Colleges in the UK may ban foreign students

Hello to everyone,

Just received this news alert, since it affects the university where I work. I am wondering if this practice may spread to the US:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article6943566.ece

 

As an international student here in the USA (legally, I may add) I think this kind of news is very depressing.

It's pretty clear that there's a trend of xenophobic hysteria in the first world countries against immigrants from developing countries. We are the escape goats of all the problems it seems.

I think that's pretty stupid in this age of globalization and free flow of information and capital.

Every time I hear an american, english (add your first worlds citizen here), etc.. complaining about losing jobs for immigrants I want to scream that that's the same silly argument that people in the developing world use against american and european companies (they are stealing our jobs and destroying our industry!).

Capitalism can't be a one way street - if the only thing a developing country is able to sell is the labor of its citizen it should be allowed to do that.

Free-market without free flow of labor is not a free market - it's just a silly hypocrisy.

 

I think this paragraph from the article sums up the root cause of this proposed change.

"It comes after an inquiry by The Times found that tens of thousands of foreign nationals with no right to work in Britain had been living here for years under the false cover given by hundreds of bogus colleges in London, Bradford and Manchester."

 

Keep in mind, though, that this is referring to "colleges" in the UK, not universities. It is more like the equivalent of disallowing international students in the US to get a student visa for attending a community/junior college or technical school.

 

colleges in the UK are equivalent to lower level undergrad in the US.
this is sad news. I studied in Manchester for 2 years, and enjoyed their style of research and perfection. It would be a real pity if this goes through. They should do tougher screening or something.

 

Well, I feel sorry for those affected by the new regulations; however, I believe the new regulation should be implemented. In the United States, my sister owns the Nails Salon and Barber Shop; and some of the workers are International Students. I don't know how they are allowed to work, but I see most of them abuse the student visa systems. I know several of them have been here at least 5 years and have never graduated from the school that they applied.

I don't know why these students abuse the system, when the United States are in debt.

Well, don't be mad at me...these are my opinion and thoughts.

 

I won't be mad at you but I think you're not really looking at the whole picture.

Most of those international students (me included) come from countries where the globalization had good and bad effects. And one of the bad ones is the fact that around the world a lot of local companies were closed because they couldn't compete with american companies.

That was good for consumer (better products, cheaper prices) but it was definitely bad for the owners and the employees of such companies.

But that's the capitalist game. The USA is such a rich country because its companies are everywhere, offering good products and good services, better than the local ones. Nothing wrong with that.

But IT IS wrong to not let people work in your the USA just because they are foreigners while you enjoy such a high quality of life in part because american companies dominate the market in foreign countries.

Let me put in simple terms: Capitalism and Free-Market should be for everyone, companies AND individuals.

If it's just for companies or rich and educated people that's not a fair and free market.

It's just hypocrisy.

I'm aware that the USA is not the only country that restricts the work of foreigners, most of them do. But they are wrong too.

But in the case of the old Uncle Sam the hypocrisy is bigger than any other country. Because the USA have been pushing for liberalization and free-market around the world for centuries (the Japanese Market was opened by force, with cannon fire in the 19th century for example).

 

This thread concerns British colleges, not universities. I don't think that it really impacts foreign students at conventional British universities that award domestic UK degrees.

While the words 'university' and 'college' are kind of synonymous and overlap a great deal here in the United States, in Great Britain the word 'university' typically refers to degree-granting higher education institutions, while 'college' refers to a whole variety of things in the postsecondary context (some British secondary schools also use the 'college' name), ranging from subunits within universities (as in Oxford colleges) through publicly-run community-college-like 'further education colleges' and public and private schools that have been 'validated' by a university to teach one of more of its degree programs, to private postsecondary vocational schools and ESL schools, and ultimately to things that at least purport to be UK extensions of foreign non-UK universities. (Here on Degreeinfo we have already observed that many/most of these last are degree-mills.)

It's the private vocational schools and the nominally foreign universities located inside Britain that are causing problems in that country. They appear to be essentially unregulated and many of them have turned out to be immigration scams, enrolling hordes of foreign students who in some cases don't take any classes at all but use their ostensible "student" status and/or "educational qualifications" to try to qualify for visas, residency papers and immigration points. Many/most of these schools aren't even owned or run by Britons.

There have been a number of high-profile British media reports detailing abuses, some of them involving undercover reporters and hidden cameras. In one very high-profile case, a college run by Pakistanis enabled several 'students' with suspected Islamic terrorist ties to enter Britain. They were subsequently arrested by the 'MI-5' Security Service and Special Branch for allegedly plotting bombings.

Recent British legislation has mandated new and rather-minimal accreditation for any colleges who want to qualify their students for student visas (Warnborough College UK loudly boasts of having this accreditation) but there have already been newspaper stories about abuses and about problems putting the system into effect. For example, newspapers have reported that one college had suitable facilities for its approximately 100 students and the new accreditor duely approved it. But once it was approved for visa purposes, it turned right around and facilitated visas for more than a thousand more shadow 'students' who apparently never received any instruction at all.

See:

Some recent Parliamentary discussion of the issue.

Including this one that summarizes a lot of it...

http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmhaff/595/59504.htm

The House of Commons committee report estimates that there may be as many as 2,000 bogus colleges in the UK.

Some recent BBC stories on the subject.

Times of London story about the 'accredited' college that was selling phony enrollments.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6338235.ece

 

I believe that this article refers to "A" Levels and IB (International Baccalaureate). This is the level of studies required to access the University in UK for a BSc/BA programme.

I think that the A Levels and the IB is more than an American High School and obviously less than a Bachelor degree.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IB_Diploma_Programme

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-level

 

The article did say that any college that offers A levels, so I am assuming this means colleges that offers A levels as well as degrees. I am not sure how the university system is set up in the UK exactly, perhaps you could shed some light on the subject.

Further down the article also states:
"Foreign teenagers wanting to take A levels, International Baccalaureate or equivalent courses could be the Government’s next target. "

Of course it is a news article and they could of reported it entirely wrong, it would not be the first time!