The latest WYSTC news (Jan 14, 2022) reports that the US government intends to impose more costs (i.e. higher fees) on the ability of international students to access the US post-secondary market. EBI has been engaged in the global student market since its founding more than 25 years ago. We have always viewed the international student market at both the business and the philosophical levels as extremely attractive.
Forty years ago in Canada, international students were seen by most post-secondary institutions as a nice-to-have option that somehow made the student body more exciting and sophisticated because of its internationalization.
Today, many Canadian post-secondary institutions are dependent upon the international students to cover the shortfalls in their budgets that governments are no longer willing or able to cover. The international student market is a multibillion-dollar business. However, while the business side of the global student market is significant, the philosophical side has greater importance. Since the days of the Academy of ancient Athens, ideas developed in educational institutions have crossed borders, inspired creativity and transformed the world we live in. Whether it is Adam Smith or Karl Marx, the attempts to block intellectual thought by closing borders and rejecting the outsider have consistently failed. When the Chinese emperor banned Zheng He from travelling the world, China’s slow decline commenced.
Throughout history, the need to engage and embrace the thinking from around the globe has been central to humankind’s advancement. That need has never been greater in today’s world of climate change and national belligerence.
So EBI is firmly against unreasonable or excessive impediments to the free flow of students to study and work in other countries. The US, over the years, has been the largest recipient of international students on the planet. Silicon Valley, in many respects, would not be where it is today without the infusion of former international students. So even an increase in visa fees for admission to the USA seems to us a step that will ultimately hurt the country it is supposing to help. Canada has been a general beneficiary of these actions. Sill, it is in no one’s interest who believes in the fundamentals espoused 2000 years in the Academy to have the USA continue to build barriers to access their post-secondary institutions.
In the meantime, EBI Group will continue to assist international students in accessing post-secondary institutions in Canada.
