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Interesting Reads This Week
Everybody’s talking at me, but I don’t listen to a word they’re saying
Glenda Morgan
December 16, 2023
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This has been a rough week for anyone who cares about higher education in the US. Lots of premature jumping to solutions and not a lot of reading the room or listening to anyone else. But what did I read about in EdTech?
Send me your well, educated, your smart, your well-financed
The government of Canada announced that they are doubling the funds incoming international students will be required to have in order to obtain a study visa. Currently applicants must show they have at least C$10,000 to cover expected expenses. In January to that will go up to C$20,635. These are funds they require in addition to showing they can cover the cost of travel and first-year tuition fees.
This follows on an announcement by the Australian government that it was raising the amount of funding required to study there by 17%, to AUD$24,505. The UK government meanwhile has announced that international students in non-research degree programs (i.e. all programs apart from the PhD) will be prevented from bringing immediate family members with them as dependents.
This will put some considerable pressure on international student flows (and consequently university revenue) which was just beginning to rebound post pandemic. In the long term this is also likely to have a positive impact on online learning and its attractiveness for international students.
Administrators behaving badly (ABB)
In Inside Higher Ed this week there was a rather sad and sordid story about leaders at Spartanburg Community College replacing the faculty Senate with a new body, along with accusations that the Provost sought to surveil faculty leaders via email and campus video. As I said it’s a bit grim. But there was an EdTech angle that caught my eye.