Christopher Ziguras Overview Student mobility Inter- and intra- - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Effect of Cross-Border Provision on Higher Education Access, Equity and Capacity in the Asia-Pacific Region

Christopher Ziguras

Presentation to the East-West Center Senior Seminar on Higher Education Access, Equity and Capacity in the Asia-Pacific Region National Chung Cheng University, Chia yi, Taiwan 21-25 July 2008

Overview

• Student mobility

– Inter- and intra- regional mobility – Domestic capacity, income and outward mobility – Access to overseas study - gender, ethnicity, SES – Strategies to broaden access – Student migration – Capacity constraints in receiving countries

• Program and Institutional Mobility

– Foreign providers in domestic markets – Using foreign providers to build domestic capacity – Strategies to broaden access

Inter- and Intra-Regional Mobility

In 2004 there were 701,000 students from EAP studying overseas, of which 59% were studying in North America and Western Europe, 40% in EAP and 1% elsewhere.

Domestic capacity, income and outward mobility

The volume of bubbles represents the number of tertiary students abroad as a percentage of tertiary students studying in the home country, the trend line is indicative rather than mathematical

Note high mobility rates in small/island states

With small/island states taken out

More data points are needed to test this curve

Outward mobility by level of study as Taiwan approaches universal participation

Gender and access to

• verseas study

Patterns of Ethnicity, Wealth and Outward Mobility?

Majority Minority Wealthy Higher

(eg white Americans)

Very high

(eg ethnic Chinese in Malaysia and Indonesia)

Poor Lower

(eg Malay Malaysians)

Very low

(eg indigenous peoples)

Socio-Economic Status and Access to Overseas Study

• Although there is little data on the SES of

international students in their home country, it is clear that considerable funds are required for overseas study

• (Extended) families often make a substantial

investment in sending one student abroad

• Scholarships offer access to those who cannot afford

to fund themselves, but these often reward prior educational privilege from high SES

Addressing Inequality in Access to Self-Funded Overseas Study

Preventing mobility

• Restricting exit permits (eg

most socialist countries until 1989-90s)

• Restricting currency

exchange (eg India until late 1980s?)

• Restricting loans to domestic

degree programs (eg Australia) Facilitating mobility

• Subsidised loans portable

internationally (eg Malaysia), means tested (eg Taiwan)

• Vouchers portable

internationally (eg Norway)

• Advice to outgoing students

(eg China)

• Subsidised loans for

semester abroad (eg Australia)

How Can Host Governments Make Access More Equitable?

• Subsidizing foreign students (eg Japan, France,

Germany)

• Host country loans schemes (eg private loans in USA)
• Scholarship programs
• Facilitating access to lower-cost programs
• Allowing paid work while studying
• Allowing right of stay for a period after graduation (eg

Singapore, Canada for postgraduate students)

• Allowing permanent residence after graduation (eg

Australia, NZ)

Student Migration

• More international students are obtaining permanent residence

in host countries, especially in Australia, New Zealand, Canada

• Policies:

– Ability to apply for permanent residence after studies without leaving country – Preference for former international students in points tests – Focus on quickly responding to labour market demand

• This acts as a key pathway for young people from high-income

families to migrate

• But, migration to Australia is being broadened by inclusion of

vocational qualifications, offered relatively cheaply by private providers…

Capacity Issues in Receiving Countries

• Ageing populations lead to excess capacity (eg. Japan,

Australia)

• Countries that fund incoming foreign students usually impose

caps to prevent displacement of local students and overall cost

• Countries where most students pay full fees do not have caps

but some are facing capacity constraints due to high proportions

• f foreign students (eg Australia and New Zealand)
• International students now account for around 25% of all

students in Australian universities, and around 19% onshore, but are concentrated in undergraduate business programs

Forms of Transnational Education

• International distance education (no local

partner)

• Partner-supported programs / twinning (private

college, professional association or university partner)*

• Branch campuses

– * Most combine centrally-produced ‘packaged’ curriculum materials and locally-employed teaching staff (often part-time), similar to for-profit providers in the USA such as the University of Phoenix

Source: IDP Education Australia (2007) International Students in Australian Universities: National Survey Results Semester Two 2007. IDP, Sydney, p.2

At its height in semester two 2000, 37 per cent of international students in Australian universities were studying offshore. By semester two 2007, the proportion had declined to 27.3 per cent.

Total = 55,800 An additional 10,563 offshore students are enrolled in distance/online programs

Australian Education Services Export Income (2006-07)

Export income (A$ millions) Percentage of total education exports Onshore 11,312 96.8 Lecturers/consultants offshore 118 1.0 Business to business transactions (partner-supported programs and distance/online) 233 2.0 Offshore student fees (offshore campuses) 24 0.2 Total 11,687 100

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2008) ‘Education exports and other national income in 2006-07’, International Trade in Goods and Services Collection (ABS Cat. No. 5368.0)

Why didn’t local institutions expand and develop to respond to growing and changing demand?

In the short term:

• Local public universities were restricted by government

funding whereas foreign universities were able to offer new fee-paying places in degree programs

• Local public universities were limited to teaching in the

national language (both by regulation and capacity of academic staff) while Anglophone universities could teach in English, responding to labour marked demand

• Local private colleges were not accredited to award

degrees, and so were forced into credentialing partnerships with foreign universities

Three host country policy approaches

• Protectionism - prohibiting foreign programs and

campuses, non-recognition

• Capacity building - using foreign programs in short-

term to increase quantity of supply quickly and build up local institutions who can then operate independently

• Enrichment - recruiting prestigious research-

intensive university campuses to grow the quality, prestige and research output of the local system

• Export capacity building - recruiting foreign

campuses to draw international students

In the longer term:

• Local public and private universities are expanding

throughout the region both with increased public funding and student fees

• Local public universities are developing programs in

English, particularly at postgraduate level, often in conjunction with foreign universities

• Local private colleges are becoming accredited to

award degrees as their capacity develops, eliminating the need for credentialing partnerships with foreign universities

How Are Local Institutions Responding?

Higher Education in Enrolments in Singapore, 2004

[Singapore Department of Statistics, Ministry of Education]

Consequences for Transnational HE

• Undergraduate programs in established locations are

being crowded out by local providers as capacity grows

• Postgraduate coursework programs are growing,

serving employed professionals

• Low-risk distance education and partner-supported

programs are contracting, while high-risk branch campuses are proliferating and growing in size, preferred by students and host governments (eg Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, UAE)

Broadening Access to Transnational HE

• Allow students to access financial

support and loans for transnational programs as for equivalent local programs

• Allow whole programs (eg ‘3+0’) as well

as part programs that articulate into

• verseas study (eg 2+2)

Conclusion

• Demographic trends and economic

development will continue to increase the number of students who study in foreign institutions

• There are things governments can do to

make international education more widely accessible, but you have to want to