Universities Scotland has trumpeted the wider social value of international students beyond their economic contributions, arguing for visa policies that will help grow their numbers.
Often valued because of their high tuition fees and expenditure in the UK economy, international students actually have a much wider “social, cultural and educational” benefit, a new report argues.
Released today, Richer for It, claims that overseas students help foster an “international outlook” among their British counterparts, an attitude prized by the majority of employers.
Home students’ learning experience is “enriched” by the presence of international course mates, it adds.
Read the full article by visiting The Times Higher Education website by clicking here
Source: The Times Higher Education, David Matthews, 4 September 2013
Almost 800 courses are still available at Britain’s best universities two weeks after the publication of A-level results as institutions scramble to fill the last remaining places.
Students are able to choose between a range of sought-after degrees in subjects such as biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, law, history, geography and mathematics at universities represented by the Russell Group, it emerged.
In all, vacancies are being advertised on 788 separate courses for UK students through the traditional clearing system.
It forms a small proportion of the 25,000 degree courses still available at all universities and higher education colleges across the UK this year.
Read the full article by visiting The Telegraph website by clicking here
Source: The Telegraph, Graeme Paton, Education Editor, 27 August 2013
University leavers are increasingly going abroad for postgraduate studies in a trend which education experts say has made a foreign masters degree “the new gap year”.
A combination of cheap tuition fees, a dramatic rise in the number of universities in Europe offering tuition in English and a highly competitive market for jobs in Britain has helped fuel the rise.
Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show that in 2012, at least 1,590 students went abroad to continue their studies, a larger proportion of postgraduates than in 2011, with a prediction that this summer will see even more go abroad.
A London-based private provider is to offer pathway programmes with a consortium of Northern universities, enabling international students to get on to degree courses
The London School of Business and Finance has said it will take on around 150 students to “provide students with the academic and English skills needed to progress to a leading university”.
These courses offer guaranteed progression to degree courses at 11 institutions, including the universities of Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Sheffield.
The Northern Consortium UK (NCUK), one of a number of firms offering foundation courses for international students hoping to study at a UK university, said it plans to open 30 new centres across the world over the next five years.
Read the full article by visiting The Times Higher Education website by clicking here
Source: The Times Higher Education, David Matthews, Reporter, 25 August 2013
Former higher education college to lure international students as UK universities fight to attract lucrative foreigners
Forget the lure of the leafy spires of Oxford and Cambridge for the hordes of international students now seeking places at UK universities.
Instead, thousands of students from abroad – mostly from China and the United States – will be sampling the delights of the idyllic countryside around Bath instead thanks to a new deal Bath Spa University has signed with student recruitment experts in the United States.
Under it, the university – which currently has a modest 196 overseas or non-European students (making it one of the smallest recruiters of international students in the UK) – will see its overseas intake swell to around 2,000 students over the next four years.
Read the full article by visiting The Independent website by clicking here
Source: The Independent, Richard Gardner, Education Editor, 6 August 2013
Universities are to market themselves directly to students’ mothers following a surge in the number of pushy parents intervening in the higher education admissions process.
Institutions will advertise courses on the parenting website Mumsnet for the first time amid claims that mothers and fathers are going to extra lengths to make sure sons and daughters win places at leading universities. Admissions tutors have told how many parents are now accompanying children on university open days, writing their application form and even fighting appeals on their behalf if they are rejected. According to one study, 50 per cent of students at university open days in 2011/12 were accompanied by at least one parent, up from 47 per cent two years earlier.
Read the full article by visiting The Telegraph website by clicking here
Source: The Telegraph, Graeme Paton, Education Editor, 4 July 2013
Universities are paying recruitment agents as much as £120 million a year to attract foreign students into the UK, according to new research.
Figures suggest that institutions are handing agents around £1,000 in commission for every overseas student as part of a plan to boost international admissions. Under current rules, students from outside the European Union can be charged far higher fees than their British counterparts and have long been seen as a hugely lucrative market for the higher education sector. But concerns have been raised over the system used to recruit some overseas students.
An investigation by The Daily Telegraph last year found examples of agents boasting that they could secure places for overseas students with far worse A-level results than those expected of British pupils. The latest study by two companies – Uni-Pay, which collects and processes fee payments, and Centurus, an admissions and agent management firm – said that international students were an important source of income for universities.
We’ve been delivering our student recruitment service on the cloud for quite a few years (infact we were/are one of the earliest adopters of Oracle databases delivered through cloud tech!) so it’s surprise we’re BIG fans.
This infographic was brought to us by the guys at Uberflip (they deliver PDF in a cool way that’s readable from all devices….through the cloud).
Anyway, hopefully you find it useful.
Derek.
I was recently at a demo and the other party asked:
“How does empowering our admissions folk improve our student recruitmement efforts?”
This got me thinking that perhaps most Higher Ed people aren’t aware of the ease of setup that Interact-Recruit offers.
1. Allow the admissions team to display and remove the application forms directly from your website.
We install a snip of code onto your course webpage which, if open for application, turns on the ‘Apply Online’ button. From within the app the business user can close a course for application if it is full or has passed the closing date – no more requests to your busy IT department!
2. Allow the admission team to easily setup and edit forms.
We allow admissions officers to add or remove questions that would affect the speed your offer making decisions – but only if you have the correct permission!
3. Allow admissions teams to see their current data so they cam monitor, share workload and identify bottlenecks.
The KPI metrics we show users allows them to make ‘live’ informed decisions throughout the business.
4. Communicate in bulk via text or email.
We allow users to easily take a slice of the application/enquiry data and communicate via text or email.
Notify them of upcomming events, remind them about interviews, or even prompt them to accept their offer online.
5. Allow business users re-configure workflows and the related communication templates.
We create specific workflows for each Interaction (enquiry, application, online acceptance) and can even create course specific workflows within these Interactions!
Workflows can be simplified, or expanded on, as the University’s needs change over time.
Communication can be setup against every step of the workflow so that your applicants know what is going to happen next – further reducing ‘non value added’ queries to admissions teams.
If you would like to understand more about how our student recruitment partnership works just get in touch by leaving a comment or calling our office.
Derek Traynor.
We’re on a bit of a high at the moment in the office with a few new signups to our student recruitment partnetship – Interact-Recruit.
We’ve also got a really slick social questions and answers tool that allows students to ask our university partners questions, straight from their website, using their Facebook or Twitter login – clever eh? I’ll show you more about this in the coming weeks on the the blog.
Anyway all this got us thinking……how do you describe what we are all about? How do you express what drives us? …anyway it was getting tricky so we came up with a word cloud to help. Hope you enjoy it.
Derek.
Oh, feel free to use the image if you want for presentations etc – so long as you credit our website!
“Productivity and a better service to our applicants – two crucial benefits of CampusIT''s Interact online solution that make it easier for applicants to apply for our courses and make our process more productive.”