Category: USA

Berry College lifts its international experiences office to new heights

“Having all of their travel documentation easily accessible helps to quickly verify when and where students are traveling”

Managing a robust study abroad program with a small office isn’t a simple task, and in today’s environment of shrinking global offices, technology support is a must to ensure student success.

Berry College, a small, private liberal arts college in Georgia, is a study abroad champion. More than 25% of Berry’s 2,000+ students study abroad while attending. But to increase the efficiency of their two-person international experiences office and have the ability to grow their programs, they needed to move from paper and Excel to an online system. Berry implemented a global engagement solution to centralize its study abroad information, showcasing their programs, enabling online applications and enabling quick access to accurate student travel information.

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The birth of a “higher education influencer”

“In March 2021 Z.J. started livestreaming from Chicago area universities on WeChat and immediately found it was a big hit”

The world of international higher education recruitment has traditionally been a very analogue affair. Typically, a representative from a university will do a tour of a region of the world and dutifully set up a table in the lunchroom or another high traffic area in the hopes of attracting the attention of students who may both be interested in learning about their university and speak English well enough to engage in a discussion.

Information is shared via brochures and websites and students are left to fill in the rest with their imagination or via online searches until they have a chance to visit in person.

However, during the pandemic and with a mission to pivot his already successful tourism and commerce marketing business, Z.J. Tong found a way to bring the schools into the phones, and homes, of China. Witness, the birth of a “higher education influencer”.

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What has happened at the branch campus in Korea for the last 10 years?

“Korea’s ambition to bring in foreign branch campuses to Korea was viewed as a booster for the economic gains, with one important conditionality attached”

In 2012, the Korea established the  East Asian educational hub, Incheon Global Campus in a government-led efforts to promote globalisation in higher education. 10 years on, I want to investigate what has happened to US campuses in Korea over the past decade.

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The value of the liberal arts through applied global learning

“The personal growth achieved via study abroad comes through intentional reflection on the challenges that arise from experiential education”

Crises inspire reflection. After suffering a loss or enduring catastrophe, it is only natural to reevaluate one’s choices and ask, “what is actually most important and valuable?”

Now, perhaps more than ever as students have returned to campus, they are questioning higher education’s return on investment. Students now look more intensely at the value of their experience through a different lens that includes both personal and professional growth to prepare for an uncertain future.

The Covid-19 pandemic changed a lot in college enrolment. The threat of contagion and subsequent necessity for isolation turned the traditional, in-person, campus-based approach on its head. Gone were the day-to-day experiential and social aspects of college that, for many, made the cost of matriculating worthwhile.

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The challenges and opportunities of a strong dollar for international students

“Students should also be reminded that loans are only one option to fund their overseas education”

With the US dollar now worth nearly as much as the euro, you might be looking forward to your next Italian vacation. But the same economic trend poses both a challenge and an opportunity for students from around the world.

The Indian rupee has fallen by 6% since January, and the Chinese yuan hit a record low in July. Other countries are experiencing similar trends – though perhaps none worse than Sri Lanka, whose rupee has fallen by half since March. This means that students from these countries could encounter a major financial shortfall when it’s time to pay tuition.

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The secret to rebuilding study abroad: case study in Ireland’s Phobal

“As we dust ourselves off, we find ourselves trying to embrace and rebuild study abroad in a new way”

Study abroad isn’t what it used to be.

With the collapse of many programs and the seat-of-your pants decisions to cancel, withdraw, shift, digitise, and more in the last two years, many study abroad programs were forced to reduce staff and/or create efficiencies and alternatives to students’ amplifying experiences in the world. Karin Fischer gives a strong voice to the stress and devastation of Covid on study abroad offices in her Chronicle of Higher Education article, raising more questions for the field of international education about our future, and the student experience.

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Covid proved universities could rapidly innovate, don’t stop

“Issuing digital credentials, authenticating in Blockchain-secure digital wallet, verifying with the click of a button. This is all possible now”

As the Colorado Avalanches – the Denver-based ice hockey team – played for their spot in the Stanley Cup, tertiary education admissions teams discussed the avalanche of international student applicants this year. The NAFSA international education conference was in town.

Naturally, the conference mood was positive. People were happy to be back in person at the famed NAFSA event. It had a real sense of “business as usual”. The conference theme was “building our sustainable future”, but the talk in the expo hall was all about getting numbers back to pre-Covid levels.

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New year, new views: positivity toward US up among education agents in China and worldwide

“These findings serve as strong signs that US international higher education is on the road toward recovery”

Before 2020, souring diplomatic relations between China and the US counted among several variables that precipitated in a small-but-steady decline in international student enrollment at American universities, says Parves Khan, vice president of Market Research and Insight at INTO University Partnerships.

Compounded with the global Covid-19 pandemic and skepticism regarding the initial US coronavirus response, perceptions of the study destination worsened not only in China but around the world, contributing to what would become historic international enrollment losses.

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Restoring and improving international education under the Biden administration

“Supporting international education can not only expand the talent pools but diversify them”

Supporting international education can significantly have its economic advantages globally if the US government can help improve the current status, writes principal attorney for the Oak View Law Group, Lyle Solomon.

Some industries need more educated and skilled people within their talent pools, such as STEM. Therefore, supporting international education can not only expand the talent pools but diversify them.

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The Fauci Effect and Biden Bump boost medical school admissions

“The Fauci Effect propelled the number of medical school applicants in 2020 to jump by as much as 20%”

The Fauci Effect and Biden Bump phenomenons, attributed to Anthony Fauci and President Biden, may be leading to medical school application spike, with former having propelled the number of medical school applicants in 2020 to jump by as much as 20%.

The Covid-10 pandemic clearly has had devastating effects. The silver lining may be that it is propelling a new generation of minds into medicine.

MedSchoolCoach founder Sahil Mehta explains this increased application rate, why it may be occurring, and what it means for pre-meds who are applying in 2021.

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