The Effect of Cross-Border Provision on Higher Education Access, Equity and Capacity in the Asia-Pacific Region 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 Christopher Ziguras
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 overseas study
Patterns of Ethnicity, Wealth and Outward Mobility? Majority Minority Wealthy Higher Very high (eg white Americans) (eg ethnic Chinese in Malaysia and Indonesia) Poor Lower Very low (eg Malay Malaysians) (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 Facilitating mobility • Restricting exit permits (eg • Subsidised loans portable most socialist countries until internationally (eg Malaysia), 1989-90s) means tested (eg Taiwan) • Restricting currency • Vouchers portable exchange (eg India until late internationally (eg Norway) 1980s?) • Advice to outgoing students • Restricting loans to domestic (eg China) degree programs (eg • Subsidised loans for Australia) 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 of 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
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. Source: IDP Education Australia (2007) International Students in Australian Universities: National Survey Results Semester Two 2007. IDP, Sydney, p.2
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$ Percentage of total millions) education exports Onshore 11,312 96.8 Lecturers/consultants offshore 118 1.0 Business to business transactions 233 2.0 (partner-supported programs and distance/online) Offshore student fees (offshore 24 0.2 campuses) 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
How Are Local Institutions Responding? 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
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 overseas 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
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