A Global Comparison: New Zealand and the United States

As referenced in the previous post, New Zealand is trying to attract international students to study in their country. Interestingly, the United States has witnessed this same policy push not only at four-year colleges, but at community colleges as well. Many U.S. community colleges are now targeting international students specifically for the higher tuition revenue that can be collected in the face of a bleak economic climate. On a broader scale, there is also a growing cognizance that the once "local" community has become global in nature. 

Like global policy itself, the recruitment of international students is greatly influenced by the current political climate. In the United States, the majority of international students hail from Asian countries where demand for education is outpacing supply. Interestingly, the U.S. community college can serve as a "pressure valve providing an alternate or auxiliary path to satisfy demand while also being used as a means to improve the relationship between the U.S. and Asia" (Hagedorn & Zhang, 2013). This is just another example of how education is often used as a way to satisfy a political or economic agenda.

Hagedorn, L., & Zhang, Y. (2013). International students in U.S. community colleges: Status, opportunities, and future. In J. Levin & S. Kater (Eds.), Understanding Community Colleges (pp. 53-63). New York: Routledge.

New Zealand hopes to cash in on higher ed.

We have read a lot about education being a catalyst that will bring countries out of poverty by properly educating its people, but in some areas of the world, it is education, specifically higher education,  that is creating a source of revenue in itself. In New Zealand international education has become the countries 5th largest export at about $2 billion. New Zealand universities charge much higher tuition prices to international students and it is something that they would like to grow in the coming years. Not only would a move like this provide revenue for the universities, but it will also bolster the ranks of the countries work force and internationalize the institutions and thus improving the country economically. And it all comes full circle...
See article here