Record Numbers of International Students in U.S.

A very good year

The US has a had a good year in terms of international student recruitment:

The number of foreign students attending American colleges hit an all-time high in 2008, capping three consecutive years of vigorous growth, according to new data from the Institute of International Education. Some 671,616 international students attended U.S. institutions in 2008-9, an increase of almost 8 percent from a year earlier. First-time-student enrollments grew even more robustly, by nearly 16 percent.

via The Chronicle of Higher Education.

UK remains second to the US in international student recruitment but the competition is clearly getting more and more fierce.

User-friendly admissions @ MIT

Writing about the MIT Admissions home page

This all just seems a cut above anything offered by any UK university. Lots of others have some of these components but nothing as comprehensive as this.

5% “cheat on UCAS forms”

Large number of UCAS cheats

But to what end?! Anyway, UCAS is going to scan all personal statements this time around according to the BBC. We’ll see how many use the burnt pyjamas story next time (284 in the trial last year I think). So, we’ll find out when a personal statement is not actually a personal statement and then universities will have to decide what action to take. Will we really turn away 1 in 20 applicants?

Admissions issues

From the Chronicle:

Investigation Uncovers Admissions Scandal at Prestigious University in Uganda, by WACHIRA KIGOTHO

Makerere University, in Uganda, one of the most prestigious universities in Africa, may revoke more than 200 degrees awarded in the past four years after an internal investigation discovered that the students had been enrolled without any evidence that they had met admissions criteria. The scandal, which was described in a report presented last month by an internal committee charged with investigating academic fraud, involved what the university calls “mature” students — those over 25 who do not have high school diplomas. Such applicants are required to pass a proficiency test to enter the university, and the committee found evidence that the results of those tests had been altered to allow test takers with failing scores to be admitted.

So, not great news for the Harvard of Africa. But it seems the blame lies with the administration:

The report blames the registrar’s department, which is responsible for admissions, for lack of internal-control mechanisms to curb serious academic fraud.

It just seems astounding that such a state of affairs could go on for over four years.