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 "The major problem of the international education industry is that has relied on full-fee paying international students to get their 'cash' and fund their own business ventures, not all of them very successful." Marcelo for hire Would your institution like a consultation with leading international xidp commentator and analyst, Marcelo Follari? Either way find out what your competition now has access to.
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Crunching Times AheadThere is turbulence in the Australian education sector: Funding issues, teaching-only universities, unionism, rising fees, foreign universities, accountability of private ventures and so on. The current environment is not really helping to develop a healthy university and vocational education sectors. It is not helping either the continuation of a solid international education industry. The supposed lack of transparency in the 'investment ventures' of Australian universities in international education and the problems related to English-language skills, exposed by the media, suggest that something is going in the wrong direction and more turbulence is expected. The Australian international education industry has been growing very rapidly in the past years. Nowadays there is a completely different picture: the recent AEI figures confirm that the growth slowed (although it can be considered high compared to other industries). Just two source countries currently underpin that growth, India and China. To increase their student numbers, the industry will need to invest more heavily in very competitive markets such as Europe, the Americas and Middle East. Inevitably, the cost per student recruited in these regions will increase. But institutions seem to be running short of cash… The government funding levels haven't changed that much. The number of domestic students also declined. Domestic students are facing more difficult conditions to repay their fees. Consequently, the combination of declining domestic and international student numbers, and the continuation of the current levels of funding are creating an explosive cocktail to shake the whole higher education system. Universities' historical dependency on foreign student fees put in risk their whole sustainability.The major problem of the international education industry is that has relied on full-fee paying international students to get their 'cash' and fund their own business ventures, not all of them very successful. There was no plan B. The government's mistake was also that. Why increase the funding if they can fund themselves with increasing international student numbers? In the end, it is a systemic wrongful approach. What is desperately needed is a new business model, or a new vision for the international education industry. We need to move away from the 'bums on seats' approach to a more visionary (and less commercial) one. Maybe that vision will need to focus on diplomacy, international reputation and trade engagement with other corners of the world. It cannot be just an institutional approach. It has to be a vision discussed by all players: institutions, related services, government and, why not, the teachers and the students themselves. I foresee that role as a more visionary one, in where the development of an international student population in Australian campuses is related to the development of the whole Australian society. Some ideas can include the development of new institutional international research collaborations, new government-to-government collaborations, new diplomatic relations between countries, governments and institutions, the possibility of domestic students to go, live and work overseas, to increase the flows of ideas and cultural exchange. If nothing changes, the current bureaucracies in the universities will continue to feel that there is going to be more shake-ups sooner rather than later. There are crunching times lying ahead. 16 May 2005 Marcelo Follari |
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Marcelo's ArchivesLosers and Winners Nowadays, the industry is evaluating the possibilities for expansion into the same emerging markets that IDP left behind (Europe, the Americas and Africa), in the face of increased competition in the Asian region. Postcards from South
America From Australia and the rest of the Asia Pacific region,
there will be an increasing need to understand how to do business in
South America, and to analyse different market segments.
Market research and international
education 2005: The Challenges Ahead
The 'happy years' of growth are over and they will seriously impact
on the university business. What now? Blame it on the dollar? "...If you want to stay in the international education field,
this website is becoming a mandatory reference for the industry."
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