The Market Monitor Digest (week 06/2025)
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International Education
India & Global: ‘Phenomenal’ visa refusal rate for Indians hoping to study in US
By Times Higher Education, Feb 06, 2025
Visa challenges and changing immigration policies in traditional student destinations are driving Indians to consider emerging locations. The number of Indians granted student visas in 2024 fell in nearly all top Western study destinations compared with the previous year, according to analysis by market research company BONARD.The firm examined visa grant rates in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US in the first three quarters of 2024 and found that fewer study visas had been granted to Indians compared with the same period in previous years.
US: INTO survey reveals visa delays as major challenge for international students
By INTO, Feb 04, 2025
The survey, which collected responses from 2,261 international students from over 100 countries enrolling in universities in the UK and US, highlights the growing challenge of visa processing as a barrier to higher education mobility. Among the key findings, 21% of students reported visa appointment and processing delays as the top reason for postponing their confirmation of university placement. This issue was particularly acute in South Asia, where 28% of students cited visa delays as a primary obstacle.
Australia: Australian universities want fee reductions and better PhD pay
By Research Professional News, Feb 03, 2025
The Innovative Research Universities group has called on Australian treasurer Jim Chalmers to deliver four key reforms in the upcoming budget, saying “there is unfinished business for equity in higher education”.
UAE, Dubai: 16 higher education institutions licensed in Dubai
By Gulf News, Feb 04, 2025
The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, in cooperation with the Knowledge and Human Development Authority in Dubai, has licensed 16 higher education institutions (HEIs) in Dubai, including those in the emirate’s Free Zones that operate as branches of foreign universities. This collaboration aims to build a high-quality educational environment, attract top international institutions and contribute to boosting the UAE’s global competitiveness in the higher education sector.
Global: Appeal of international MBAs on the decline
By The PIE News, Feb 05, 2025
Survey responses from almost 2,000 prospective MBA students from 37 countries saw 19% express a preference for studying overseas, compared to 39% in the previous 2024 survey. The inability to leave existing employment and the high cost of studying internationally were highlighted by students as the foremost barriers to pursuing an MBA overseas.
Africa & Global: Is Africa falling off recruiters’ study destination lists?
By University World News, Feb 06, 2025
Six of the world’s major international study destinations are leaving out Africa as a part of their target markets in their future internationalisation strategies, with only the United Kingdom (UK), Malaysia and Ireland explicitly including the continent in their plans.
China & Thailand: Investors follow as Chinese students flock to Thai universities
By Times Higher Education, Feb 05, 2025
Chinese students are crucial to Thailand’s international education ambitions, but quality concerns pose a risk. Hostile Western immigration policies and low tuition fees are contributing to the growth of Chinese students in Thailand but concerns about “diploma mills” may hamper the destination’s appeal.
Australia & Cambodia: SACE now offered in Cambodia
By The Koala News, Feb 05, 2025
SACE International has announced its latest partnership with the Australia Cambodia Education Academy (AusCam), marking the introduction of South Australian senior secondary education in Cambodia for the first time. The partnership expands SACE International’s global school network, offering Cambodian students the opportunity to experience a world-class education and a pathway to leading universities in Australia and beyond.
UK & Malaysia: BSC Education to open Kuwait school
By Study Travel, Feb 04, 2025
ELT group BSC Education has announced the opening of a centre in Kuwait in partnership with Easy Apply Educational Consultancy. The launch of BSC Kuwait adds to five year-round colleges in the UK for BSC Education, as well as a centre in Malta, which opened last year. .
China: Chinese students grapple with study and language pressures
By The PIE News, Feb 03, 2025
Study pressures and language barriers are the biggest challenges shaping the experience of Chinese international students, according to a recent white paper that examines where they study and the obstacles they encounter.
Hong Kong: Despite deficit, authorities freeze foreign student fees
By University World News, Feb 03, 2025
The Hong Kong administration has stressed there will be no rise in university fees for non-local students as Hong Kong’s publicly funded universities brace themselves for a cut in the city’s education budgets in response to a burgeoning deficit. The expected freeze, even as local student fees are rising, is to ensure Hong Kong’s universities remain attractive to international students who might otherwise go to universities in Singapore, Japan, or elsewhere in Asia.
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