North America

Visa processing delays are hampering international recruitment efforts across the tertiary, language and schools sectors in Canada, with one institution even claiming that visa barriers forced her to close her business temporarily. Immigration and Citizenship Canada blames a surge in demand for Canadian education, but others say spending cuts are at fault.

Ending months of speculation, education partnering organisation INTO University Partnerships has sold a 25% stake to the US private equity firm Leeds Equity Partners for £66 million. INTO will use the investment to provide university partners with capital to fund “innovation and capacity building” projects.

Sweden-based Educatius International has bought the for-profit arm of the education travel provider Council for Education Travel (CET) Group, moving into English language provision. The deal means Educatius, best known for placement in the US, can now offer English language training in Vancouver and London.

In a bid to protect the growing number of international students coming to Canada, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has unveiled proposals to limit student visas to those attending institutions designated by provinces and territories from 2014. The HE, language and college sectors have welcomed the move, but career colleges warn the policies could be damaging.

A raft of far-reaching proposals to overhaul K-12 level international education programmes in British Columbia, Canada – including a levy on foreign students – is being mooted by the provincial government. It says the reforms will protect the reputation of BC education abroad, but many in the sector complain they have not been consulted.

The Canadian government says it will make a record 10,000 skilled foreign graduates and workers permanent residents next year by reforming the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) visa programme – an increase from 7,000 last year and 2,545 in 2009. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney confirmed that plans to expedite permanent residency applications through CEC would come into effect from January.

The British Council has signed two new agreements with Microsoft to improve digital education in developing nations via a top-down professional development programme for educators...

Canada could soon pave the way for easy access for Mexican students after Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, affirmed recently that his government would "ultimately like to see visa-free travel with Mexico". There are clear signs that a relaxing of visa rules that were imposed suddenly in 2009 because of a hike in refugees is likely.

International House World, the global language school brand, has launched its first language learning app for mobile phones and tablets. My Words stores and translates vocab in 15 languages.

The US House of Representatives last week voted to make 55,000 more green cards available to foreign students graduating in the USA with advanced science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees. But opponents, including NAFSA, believe it will not pass the Senate.

In a sign that demand for US education will remain strong this year in China, the number of Chinese taking the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) is expected to exceed 40,000 this year – up from 20,000 in 2010 and just 200 in 2003. Most of the top US universities require a candidate to have an SAT score. The number of Chinese students at US universities climbed 23% this year.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has launched a major new project combining the research efforts of US and foreign universities to provide solutions for the developing world. US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton Clinton hailed the project as a new approach to development which could lead to "positive outcomes for millions".

UK-based INTO University Partnerships has announced its latest partnership with a US university - this time, Marshall University in Huntington, West Virgina. This is the fourth university in the US to sign up with INTO, which also announced this week that it is bringing one of the largest delegations of education agencies to the UK for a fam tour of partner institutions.

The top five most attractive study destinations according to education agents have not changed since last year, according to the i-graduate ICEF Agent Barometer 2012, however Canada has significantly gained ground on its competitors. 64% rated it "very attractive" – up 5% on 2011 and 15% on 2008.

Foreign enrolments at US universities grew 6% to 764,495 this year, according to the latest Open Doors report, bringing an estimated $21.81 billion to the economy. It was driven by a big rise in interest from China and Saudi Arabia, as well as in English programmes as a route to university. The number of Americans studying abroad was also up.