlight in US foreign policy. In recent weeks, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has emphasised education and higher education partnerships on her state visits. In Russia, Clinton remarked, “…Part of our approach in the Obama Administration is to reach out to form more partnerships with not just governments but people-to-people partnerships that we think are going to provide a strong foundation for our future cooperation.

“

The UK is the top destination for American students who choose to study outside the country for a semester or year-abroad as well as full degree programmes.

”

This year, the United Kingdom once again took the top spot, rising almost 2% with 33,333 Americans studying here in the 2007-2008 school year (14% of overall study abroad students). Conversely, the United States is perennially the top destination for British students who study outside the UK with 8,701 studying in the US during the 2008-09 academic year.

Formerly the Northern American Head of education agent IDP, Leventhal’s new role will see him in charge of developing SUNY’s global operations.

“If the SUNY system is to be the model for the world, then we must strengthen our efforts in international education,” said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher, who recommended Leventhal to the SUNY board.

“Mitch Leventhal is the right person to enhance coordination of our international efforts and to break ground in developing new initiatives,” she continued.

Previously, Leventhal worked as Vice Provost for International Affairs at the University of Cincinnati, where his responsibilities included global strategy and international recruitment. Before that he headed up operations for IDP, an education agent run by 38 Australian universities.

“SUNY’s total global potential has not yet been realised and I am appreciative of the responsibility Chancellor Zimpher and the Board of Trustees have given me,” said Leventhal. “Providing new opportunities for faculty and student across the 64-campus system will be a challenge and one I look forward to; but equally important will be our efforts to leverage our strengths to help New York state companies more effectively compete in a global economy.”

Twelve of the large North American publishers now have electronic versions of their textbooks available to downlaod through the CourseSmart website including John Wiley & Sons Inc., McGraw Hill Higher Education and Nelson Education. Frank Lyman, Executive Vice-President of CourseSmart said:

“Textbooks right now are very much a print business, but more and more students are aware that they have a choice. I don’t think it’s the end of the print textbook business. But for a lot of students out there, this is a better way to learn and study and it’s a better fit for their lifestyle.”

Figures from a CourseSmart press release state that: “More than one third of the most popular college textbook titles (those expected to sell at least 200 copies nationwide this Fall) are now available in eTextbook versions from CourseSmart, according to data compiled by industry analysts at R.R. Bowker’s PubTrack Business Intelligence Division. Because of this dramatic increase in available eTextbooks, millions of college students can now choose to buy their assigned textbook as an eTextbook. ”

The response so far from students and academics has been positive. Lyman said: “Most institutions are accepting that (students) want a variety of ways to access their materials. It’s at an early stage and it will be interesting to see how many institutions take a proactive approach.”

Students are also increasingly active in protecting the environment so many students will also be attracted to the prospect of turning to virtual textbooks for the environmental benefits.

RELATED BLOGS:

NEW REVOLUTIONARY IPHONE APP DESIGNED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN

TEXTBOOK TERMINATOR: CALIFORNIAN SCHOOLS SET TO SWITCH TO ELECTRONIC TEXTBOOKS

“I am honoured to be appointed as Chief Executive designate of the Worldwide Universities Network, subject to approval by the University Senate in June. I look forward to working with the Chairman and Partnership Board, the Academic Advisory Group, the Coordinators and all participants of WUN to build on the impressive achievements of the partnership,” said Professor Hearn.