Open Doors 2021 Release

To kick off International Education Week 2021, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Institute of International Education released findings from the Open Doors® 2021 Report on International Educational Exchange. Watch the release event here with remarks by IIE CEO Allan Goodman, other IIE research staff, and Acting Assistant Secretary Matthew Lussenhop.

You can pre-order the full 2021 report here or access featured data on the Open Doors website.

New Model for International High Schools on U.S. College Campuses

With an interest to increase international enrollment, and revenue, some U.S. universities are seeking public-private partnerships to create or host international high schools on their campuses. As reported by Inside Higher Ed, this trends allows students to obtain university credits and a high school diploma simultaneously, while institutions benefit from a new international recruitment pathway.A new business model is emerging, in which public institutions partner with private companies, such as Maple Leaf Educational System or AKD educational Consulting, to operate the high schools on their respective campuses. The dynamic of this partnership consist of either a curriculum for participating students that overlaps with the university’s curriculum, or more of a “host” scenario, where the university leases out facilities to an international high school.As a recent example cited in the article, the University of Southern Maine (USM) started the International Academy, where international students can graduate with a high school degree as well as to receive college credit. In an interview with Inside Higher Ed, President Glenn Cummings stated:

“We’re trying to think about education a little bit differently and looking at models that attract students from around the world to our campus.”

The Kwantlen Polytechnic and Thompson Rivers Universities in Canada already have similar models running while the University of Northern British Columbia is in the process of developing an international high school with a Chinese company. Sal Ferreras, the provost and vice president for academic at Kwantlen Polytechnic, spoke about this relationship:

“These are students [from China] that have achieved a certain amount of English training -- they’re not coming to us raw -- and also are familiar with our system and familiar with British Columbia. We would like to maintain a stronger connection to a large network that would maintain a steady stream of foreign students from this particular country.”

Despite the benefits of the public-private partnership model with international companies, critics of such partnerships question the leasing of public spaces to private for profit international high schools. However, for universities like USM, there is a mutually beneficial cultural enrichment experience between international and domestic students through this program. Furthermore, the partnership also allows the university to attract potential students from markets in which they have limited access.

Survey Reveals How International Students Perceive American Schools

The Brookings Institution released its 2017 Report on American Education, revealing survey results of international high schools students in the U.S. and their perspective on American education. The report, administered by the Brown Center on Education Policy, is a replicate and a comparative analysis of a similar study conducted in 2001. Key findings of the survey include reported differences in the difficulty of classes, the amount of time dedicated to out-of-school activities and homework, value placed in sports and math, and emphasis on learning a second language.Data results shows that even 16 years later, not much has changed in terms of international students’ perceptions and values. Over 600 past high school exchange participants in the AFS international program were contacted for this survey, with a response rate of 45.3 percent.When asked how U.S. classes compare to courses at home, 55.9% of international students reported in 2001 that classes were “a lot easier”, compared to 66.4% in 2016. Likewise, in terms of the total amount of time spent on homework, in 2001, 34% of international students thought Americans devote much less time to schoolwork than what they were used to from their home countries; that number increased to 44% in the 2016 survey.The rise of social media and the amount of time students spend on social media activities were a new development highlighted in the 2017 report, which was not a factor included in the 2001 survey. Also not included in the 2001 survey was the relative importance of learning a foreign language. More than half of respondents said it is considered “much less” important in the U.S. to study foreign languages than in their home countries. Similarly, another intriguing finding is the importance international students place on Math compared to the value American students place on sports.To read the full Report, click here.

University Leadership Unite in Opposition to Executive Order Travel Ban

31 of the top universities in the United States joined forces and filed an amicus brief challenging the Trump administration’s revised travel ban. Although the new version of the Executive Order only bars people from six specific Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S., universities are already seeing negative effects on their campuses. As stated in the briefing, filed on March 31, the Executive Order threatens universities’ ability to attract top talent and to educate tomorrow’s leaders, and is hindering international student applications.Universities agree that the timing of the new travel restrictions comes at a critical time in the school year’s application season. Accepted students may not be able to obtain visas on time and could chose other study destinations. Moreover, prospective visiting faculty and scholars are also impacted. According to amici: “many admissions letters for fall of 2017 have been sent out in the past month, and prospective international students have a short window to decide whether to attend a United States college or university.”As per the Mitchell Hamline School of Law definition, an amicus brief is a “legal document filed in appellate court cases by non-litigants with a strong interest in the subject matter. The briefs advise the court of relevant, additional information or arguments that the court might wish to consider.” This briefing was filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit of Maryland, which will hear oral arguments in May.Read the full brief here and see below for a list of the signee universities:Boston   University,   Brandeis   University,   Brown   University, Bucknell University, Carnegie   Mellon   University,   Case   Western   Reserve   University,   Columbia  University,  Cornell  University,  Dartmouth  College,  Duke  University,  Emory   University,   George   Washington   University,   Georgetown   niversity,   Harvard   University,   Johns   Hopkins   University,   Massachusetts   Institute   of   Technology, Middlebury    College, Northeastern    University, Northwestern University,  Princeton  University,  Rice  University,  Stanford  University,  Tufts University, University   of   Chicago,   University   of   Michigan,  University   of   Pennsylvania, University    of    Southern    California,    Vanderbilt    University,    Washington  University, Worcester  Polytechnic  Institute,  and  Yale  University