international education
campusreview.com.au
next steps, and that he wanted to secure
meaningful work experience.
Time and again, our research has shown
that one of the biggest incentives for
international students is the opportunity
to gain meaningful work experience in
Australia. By paying attention to these
needs, we’ve been able to cater to them by
setting up an Australian internship program
that sees approximately 1000 international
students gain work every year.
For Anshul, this experience came in
the form of an internship with Optus.
Reflecting on that time, Anshul said, “As
an international student, I saw this as a
really big opportunity, because it can
be hard to get something like this on
your own. ECA helped me prepare for
the interview, and after a few months
of working as an intern at Optus, I was
offered a job there.”
Over the past decade we have
also discovered that for many international
students, the size and location of
a university campus can make a
big difference. While some international
students are attracted to the diverse
opportunities that large university
campuses offer, many benefit from
studying on a smaller campus first. This is
where the use of integrated campuses is
especially important.
INTEGRATED CAMPUSES
These are smaller, standalone campuses
located in or near a central business district.
They run courses that are identical to
those offered on larger university grounds,
but do so in a smaller, easier to navigate
environment.
We have found that having access
to an integrated campus facility is a
significant help for many international
students. Such campuses can provide
unique learning and support networks for
students that are difficult to emulate on
larger campuses. Specifically, they offer
more intimate learning environments,
lower staff-student ratios, and a better
understanding of the social and cultural
challenges that many international
students experience.
As Anshul recently said: “Studying on
an integrated campus was a good option
for me. I felt supported and understood.
I was so interested to learn about Australian
NYU medical degree now $0
University wants to remove burden of debt and
encourage students into less popular specialties.
N
ew York University medical students – current and future
– will now obtain their degrees for free. The university
says the measure is designed to relieve students of “rising”,
burdensome study debt, and thereby “attract the best and brightest
students to careers in medicine”.
The university cited another cost of large medical student
debts: an imbalanced medical field.
“Many medical school graduates choose higher-paying
specialties, drawing talent away from less lucrative fields like
culture and how things are done here, but
I also knew that I needed help. I especially
liked the professional development
opportunities and workplace ready courses
that I had access to.”
GOOD SUPPORT PAYS OFF WELL
INTO THE FUTURE
One of the most important things we know
about supporting international students is
that our hard work pays off. Time and again,
we see international students returning to
Australia to update or diversify their skill
set, and each time they return, they bring
with them their own business knowledge
and networks.
When we think about the half a million
international students who are currently
studying in Australia, we need to keep in mind
that these people will become the global
leaders of tomorrow. After their studies, they
will return home as informal ambassadors for
Australia and continue to extend our national
networks across business, politics and
diplomacy well into the future. ■
Gavin Dowling is the chief operating
officer of Education Centre Australia.
primary care, paediatrics, and obstetrics and gynaecology,”
the School of Medicine said.
Normally, an NYU medical degree costs about $55,018
annually, and can last between three and four years.
In Australia, a medical degree sets students back between
around $60,000 and $378,154, some of which can be
payable upfront.
Unlike in Australia, however, student debt in America is a
massive issue. The sum of it – around $1.4 trillion – is more than
the nation’s credit card debt. It has roughly quadrupled since
the mid-1990s and, due to unaffordability, a high proportion of
graduates default on their loans.
Also dissimilar to Australia, students in America generally
pay interest on their student loans, which are often repayable
regardless of their salaries.
Currently, NYU only admits an average of 6 per cent of people
who apply to its medical school. With free tuition, the number of
applications is set to surge.
Luckily, there are deep pockets to provide for them: the
initiative will be paid for by a collective of 2500 beneficiaries,
including alumni.
But will the tap run dry? On this point, and the question of
whether international students would be eligible for admission,
NYU management was unavailable for comment.
This isn’t the first socially conscious measure the university has
implemented. Last year, it required business school applicants to
show evidence of their emotional intelligence.
NYU reports that its medical school is ranked as one of the
top 10 in the country. ■
9