Germany Attracts Foreign Students
At hearings held on March 28 in the federal government of Germany, the Minister for Science stated the need to attract more scientists and students from non-EU countries to the country.
To this end, a package of innovations was prepared to facilitate obtaining visas and residence permits for foreign specialists. According to the newly adopted documents, to obtain a residence permit, a scientist will only need to have a contract with a research institution recognized by the German government for planned scientific work. Such a residence permit also grants the right to work and teach in Germany.
Now, foreign students, upon graduation, can search for work in their field for two years. While searching, they can work part-time on the same basis as students who have not yet completed their studies. Also, when obtaining a permanent residence permit, specialists who studied in Germany on a student visa have half of their study time counted. Previously, this time was not counted at all.
British Universities Count Foreign Students
The British Higher Education Statistics Agency released results for the 2005/06 academic year. The number of foreign students studying at UK universities increased by 3.7% compared to the previous year, from 318,400 to 330,080. Thus, one in seven of the 2.3 million students came to the UK from abroad.
The main sources of students are China (50,755 people) and India (19,205). The top ten nationalities also include Greece (17,675), Ireland (16,790), the USA (14,755), Germany (13,265), France (12,455), Malaysia (11,450), Nigeria (9,605), and Hong Kong (9,445).
In the 2005/06 academic year, the number of foreign first-year students at British universities increased by 3.3%. The most popular fields included archaeology and criminology (32.4%), materials science (24.4%), and architecture, construction, and urban planning (13.8%).
Even More Foreigners Arrive in Australia
The number of foreign students in Australia increased by 10.9%. These figures for 2006 were provided by the Australian Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
Of the 383,818 foreign students who chose Australia for study, 75% are from Asian countries. Among them, the leaders are China (90,287 students), India (39,166), Korea (31,257), Hong Kong (20,523), and Malaysia (19,166). The most popular disciplines among foreign students are business (43%) and information technology (12%).
Oxford Plans to Introduce Additional Exams
The admissions committee of Oxford University plans to introduce additional exams in core subjects. This measure is driven by the fact that the number of applicants with excellent grades from secondary school is constantly growing.
To single out the best of the best, the university has decided to introduce additional exams, reports The Times. It is envisaged that in addition to existing tests in history, law, and medicine, exams will be introduced in subjects such as mathematics, computer science, and English. The list may be expanded to include philosophy, politics, and economics.
Scholarships for Medics
The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Glasgow is awarding more than 20 scholarships that partially cover tuition and research costs.
Scholarships will be provided for study in the following specialties: MSc Applied Neuropsychology, MSc Human Nutrition, MSc Medical Genetics, MSc Clinical Pharmacology, Master of Public Health, MSc Sport and Exercise Medicine, MSc Health Care. In addition, the Faculty of Medicine is introducing new specialties that also fall under the scholarship program. A number of scholarships are specifically allocated for them: MSc Paediatric Science, MSc Primary Dental Care, MSc Reproductive Science, Master of Research in Molecular Medicine, MSc Surgical Oncology.
Some scholarships will be allocated for research in the faculty's priority scientific areas: the study of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, immunology, infectious diseases, and neurosurgery. According to the British Council, the application deadline is May 31, 2007.
Ranking of US Business Schools
Fortune magazine published a ranking of US business schools whose graduates quickly and successfully find jobs and receive the best starting salaries.
According to Washington Profile, the best in this regard is the Wharton School, affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania. Tuition at this school is $90,000 (including housing, textbooks, etc.), and the average starting salary of a graduate with an MBA degree is estimated at $100,000 per year, plus a social package and other bonuses totaling $37,000.
The top ten also includes Harvard Business School (education costs - $90,000, first salary - $97,000, bonuses - $31,000), Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (tuition - $86,000, salary - $97,500, bonuses - $15,000), Stanford University Graduate School of Business (tuition - $86,000, salary - $104,900, bonuses - over $19,000), Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University (tuition - $86,000, salary - $94,000, bonuses - $22,000), Columbia Business School (tuition - $82,000, salary - almost $96,400, bonuses - almost $61,500), University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (tuition - $84,000, salary - $95,000, bonuses - $20,000), Fuqua School of Business, Duke University (tuition - $78,000, salary - $90,000, bonuses - $15,000), Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth (tuition - $82,000, salary - $100,000, bonuses - $50,000), Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University (tuition - $80,000, salary - $90,700, bonuses - over $25,000).
To enter a business school, one needs to have 4-5 years of business work experience. The learning process usually takes from 20 months to two years.
Average price of language courses by country
Language Travel Magazine published an average estimate of costs for studying a language for a month in different countries.
The most expensive country, according to the publication, is the United Kingdom – $1,503. Next come Ireland – $1,044, France – $1,002. Among English-speaking countries in terms of costs are: Australia – $960, USA – $937, New Zealand – $867, Canada – $802, Malta – $757, South Africa – $693. A month of studying a language in Spain will cost $622, in Italy – $758.
Additional argument in favor of learning languages
According to the report “European economy with insufficient foreign language skills in enterprises,” prepared by the British National Center for Foreign Languages, thousands of European companies suffer losses from their employees’ lack of a second language.
According to the report, 11% of respondent firms noted that due to a lack of staff with foreign language skills, they lost important contracts. Total annual losses amounted to over €325,000 per year. The survey was based on data provided by 2,000 small and medium-sized enterprises, correlated with data from 30 large firms.
Leading American university to offer free lectures
As announced by officials of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, by the end of this year over 1,800 lecture courses will be freely available to Internet users.
This step by the renowned university is a logical continuation of the OpenCourseWare program, giving everyone the opportunity to get acquainted with the rich heritage of the institution. On average, the site is visited by over a million readers per month, most of whom (60%) live outside the USA. Topics related to computer disciplines, physics, and mathematics are the most popular.
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