USA

Just two months after its initial launch, the Institute of International Education's Generation Study Abroad campaign has doubled the number of commitment partners dedicated to increasing the number of US students studying abroad to 600,000 by the end of the decade.

Last week Minerva Schools at KGI based in the USA announced that it will welcome two sections of its founding classes in September. The institution claims to have "reinvented the university experience" with online delivery and will be granting the first cohort of students four years' of free tuition.

The FBI has issued a warning to US students studying abroad of the dangers of being targeted by foreign intelligence recruiters. On the agency's website it has posted a 30-minute video featuring a real-life story as well as tips on what students can do to protect themselves abroad.

The University of Birmingham and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a strategic partnership that will provide a framework for collaborative research, teaching and boost study abroad exchange.

Numbers of applications to US graduate schools have increased by 7% despite a 1% drop from the US's largest international graduate student source country, China. The gain has instead been lead by double digit growth from Indian students for the second year in a row according to data from the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS).

US Citizenship and Immigration Services have received sufficient petitions for the 'highly-skilled' H-1B visa to fulfil its statutory cap within five days of starting to accept applications for the second year running. The visa is a key route to post-work study for international students and is used by businesses to employ STEM graduates.

Speaking at the Stanford Center at Peking University (SCPKU) in Beijing on her visit to China last week, the US First Lady, Michelle Obama, joined by Washington's ambassador to Beijing, said that study abroad is a "vital part of our foreign policy."

A video interview company supplying recorded interviews to support international student's university applications around the USA has reported quadruple growth in its second admission cycle, with demand high for its offer of helping authenticate Chinese applications in particular.

International educators urged representatives on Capitol Hill last week to push for immigration reform as part of NAFSA's annual Advocacy Day. Meanwhile, House Democrats are launching a petition to force the hand of House Republicans who have put off mooting immigration bill HR 15.

The latest on-campus partnership for INTO has been announced, with INTO New York soon to be rolled out at small, liberal-arts university Drew University in Madison, NJ less than an hour from central New York. INTO's first intake will be welcomed for 2014/15.

Mexico is embarking on an ambitious strategy to boost the number of students it sends to the USA each year to 100,000 by 2018, and its aims received the endorsement of the USA in recent three-way trade talks with Canada. Proyecta 100,000 also aims to increase the number of US students in Mexico to 50,000.

SEVP has not adequately monitored the 100,000 students working temporarily during or after their studies in the OPT programme, says the USA's Government Accountability Office. It calls for a complete overhaul of regulation with schools providing more information on students' employment.

The Institute of International Education has launched a US$2 million five-year initiative to double the number of US college students studying abroad, emphasising that an international experience is a "career-enhancing necessity of a college degree".

Seven US universities and colleges have been recognised for excellence in international education by NAFSA in this year's Senator Paul Simon Awards for Campus Internationalisation, named after the late Senator Paul Simon of Illinois.

US-based education company Bridge has announced it will expand into pathway programmes by opening four centres on university campuses in the US and Brazil, preparing international students for study at American universities.