‘Don’t fear’ waking giant of international education

The sleeping giant of international education is “waking up” as a “shift” in American political mindset boosts the country’s allure to overseas students – but instead of dreading the competitive threat, international education operators everywhere should accept US developments as an imperative to band together, according to a sector leader.

“There’s room for all of us,” said Fanta Aw, chief executive of the Washington-based Association of International Educators, or Nafsa. “With the rise of the middle class and…globalisation, many more students will seek an education abroad.”

Speaking from Wellington, where she addressed this month’s New Zealand International Education Conference, Dr Aw said institutions in places such as Oceania, Japan and Vietnam should not “fear” the competitive landscape. “We’re going to do better if we work together collectively…in terms of what we know works and what doesn’t work.”

The US Congress is considering two bills to make it easier for international science, technology, engineering and mathematics professionals to stay in the country. Last year’s Keep STEM Talent Act, which has bipartisan support, would exempt some foreigners with US postgraduate qualifications from quotas on immigrant visas.

Last month’s Keep STEM Graduates in America Act, introduced by an Indian émigré and Democratic Party representative, would improve access to temporary work, or H1-B, visas. Meanwhile, Republican presidential aspirant Donald Trump has proposed the automatic granting of permanent residency permits, or green cards, to all foreign graduates of US colleges.

Education lobbyists elsewhere worry about the potential impacts of such developments, particularly as governments in competitor countries such as Australia enact policies to limit foreign enrolments.

“While the Australian government is effectively building a wall to lock out international students, the US presidential nominee…is demolishing one by promising green cards to anyone who wants to study in the US,” Vicki Thomson, the chief executive of the Group of Eight, told a Senate committee examining legislation to cap foreign enrolments.

Dr Aw said US policymakers had grasped a need for more international students as the country approached a “demographic cliff”, with the number of domestic university entrants expected to plunge steeply after 2025.

She said the Democrats appreciated international education as a tool for strengthening foreign relations, while the Republicans recognised its value to business and the economy. “Both sides can see…the benefit, even though they may come at it from a different orientation.”

With 4,000 higher education institutions, and international students comprising about 5 per cent of enrolments, she said the US had “tremendous capacity” to take more. Nevertheless, it was in US educators’ interests to cooperate with their overseas counterparts amid the ever-present “danger of contagion”.

“We [must] understand that something that happens in one part of the world has a ripple effect in other parts of the world,” she said.

Dr Aw said the global sector needed a “safe space” for “candid” conversations about “shared solutions”, such as tips about the data needed “to make a compelling case” to governments, or ways of preventing the growth of international enrolments from outstripping the capacity of infrastructure.

National representative bodies discussed such matters in May on the sidelines of Nafsa’s New Orleans expo, with more meetings planned.

Dr Aw attributed the rebound in New Zealand’s overseas student numbers to the country’s “long-term” view. “There’s a holistic approach to international enrolment management [and] the student experience,” she said, adding that Kiwi universities appeared more collaborative than their overseas counterparts.

While the country’s slow reversal of Covid border closures had helped it avoid the sort of government backlash seen in Australia, the UK and Canada, she said the sector’s “health” owed more to the “intentionality in the approach”.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com