During a crisis, potential students begin to approach the choice of country more selectively
Since there is a certain deficit of finances during a crisis, potential students begin to approach the choice of country, educational institution, and program more selectively. The selection of a university is based on a number of indicators.
First of all, these are the cost of tuition and living, the rating of the educational institution, the curriculum that matches the idea of knowledge required for future work, the possibility of part-time work during studies, availability of scholarships, prospects for further work in the country of study, and for master's and doctoral students, the presence of a scientific advisor and a base for conducting research is also important. When choosing a country of study, the possibility of obtaining a visa plays a significant role for our students.
Many potential students, when choosing a foreign university, mainly focus on its name and position in the ranking. However, top universities have very high admission requirements, and even under financial crisis, prestigious universities do not lower the bar for selecting future students.
Over the past ten years, the number of students receiving higher education outside their country of residence (mobile students) has increased by almost 70%. According to a report by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, there were 1.68 million such students in 1999. Last year's data gives a figure of 2.9 million students. According to forecasts by IDP, an organization promoting Australian education, by 2025 the number of mobile students will increase to 7.2 million people.
Given that even today's students bring significant profits to the national economies of countries actively developing the education industry (for example, in 2007 Australia received income of AUD 4.2 billion from higher education exports), the competition among them is higher than ever. With the right approach, one can always take a slice of the $1.5 trillion international education pie.
Besides pure financial gain, education-exporting countries gain a number of other advantages. First, to ensure continuity of education for international students, universities in these countries bring their curricula and programs into necessary alignment. They also transfer the educational process to distance learning forms or open campuses in other countries. Modern technologies allow one to be a student of a foreign university without leaving one's country of residence. Second, the social and living infrastructure of student campuses and accommodation is constantly being improved (sometimes this may involve entire small towns that work solely to support the university's activities). A whole segment of student services emerges, including counseling on study, living, leisure, part-time work during studies, and future employment opportunities.
Third, this is the constant improvement of the research base – otherwise it is impossible to attract young promising scientists, and it is precisely by the quality indicators of research work that the activities of universities are measured in most countries. World university rankings are also based on this data. Fourth, the population of developed countries is aging rapidly, and retiring personnel are being replenished by international graduates of national universities.
Which country to prefer for one's education is an individual matter. Crisis is transient, knowledge is eternal. At the same time, we can assume with a great deal of certainty that potential students from the East Siberian and Far Eastern parts of Russia will increasingly choose Asian countries for their studies in the near future. It is closer and cheaper.
Also read related article: LEADERS OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
Based on materials from TSMK «Parta».