Quality and transparency in the use of agents in student recruitment were key themes in the fifth annual AIRC conference last week: the first held since NACAC reversed its policy against the use of commissioned agents in international recruitment.
As the UK’s HE sector shifts to a more demand-driven system, regulation needs to be greatly improved in order to protect students from failing universities which could threaten the UK’s global reputation, according to the Higher Education Commission. A tuition assurance scheme to protect students is among its central recommendations.
Spanish courses offered by Asociación de Escuelas de Enseñanza de Español de Castilla y León (AEECYL) members are to be accredited by the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca (UPSA), under a deal signed last month to boost internationalisation.
International students interested in studying in the US have a new source of information on immigration rules and visa processes – a video produced by the Student Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVP) and posted on its recently launched Study in the States website. Student to Student: Studying in the States is the first video of its kind from the Department of Homeland Security.
The British Accreditation Council (BAC), one of the UK’s leading quality assurance bodies for private higher and further education, has launched an ambitious scheme to accredit non-British providers based outside the UK. Any provider meeting the eligibility criteria may apply, suggesting huge scope for the scheme to expand.
One of the two new national education regulators in Australia, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), has begun consultation with the Australian National ELT Accreditation Scheme (NEAS) after it was nominated as one of two authorities to oversee ELICOS programmes.
New moves are being made to ensure accreditation of universities and colleges is satisfactory in the USA, following a report highlighting weaknesses in the system. A bill to ensure HE institutions have relevant accreditation made it through the first stage of government process this week…
The Student Exchange and Visitor Programme (SEVP) arm of US government has quelled fears about the accreditation of US “combined IEPs” – intensive English language programmes operating from university campuses – by providing a detailed list of FAQs online.
Leading language schools in California are considering lobbying action over new state licensing regulations which they say are unfair. Recent rules classing them as “vocational education” mean duplicate state-level accreditation is required plus contributions to a tuition recovery fund their clients may not easily be able to access.
The debate within the USA on the use of agencies in international student recruitment has evolved, with the question being ‘how’ rather than ‘if’. At a recent NAFSA session, Director of Public Policy and Research at NACAC said, “Agencies are something that is real and NACAC has no problem with that.”
Still looking? Find by category:
