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Universities forced to face addiction to foreign students’ money

bloomberg.com

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Re: Universities forced to face addiction to foreign students’ money

#51

Post by HPsquared »

nvarsj wrote: post #47

This is a problem in the UK too. The independent school (aka private school) sector has seen fees double or triple over the last 10-20 years. This is largely driven by rich foreign students, primarily Chinese, sending their kids to these schools. I don't particularly regret these bastions of class division destroying their reputation for money, but there are a lot of knock on effects. Independent schools used to be o…

Given enough time it could go the other way - the schools' increased income from foreign students would subsidise more scholarships for local students. I'm under the impression they are nonprofit, so the money has to go somewhere?

Re: Universities forced to face addiction to foreign students’ money

#52

Post by HPsquared »

nraynaud wrote: post #25
pjc50 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this the reverse? China has outsourced higher education to the West. What follow on effects are you referring to? Besides, students are typically non-local in any university town.

they are a 1B people country, from their point of view, foreign education is a fringe anecdote, no country in the world would even be able to house a significant share of their students.

The elites are a far smaller cohort.

Re: Universities forced to face addiction to foreign students’ money

#53

Post by martyvis »

michaelt wrote: post #39
lbeltrame wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can't see international travel restrictions to Australia being relaxed until a vaccine is developed Honest question: Australia wants to seriously lock its borders for 18-24 months? And what if a vaccine is not successful (despite tens in development, just two are being currently tested on humans)?

Nobody wants to shut down their country, they just want thousands of deaths even less. And there ain't no way for people travelling by plane to follow social distancing.

I heard the mayor of Byron Bay literally say on this evening's news to potential holiday makers this Easter "We don't want you here". Clearly things are serious when a region that thrives on tourism income pretty much forgoes it for the foreseeable future.

Re: Universities forced to face addiction to foreign students’ money

#54

Post by HPsquared »

Chris2048 wrote: post #42
8f2ab37a-ed6c wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has this been documented anywhere, by the way? You'd think that there would be more reporting around this topic.

reported by who?

Disgruntled parents/children, perhaps?

Re: Universities forced to face addiction to foreign students’ money

#57

Post by jbarham »

cyphar wrote: post #38
neumann wrote: post #13

I work at a University in Australia and have been on both sides of academic and professional. This unravelling was on the horizon for everybody, maybe not so soon, but definitely in the viewport. In an effort to drive up income streams there has been a slow erosion of Australian education (more at some universities than others) to cater for the international (Chinese and Indian predominantly) market. There are all so…

Australian here too, just graduated along with my partner (who was an international student). You're right about the long-term consequences for the university, but I would also add that universities actively undermine their international students at every turn (perhaps because there's little profit motive to help them succeed in their ludicrously expensive education). The thing that pisses me off the most is that the…

A couple of years ago I was working out of a local co-working space where one of the other tenants was an agency running a racket where they got international students to pay $1000 for the privilege of doing an unpaid internship [1]. It was a huge scandal and the agency was kicked out of the co-working space. On top of that it turned out that the interns weren't actually expected to do any work, they were effectively just buying a certificate saying that they had completed the internship which they could then use as documentation to prove that they had met the course requirements. For most international students in Australia the end goal is actually to get permanent residency. The degree/diploma is just a means to that end.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/melbourne/comments/82sxp9/pay_1000_...

Re: Universities forced to face addiction to foreign students’ money

#58

Post by jbarham »

lbeltrame wrote: post #35
jbarham wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a flood of student & ex-Airbnb apartments for rent in central Melbourne, currently ~6300: https://www.realestate.com.au/rent/in-melbourne,+vic+3000/li... I can't see international travel restrictions to Australia being relaxed until a vaccine is developed, so universities and landlords are going to be in a world of hurt.

> I can't see international travel restrictions to Australia being relaxed until a vaccine is developed Honest question: Australia wants to seriously lock its borders for 18-24 months? And what if a vaccine is not successful (despite tens in development, just two are being currently tested on humans)?

Right now only Australian citizens and permanent residents are allowed to enter Australia. As soon as they land they are driven to a local hotel where they are forced into quarantine for two weeks.

The government is not messing around because many previous arrivals who were told to self isolate at home turned out not be self isolating, and most of the infections to date have been traced to overseas arrivals vs local "community transmissions".

Most states have also shut their borders, the only exceptions being NSW and Victoria. E.g., anyone entering South Australia or Tasmania from interstate has to spend the first two weeks in self isolation.

I can see the domestic travel restrictions being eased in a few months, but think the Australian government will be very reluctant to relax international travel restrictions until there is a vaccine.

Re: Universities forced to face addiction to foreign students’ money

#59

Post by a_bonobo »

martyvis wrote: post #53
michaelt wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody wants to shut down their country, they just want thousands of deaths even less. And there ain't no way for people travelling by plane to follow social distancing.

I heard the mayor of Byron Bay literally say on this evening's news to potential holiday makers this Easter "We don't want you here". Clearly things are serious when a region that thrives on tourism income pretty much forgoes it for the foreseeable future.

The big fear with these smaller remote-ish places is that their tiny hospitals will be swamped - Byron Bay hospital is pretty small, the next large hospital would be an hour's drive to Gold Coast. Other local holiday destinations in Australia have larger distances (Perth - Busselton 2 1/2 hours).

Holidaying sick people will quickly swamp the local small infrastructure as they can't easily be moved away!

Re: Universities forced to face addiction to foreign students’ money

#60

Post by ThomPete »

8f2ab37a-ed6c wrote: post #21

At least in the US, rich foreign students shelling out big sums for US universities is one of the few legitimate paths towards immigration. You're paying 150-250k worth of access to an F1, CPT, OPT, a more streamlined path into the H-1B world, followed by permanent residency. You get to work for a US employer for a few years without having to bother with the lottery, while also applying to an H-1B at the same time. I…

Its actually part of the problem. They make it harder for US students to get a proper education. Universities are acting like the housing market in big cities. Only the elite from the test world can afford going there and then they often go back contributing trump the US. I hope this will stop that practice. We should want foreign students but not based on the current criteria and structure.
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