New Graduate Occupation List in Australia is likely to increase WA university applications

“”The correlation between international student enrolments and tourism numbers with the eligibility pathways for permanent residence is clear as day”

The Western Australian labor government has quickly recognised the mistake it made in 2017 when it de facto closed its immigration program to skilled migrants immediately after winning the 2017 election. 

In the ensuing months, international student enrolments at WA universities dropped significantly – 7% or 1403 enrolments in the 2018 financial year alone, against a backdrop of 11% growth nationally. That represents an 18% negative swing in WA against the national average. In simple terms, a disaster for the Western Australian education and tourism industries.

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The benefit of ‘joined up’ thinking when teaching EAL

“EAL departments need to be seen less as stand-alone departments and more as departments encompassing and integrating all aspects of a school’s academic life”

 It seems common sense, but how often in schools and colleges across the country is EAL development held back due to a lack of communication between EAL teachers and their colleagues teaching other subjects?

As Pete Collier, Head of EAL at Kings College St Michael’s says, “if a student is performing a science practical it seems logical that in the preceding (EAL) support lesson they should receive vocabulary related to common laboratory equipment. Although a seemingly simple and obvious philosophy the lack of communication between departments often causes this approach to be neglected”.
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The big IP question: How well do students understand intellectual property?

“Without IP knowledge, it is likely that interns and graduates will miss opportunities to protect valuable ideas”

University students are constantly encouraged to be creative and to come up with new and innovative ideas, but are they being taught the value of their ideas and how to protect them?

Intellectual property (IP) knowledge is important not only for law students learning how to inform others about the value and management of IP but for individuals studying business, engineering and technology.
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How San Mateo CCD Rewrote Its International Education Playbook

“We set out to change that one country as a time and we did just that”

Back in 2012, when we initiated our International Education Program, we quickly realised that those “tried and true efforts” such as fairs, online advertising, joint degrees, satellite campus programs, brochures and web pages, and direct meetings with foreign students were simply not effective.

As a result, we decided to develop our own systematic approach, and in short order, the number of international students went from 80+ to 1,500 today, an increase of over 1,700%. The rate of growth is holding, as we see yearly double digits in growth. In a few short years; we leapt from the bottom and joined the top 30 community colleges in the nation, according to IIE International –a respected source in the world of international education. In 2017, our international students brought in over $40 million to our local economy.
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Looking Stateside: US College Admissions for International Students

In 2017, over 1 million international students were enrolled in U.S. schools. To join that group, it’s important for students to understand the admissions process for international students when applying to U.S. colleges because it can be lengthier than what domestic student applicants go through.

What is the Common Application?

The Common Application is a single application that can be submitted to multiple institutions. If several of the colleges you’re applying to accept the Common Application, consider filling it out to save time. The Common Application includes some essay questions that colleges use for admissions purposes. You’ll want to double check with each college that there aren’t additional supplemental essays to provide for your admissions application.

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Brexit and the Strengthening of US Partnerships

“US institutions will do well to pay close attention to the final negotiations of Brexit in early 2019”

The much anticipated  September report of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has largely confirmed everyone’s expectations: yes, foreign students are an unalloyed benefit to the UK, but, no, not all obstacles will be removed to promote their arrival.

It’s a bit of a contradiction, but one that might be explained by the committee being appointed and answerable to the Home Office. With its eyes on the Brexit horizon, the committee admits it sees “no strong arguments for discriminating in favor of EU Students.”
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“Thanks MAC, but we should go further”

“Taking students out of the net migration target is not about fiddling the figures”

In light of the recent and long-awaited MAC report, director of Universities UK International Vivienne Stern says that the UK’s stagnant growth in international student enrolments has been an “active policy choice” and highlights the need for a clear, compelling and competitive post-study work offer.

Last week’s report by the Migration Advisory Committee confirmed what many of us in the university sector have long argued – that the benefits international students bring to the UK are enormous. The MAC team should be congratulated on some excellent analysis. But their conclusions were disappointing.

Now, attention has turned to the government response, and I believe there is a live debate between departments about whether to accept the MAC recommendations or go further.

The government should have the courage to do so.
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The Elevator Pitch: Why every international student (and professional) should craft one

“Your elevator pitch can be your answer when someone asks, “How do you plan on adjusting to a foreign company’s work culture?”

Whether applying to a company for an internship or a first job, an elevator pitch is that company’s first impression of your ability to fill a space in that organisation. This can even happen when visiting representatives at a college’s career fair or when answering the infamous first question, “Tell us about yourself.”

What is an elevator pitch? 

An elevator pitch, also known as an elevator speech, got its name from the amount of time you may spend with another individual in an elevator. On average, elevator rides last about 30 seconds or less. With your elevator pitch, you have that long to persuade someone before one of you walks off the elevator.
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A View on some of the top education destinations for Indian students

“Indian students today prefer to study abroad for greater career opportunities and to experience diversity”

Overseas education has been gaining grounds and Indian students today prefer to study abroad for greater career opportunities and experiencing diversity, among other reasons. Here I will walk you through top international education destinations for the Indian students.

  1. USA

The USA is one of the prime countries for Indian students who are in pursuit of educational courses such as business management, computer sciences, social sciences, physical and life sciences, mathematics, engineering and other courses. With top-tier universities, USA accommodates lakhs of foreign students every year. Institutions such as MIT, Princeton and Stanford, Harvard, are the most preferred.

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Finland: A view on one of the best university systems in the world

“Despite being a small nation, Finnish universities keep topping the world polls. So, what is it that they get so right?”

Finland is well-known for thinking outside the box in education, and its universities are no exception. The region’s focus on innovation appears to yield results, with Finnish universities recently ranked as the highest performing in the world. So, what exactly is it that they do so well? In my opinion, this can be roughly broken down into three broad categories.

  1. Strong support for quality teaching

Teaching is a respected profession in Finland, one that is extremely competitive to break into. Typically, fewer than 10% of applicants are accepted into the teacher training programme, five-year Master’s degree programmes are compulsory, and subject teachers are expected to carry out advanced academic studies in their field.

Finland’s teachers and lecturers are given great flexibility and freedom in their teaching styles too.

Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) embraces state-of-the-art teaching methods, for example, but teachers have autonomy for deciding how they are incorporated.  Mika Pulkkinen, an educational technology designer at LUT, says: “We offer a number of complex courses so we’re always looking for ways to help students cement their knowledge. We don’t want to insist on any single method of teaching, but we do make sure staff feel confident to use technology if they want to.”
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