Search Results

The Commission on International Student Destinations was established in 2013, following the Office for National Statistics' earlier announcement that migration figures were to be disaggregated with student inflow and outflow reported separately. The aim of the commission is to enhance understanding of the journeys that international (non-EEA) students at UK higher education institutions (HEIs) take. This includes consideration of their activities pre-enrolment and post-graduation. Advice to the commission was provided by representatives from Universities UK (UUK), the Home Office, the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS), vice-chancellors and HEI representatives with a responsibility for international students within their own institution. The commission's remit originally focused on the evidence base surrounding numbers of international higher education students departing from the UK within a given year, including the International Passenger Survey (IPS). In doing so, this could enhance the cross-checking of student inflows and outflows. However, its remit was widened to examine and evaluate the available evidence on international students' wider migration patterns; their 'journey through the UK education system'. The commission has not considered in detail statistics relating to students other than those in higher education.

Evidence and data relating to migration into and out of the UK are collated by several bodies, including government departments. Despite the emergence of new data sources and welcome improvements to existing ones, it is nonetheless clear that some key gaps remain in the evidence base around student migration. If addressed, these could greatly inform the broader debate around immigration. The limitations of immigration statistics have been well articulated in recent years, and by various groups, including parliamentary select committees, the Migration Advisory Committee and the UK Statistics Authority which, in 2013, suggested that, at that time, the official 'estimation of emigration (including overseas students returning home...) is particularly problematic and contributes to substantial uncertainty in the net migration estimates for the UK and locally'. The commission met three times in total, with research taking place between meetings. As well as analysing official data releases from HESA, the Home Office and the ONS, the commission investigated what alternative sources of information might already be kept by HEIs themselves (as well as other education providers) that could assist in filling some of these gaps.

The commission noted the following: International students follow a range of different pathways through the UK education system, which affects the duration of their stay; Various agencies collate data on international students, but are often not referring to the same cohorts of migrants, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions about their numbers; There is a wider range of data available on students entering the country compared to numbers leaving, which has implications for the measurement of net migration; There is little uniformity in the way higher education institutions collate information on their international entrants or alumni, although such data could enhance our understanding of student destinations after graduation.

Excerpt from publication. Show less

College students across the country are highly mobile. More than 37 per cent of students at U.S. colleges and universities transfer at least once during their postsecondary career. Almost half who transfer do so two or more times. The vast majority of transfers stay in the same state. Washington's students follow nationwide trends in transfer and mobility. Thirty-four per cent of Washington students transfer at least once, and 39 per cent of those who transfer do so more than once. Seventy-three per cent of transfer students stay in the state. Washington designed its first transfer degree, the Direct Transfer Agreement (DTA) associate degree, 45 years ago. Since then, Washington's transfer policy partners have continued to develop transfer degrees and policies that support the state's attainment goals.

This report highlights the following: Students who transfer from a Washington public community or technical college (CTC) are more likely to finish a bachelor's degree than students from other states; Approximately one-third of undergraduate students enrolled at Washington baccalaureate institutions are transfer students; The percentage of Washington CTC students who intend to transfer to a baccalaureate institution remains steady at 35 per cent; The number of total transfer degrees awarded in Washington increased by 11 per cent since the 2013-14 academic year; the degree with the largest per cent increase was the Associate of Science - Transfer (AS-T) degree; The state developed three new transfer pathways for students majoring in nursing, computer science, and music.

Excerpts from publication. Show less

The focus of this report is on a group of young people living in non-metropolitan areas in their final years of secondary school and their pathways following secondary school, including their geographic mobility and participation in education, training and employment. It is based on data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) which studies the progress of cohorts of young Australians as they make the transitions from secondary school to work and further education and training, beginning in year nine. The study investigates: the post-school pathways of non-metropolitan youth, i.e. it looks at their levels of participation in education and training activities in the years after secondary school and in employment activities, and where they are located during these years; the characteristics of young people that are associated with remaining in their non-metropolitan community or, conversely, leaving the area and moving to the city, i.e. who leaves, who stays, and why, whether some young people eventually return, and whether certain characteristics increase the likelihood of leaving a non-metropolitan area, and for those who do leave, whether there are characteristics associated with them eventually returning; and various economic and other outcomes associated with decisions to move, remain or return, i.e. whether those who leave are more likely to gain employment in their desired occupation, whether there are differences in the income levels of those who leave, those who remain and those who return, and whether there are differences in their self-reported life satisfaction, or social outcomes, such as partnership formation and home ownership. Key findings include: for many of the young people, the move from non-metropolitan areas was associated with participation in post-compulsory education, and more frequently university study; young people in the non-metropolitan sample moved to the major cities to study at university more frequently than to take up an apprenticeship or traineeship, or to undertake other study; for young men, current activity had the strongest effect on the likelihood of leaving a non-metropolitan area - full-time study at university and TAFE increased the likelihood of leaving while full-time employment decreased the likelihood of leaving; and young women who held tertiary qualifications were less likely to return to non-metropolitan areas than were young women who did not hold such qualifications. The study concludes that the results indicate that the decision to leave non-metropolitan areas, especially in pursuit of further education is developed over a period of time and within the context of other decisions about one’s future, including educational and occupational aspirations and expectations. Show less

This causal-comparative study researched the effects of dual enrollment and Huskins Bill course experience on traditional-age North Carolina community college students. The study examined course effects on academic success and graduation rate using quantitative statistical measures including parametric and nonparametric means comparisons. The study found that dual enrollment and Huskins Bill courses showed a positive effect on grade point average (GPA) and graduation rate, and this effect is evident in technical, medical, and college transfer programs. The study also showed a positive correlation between number of courses and student GPA and graduation rate. Findings in this study support continuing and expanding dual enrollment offerings as one aid for college readiness.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

Education and training play a key role for Europe's strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, 'Europe 2020'. To unlock the full potential of education as a driver for growth and jobs, Member States must pursue reforms to boost both the performance and efficiency of their education systems. This report is a new analytical tool that provides the empirical evidence to underpin this reform agenda. It supports the Commission Communication 'Rethinking education', and is part of a package of staff working documents that elaborate on the education dimension of 'Europe 2020'. It is also integral to a larger initiative bringing existing [European Union] EU-level cooperation in education and training ('ET 2020') in line with Europe 2020 objectives. Key findings of the 'Education and training monitor 2012' are: (1) education is part of the solution to tackle the impact of the crisis, but only if investment is efficient; (2) efforts to combat early school leaving must be increased as a matter of urgency; (3) action to widen participation in tertiary education now needs to be more targeted; (4) improving early childhood education and care must continue to be a priority; (5) inequalities in achievement of basic skills must be tackled; (6) providing relevant skills: a new EU benchmark for language competences; (7) embedding ICT and open educational resources (OER) in teaching and learning can combat the digital divide; (8) entrepreneurship education should be prioritised; (9) a recent trend is that the learning mobility of young people is increasing across Europe; (10) participation in adult learning is stagnating and must be urgently addressed; and (11) significant effort is required to reach the employability benchmark by 2020.

Excerpts from publication. Show less

The presence of international students in Australia's vocational education and training (VET) sector enriches the cultural diversity of the student population and creates opportunities for enhancing the global awareness and intercultural competence of all students. International student numbers in the VET sector have fluctuated in recent years, but are currently growing and are expected to continue doing so over 2015, with many of these students keen to pursue opportunities available in Australia for work-integrated learning. Australia's VET providers are also pursuing opportunities for offshore delivery of VET to international students, who may never study in Australia but see an Australian VET qualification as a valuable asset, which may enable them to pursue a career either in their home country or elsewhere in the world. There is much scope in this area for innovation in pedagogy and curriculum, with a growing demand for an education that is relevant to local conditions, rather than a duplication of course material designed for students in Australia. There is also much potential for expanding the use of online course delivery in this area. This presentation will also consider Australian VET students who become international students through studying abroad in other countries. This growing area is supported by government funding with the intention of giving students new skills and perspectives, so that they can work effectively within the increasingly-globalised workplaces of the 21st century.

Published abstract. Show less

This publication examines and expands the statistical data compiled by [Centre for International Mobility] CIMO on the international mobility of students, teachers and other staff in vocational education and training (VET) and in higher education in Finland in 2010. The opening chapter surveys the overall trends in recent years of international VET and higher education mobility in Finland, paying attention to the gender distribution and geographical spread. The second chapter focuses on VET mobility and the third chapter focuses on mobility in higher education. The statistics in this publication indicate that overall, VET mobility and long-term student mobility have progressed well. Higher education mobility has also progressed well.

Published summary from CIMO website. Show less

The annual articulation and transfer report fulfills the statutory requirement of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) to report to the chairs of the Senate and House education and finance, ways and means committees of the General Assembly each year on the progress made toward full articulation between all public institutions. The report examines student transfer activity in the academic year, as well as characteristics and mobility patterns of former students of the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology.

Edited excerpt from publication. Show less

In this article [the authors] wish to clarify not only if, but also how - through which institutional settings - higher education (HE) is accessed by students from vulnerable immigrant groups in France, Switzerland and Canada. [The authors] are interested in the possible educational mobility that immigrant youths can experience arising from country-specific educational policies designed to increase the enrolment in HE, particularly the flow from upper-secondary vocational educational tracks to HE ones. [The authors] analyse using panel data in each country the accessibility of different pathways to HE while taking into account the characteristics of the students. In terms of educational mobility, in France the democratization of the educational system, including the development of the vocational baccalaureat, has enabled more youths of immigrant background to access HE. In Switzerland and Canada there is more 'cooling down' and down-streaming of their educational aspirations towards non HE and more labour market-oriented pathways.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

It is widely acknowledged that many postsecondary students no longer follow a traditional path from college entry to degree at a single institution. Increasingly more students attend multiple institutions, transferring once, twice, or even three times before earning a degree. Standard institution-based reporting tends to ignore these students, however, focusing only on those who enter as first-time freshmen and treating students who do not receive a degree from their first institution as dropouts. This approach is no longer adequate for informing students about their full range of educational options and policymakers about the real prospects for expanding postsecondary attainment, regardless of the institutional pathways students choose. It is also insufficient for institutional practitioners who are concerned with better understanding the origins and destinations of the students who pass through their doors. In a step towards improving this situation, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, in partnership with the Indiana University Project on Academic Success, has analyzed student-level enrollment data to report on the transfer behaviors, over five years, of virtually all students who began postsecondary education in the US in fall 2006. This analysis is unique in that it includes both full- and part-time students of all ages, in all institution types, i.e. nearly 2.8 million students. It covers changes in each student's institution of enrollment occurring at any time of year, even across sector and state lines, for up to five years. The report describes the number of students who transferred, the institutional destinations of their transfers, and the timing of the movement. And it counts students uniquely, without duplication even when the same student was enrolled in more than one institution at the same time. What emerges is a complex picture in which one-third of all students change institutions at some time before earning a degree, a rate that is consistent across all types of institutions outside of the for-profit sector (where the rate is lower). Slightly more part-time students transferred than full-time students.

Excerpt from publication. Show less