Not-So-Foreign^©
A Bulletin for International Education Professionals
Volume 7, Issue 33; October 8, 2008

The PDF version of this week's issue can be found here.

1)  THE PLAYING FIELD – Foreign students on par with locals in Australia
2)  ABROAD PERSPECTIVE - Turkey tries to attract foreign students
3)  OVER THE COUNTER - India fails to attract foreign students due to rigid visa process
4)  GLOBE TIPPING – Dengue Alert

1) THE PLAYING FIELD – Foreign students on par with locals in Australia

A new study by Hong Kong-based education consultant Alan Olsen indicates that foreign students in Australia do just as well academically as domestic students. Olsen’s research counters claims that fee-paying international students are “soft-marked” because they are a lucrative source of income for the industry.

Olsen examined students at Australia’s leading eight research universities, known as the Go8. The Go8 universities are the Australian National University, Monash University, Adelaide University, Melbourne University, the University of NSW, Queensland University, Sydney University and the University of Western Australia.

The study, which was commissioned by IDP Education, found overall that 140,903 Australian students at the Go8 universities in 2007 passed 92% of what they attempted, 46,812 international students on campus passed 91.6% and 7939 international students overseas passed 89.2%.

2) ABROAD PERSPECTIVE - Turkey tries to attract foreign students

Turkey's Higher Education Board (YÖK) is drawing up a strategy to market its higher education to foreign students. The Board is encouraging private universities to reduce their tuition fees for foreigners, and also asking state universities to boost admissions of overseas students. The YÖK is also planning to change the Foreign Student Exam (YÖS). Overseas students need to gain a good score in this examination in order to get admitted into a Turkish university. Many students consider this exam to be a difficult one.

Source: "YÖK seeks to attract foreign students to Turkish universities,"
Today's Zaman, October 8, 2008 

3) OVER THE COUNTER - India fails to attract foreign students due to rigid visa process

An Ernst & Young report has revealed that India has not been able to cash in on its promising higher education market due to a rigid immigration process and poor marketing. In comparison to numbers of Indian students studying abroad, the number of inbound students to pursue higher studies in the country is quite low. The current laws for student visas can be made easier to enable smoother inflow of foreign students into the country, the report said.

Source: "Rigid visa system, poor marketing affect students' flow: Report,"
Hindu, October 5, 2008

4) GLOBE TIPPING – Dengue Alert

Those travelling to the Indian subcontinent in the coming months, should be advised that Delhi and West Bengal have reported a high number of dengue infections. Dengue fever is a common disease caused by a virus that humans get by being bitten by infected mosquitoes (usually Aedes aegypti). Travellers can reduce their risk of getting dengue fever by protecting themselves from mosquito bites. Aedes mosquitoes, the main type of mosquito that spreads dengue, usually are active at dusk and dawn, but may feed at any time during the day, especially indoors, in shady areas, or when the weather is cloudy. Unlike malaria, dengue is often transmitted in urban as well as in rural areas. For more information on dengue, go to:

 http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/contentDengueTropicalSubTropical.aspx

Not-So-Foreign^© is a publication of Higher-Edge
Please direct questions and comments to editor@higher-edge.com