Non-English-speaking European countries are offering more English-taught master’s programs.
An Institute of International Education study shows that European institutions are offering more English-taught master’s degrees to meet local and international student demand. The study analyzed MastersPortal.eu, a website where 960 EU universities post over 18,000 of their own master’s degree programs.
As of March 2012, a total of 5,444 master’s programs are being offered in English, a 38% increase from 2010. Of these programs, 79% are taught entirely in English and 21% in at least one language in addition to English.
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American universities continue to recruit students from established and emerging markets.
The continued influx of international students from China and Saudi Arabia is allowing higher education institutions in the US to maintain their dominance of the market. Renewed interest from Indian students, and emerging new markets such as Brazil, are boosting the attraction of the US for international students.
According to a new report out this month, “Trends in International Student Mobility” published by World Education Services (WES), the US is just becoming aware of the financial benefits of attracting international students. During the global economic crisis of the last few years public universities have struggled financially. The potential revenue generated by foreign students is something America should concentrate on capturing.
More students are choosing to study an international degree
The number of students choosing to study an international degree has dramatically increased. Industry experts expect this trend to continue.
Academic heads at some of the world’s leading universities see a growing demand for internationally accredited degrees. Due to ongoing financial hardship in many countries and the greater need for global communication skills, they expect more students to be looking abroad for their education.
There are currently 5 Chinese students in Europe for every European studying in China.
Usually we think about the rise of the developing world in terms of economics, but it’s equally true for education.
According to an article by Ian Mundell on EuropeanVoice.com, the EU is working hard to encourage European students to study in China. The goal is partly to address a lopsided exchange ratio that sees 1 European student studying in China for every 5 Chinese studying in Europe.
The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School tied London Business School for #1 in the 2011 FT rankings.
Three of the top five business schools in the Financial Times’ 2011 rankings were from the United States: University of Pennsylvania Wharton (#1) Harvard Business School (#3) and Stanford University GSB (#4).
That’s not to say European schools didn’t feature prominently. London Business School tied Penn’s Wharton in the top spot, and Insead tied with Stanford for 4th.
Stuart Dixon is Program Director at Euro*MBA., ranked the #3 online business program in the world in 2010.
Many business programs suffer from a lack of international recognition, says Dr. Stuart Dixon, Program Director at Euro*MBA (which The Economist ranked as the world’s #3 online business school in 2010). Top national programs therefore fail to appear on expats’ radars.
Dixon talks to Expat Marketing about how business schools can use online learning to target up-and-coming expat professionals.
What makes online learning a better option for expats?
Most expats are on assignments for limited periods of time, so it’s impossible for them to both have a career and complete a degree at a university.
One of our students, who works with LaFarge, told me, “if I don’t move that says something about my career.” This means these people might only have a year or two in a given country.
Source: Dr.Education via HESA, IIE, AEI; click to enlarge
Demand for international education in the last decade has been driven by strong growth in the numbers of Indian and Chinese students seeking to study abroad, with most being absorbed by schools in the UK and Australia. According to Dr. Rahul Choudaha of DrEducation.com, this is partly the result of tightening US immigration restrictions post 9/11.
The UK’s international student population increased 67% from 2001-2009, Australia’s 131% but the US’ only 19%. Choudaha argues this kind of growth is unsustainable:
Another major characteristic of the growth has been over-dependence on top two source countries–China and India. For example, proportion of Chinese and Indian students has doubled in Australia and the UK from 22% in 2002 to 44%. Likewise, every fourth international student in the UK and every third international student in the US is from China or India. This over-reliance on two markets highlights that countries and institutions have to make sure that they do not lose these markets at the same time develop other markets as a de-risking strategy [sic].
Women value their college degrees more than men, according to a recent Pew study.
A Pew survey found women see more value in their college educations than men. 50% of women rated their college educations as either “Good” or “Excellent” in terms of value for money, compared to only 37% of men.
Interestingly, however, women were more likely than men to question the cost of a college education. Only 14% of women surveyed felt most people could afford to pay for a university education, as opposed to 28% of men.
4 of The Economist's 5 top-ranked MBA programs are located in the US
Most of the top MBA programs are in the United States, according to The Economist’s most recent MBA rankings. 4 of the top 5 schools are stateside (the IESE Business School at Spain’s University of Navarra was the only European school to crack the top five). The best of the bunch were:
- Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, USA
- Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, USA
- Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley, USA
- Harvard Business School, Harvard University, USA
- IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Spain
International students need money just like anyone else, but there is surprisingly little advice out there geared toward their unique financial circumstances. Big banks and investment firms, for example, don’t look at students with dollar signs in their eyes (they don’t have juicy relocation bonuses to invest). Since most students don’t have much of an income–if any at all–it’s access to funds that should be their main concern.
Student Banking 101
1. If you can afford it, open two bank accounts. There are two reasons for this: foreign exchange risks and transaction fees. Depending on your home country and where you are studying, the former may not be much of an issue. Fees, however, are a problem for everyone: fees to withdraw cash from foreign ATMs, fees to convert currency, fees to use debit cards at foreign points of sale… the list goes on and on.