Why Colleges Shouldn't Fear Global Competition
By Ben Wildavsky
It is easy to become inured to the rhetoric of globalization, which seems to be on the lips of every ambitious college president. But the trend is real and important. National borders are simply less relevant than they once were. Student and faculty mobility has exploded. Cross-national research collaboration is more common than ever. International college rankings proliferate.
Perhaps the most fundamental shift for higher education is that the merit principle is becoming increasingly dominant, within and across nations. The best students are shopping for the best universities like consumers in a worldwide marketplace—and universities seeking world-class status are similarly eager to recruit top students and faculty members.
Many questions about the future of globalized higher education remain unanswered. The rising mobility of recent decades seems likely to continue—but at what rate and in which directions? Will the cross-border movement of students begin to change from a mostly elite to a mass phenomenon? Will the explosive growth of for-profit institutions continue? Those are just a few of the uncertainties.
Whatever direction global higher education takes, one thing is clear: The growing number of internationally mobile students, intent on finding
…show more content…
If knowledge is not seen as a finite resource but as a public good open to all, educational institutions that generate knowledge should be welcomed everywhere. So should the talented students who roam the globe seeking the best opportunities they can find. The challenge will be to fend off periodic bouts of academic protectionism, whether directed at branch campuses, at foreign students, at the export of scholarship or human talent, or at ascendant institutions in distant lands that are wrongly perceived as a threat to domestic
In the article, “Colleges Adapt to New Kinds of Students from Abroad,” Karin Fischer (2011) explains the increase of foreign students in U.S. universities leads to make more problems in campus and how universities are trying to overcome those problems and help foreign students to adapt to campus. Fischer explains the increase of the foreign undergraduate students due to the support from foreign governments. Fischer quotes Wesley Young, the director of services for international students and scholars at the University of California at Davis, to discuss that the increase of foreign undergraduate students especially requires more care and help than graduate students. While older students know what they need to do and what to do in U.S. university,
Higher education has become a staple of American society. With over 20 million students attending over 4,500 degree granting institutions, the role that higher education has played on larger society is paramount (Thelin, 2017). However, despite the popularity of higher education institutions, the exact purpose of higher education has changed from century to century and may serve different purposes depending on who is asked. Higher education today is arguably both a public and private good. While state and federal governments have invested in a variety of higher education initiatives, as well as assisted thousands of students with attending college through loans and scholarships in hopes that students use their acquired skills and
College, a universal, fundamental concept that the globe utilizes. Through a wide array of variations, countries across the world have developed their own meaning of what higher education is. However, the underlying tone of it all is the same, furthering one’s knowledge. With a vast number of schools from a broad range of locations trying to pull the population in, colleges compete with different tactics ranging from education relevance to evaluation. Consequently, problems have arisen from these approaches, addressed along the lines in an article called “A New Course” by Magdalena Kay, an associate professor of English at the University of Victoria and an educational film, “Ivory Tower” by Andrew Rossi, a graduate of Harvard and Yale University and a filmmaker. Furthermore, these problems change the meaning of college itself, no longer seen as an education, but as a commodity.
Nevertheless, the global economy is constantly changing therefore making liberal arts students more prepared for the changing global job market than others. Ungar even says that,” …the future demands of citizenship will require not narrow technical or job-focused training, but rather a subtle understanding of the complex influences that shape the world we live in.”
Ever since before the inception of a stricter limitation on granting of U.S. educational visas in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks, the US immigration policy for foreign graduate students has become the focus of a powerful debate in congress. Those who are worried about the policy change argue that it will damage the nation’s transformational capability. For example, most of the U.S. University representatives are becoming more and more alarmed that these boundaries might cause a
Between the 1900s and 1975 the United States experiences growth in many areas of higher education (HE). Various publications, people, acts and legislation influenced change in thought, access, policy, practice, and assessment of HE. From the Civil War Era to the Mass Education Era we witnessed the struggle of African Americans that influenced important legislation, the Progressive Movement and the birth of the Wisconsin Idea, the publication and revision of the Student Personnel Point of View, the President’s Commission on Higher Education, and the passing of the Higher Education Act. All of which contributed to the growth of HE during this time period.
Authors: Matos, Frederico, Source: Journal of Higher Education Policy & Management. Dec2013, Vol. 35 Issue 6, p626-638. 13p.
The article on ‘An overview of higher education in America’ reviews the financing, students and institutions of higher education. They provide a general picture that reflects the changes that have taken place in higher education and America and the public policies that predict its future. The
Now all types of institutions - public and private, two year and four year, non-profit and for-profit-are vying for the same pool of students, public funding, research grants, and prestige. In the process they are creating a fierce competition that is slowly chipping away at higher education’s commitment to servicing public needs. (Couturier, 2005, p. 87)
This report examines if the internationalization of Canadian Post-Secondary campuses is ethical. Internationalization in higher education refers to a number of activities including the mobility of students, institutional partnerships and programs, and the transnational marketing and delivery of programs (Garson, 2012). According to the research in the Garson’s journal, four different possible rationales for internationalization in higher education include: the political, the academic, the culture and social, and the economic factors . When looking at the Canadian International Student Strategy, two provinces host the majority (68%) of international students or (180,000) with Ontario hosting 42% and British Columbia (BC) 26% respectively (CBIE, 2014). Although, internationalization is multi-faceted, this report will focus on the economic impact for post-secondary campuses and the larger contribution that international students make to the Canadian economy and whether there are ethical implications with the comparison of the ethical theories. Additionally, both domestic and international students’ perspectives are discussed to determine the ethical impact on their experiences.
The article " America's Most Overrated Product: Higher Education" exposes the reality behind universities and the attending students. Colleges and universities are a business and, as a business, their main concern is revenue. The teachers in a university are commended on their ability to obtain research funds, instead of being praised on their ability to teach alumni. Statistics show that the most prominent incoming alumni are not prepared for college, much less those that did not even attempt to prosper scholarly wise in high school. The high drop out rate for universities show that the instructors and the students
Every year, millions of students across America attend a college or university hoping to further their education and prepare for the futures. The purpose of higher education is to create prepared minds and to help the students reach their full potential. However, the documentary Declining by Degrees, produced by the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) in 2005, questions and challenges the post-secondary education system. The documentary exposes the problems of modern day post-secondary institutes that are hindering the process of education for students. Despite the secrecy of it all, higher education is jeopardizing student’s learning because of issues within the education system surrounding research driven professors and grade inflation.
The United States has always been a main attraction for international students to gain intellectual knowledge, technical skills, cross-cultural experience, and better opportunities for professional development (Han, Han, Luo, Jacobs, & Jean-Baptiste, 2013; Zhang & Goodson, 2010). According to the Institute of International Education (2017), in the academic year of 2015/2016, there was an increase of 7% in the number of international student pursuing higher education in the United States over the previous year with total international students of 1,043,839 and 5.2% representing the total of U.S College enrollment. International students make higher education one of the largest service sector exports in the United States (Rice, Choi, Zhang, Morero, & Anderson, 2012; Zhang & Goodson, 2010). They are regarded as a vital financial commodity for countries
“In 2006 to 2007, according to the data compiled by the Institute of International Education, 582,984 students from all over the world were enrolled in American colleges and universities in a wide range of fields” (Carter, Paragraph 2, 2008). The United States has the highest number of students who are coming to study abroad than any other countries. Each year, the number of international students coming to the United States to obtain degrees is increasing by thousands, and home countries of these students are primarily India, China and Korea, all located in the whole different continent. But what are the motives of students who are crossing the sea to study? Their goal of studying abroad is to experience diversity and to adapt attitudes
Not only does this diversity benefit social purposes but it also has certain national purposes. National reforms in higher education were a result of Europe's ability to collect information from these diverse Universities, and adapt to beneficial procedures. (Robbins report: 41) Consequently this encouraged efficiency throughout the education system, due to high levels of mobility between different European countries, and high standards were therefore demanded. These mutual exchanges of solutions to higher education problems benefit Europe as a community and benefit our Universities both