Weekly News Roundup: October 5, 2023

By Shorelight Team
Published on October 5, 2023

Each week the Shorelight team rounds up trusted headlines on the latest in international education and all things impacting students and universities.

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Foreign Grad Work Program Eyed for Expansion with End to Lawsuit

This week, the US Supreme Court denied a request to take up the Washtech vs. the Department of Homeland Security case. As many of you may remember, this case challenged the authority of DHS to oversee and regulate OPT/CPT programs. This was welcome news for many of us in the higher education sector. There are other legal challenges to policies that could impact these programs but for now, we are celebrating this win and looking to build upon it.

  • “Employers are definitely taking a deep breath this morning knowing that they’re going to be able to maintain not only the employees they have on OPT but also the recruitment that is currently happening,” Kelli Duehning, a partner at Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP, said after the Supreme Court’s decision. “I see us thinking more creatively about how we can expand the OPT program within its legal limits.”

Get the full story over on Bloomberg Law >

New York Times: China Is Suffering a Brain Drain. The US Isn’t Exploiting It.

The latest news is all about US policy (or the lack of policy) and the impact it is having on our future. This week, Li Yuan at the New York Times takes a look at a host of issues that is driving some young Chinese to consider emigrating to other countries, which countries they are considering, and why.

Unfortunately, the US has not done a good job of making ourselves an attractive destination for Chinese and potential professionals. Most of the emigrants expressed concerns about our complicated and unpredictable process for applying for visas and permanent resident status. This is something the US must address soon in order to remain competitive around the globe.

  • The number of student visas granted by the United States to Chinese nationals, long a starting point for promising future emigrants, began to fall in 2016, as relations between the countries deteriorated. In the first six months of 2023, Britain granted more than 100,000 study visas to Chinese nationals, while the United States granted roughly 65,000 F-1 student visas.

Read the story on the New York Times >

Canada’s International Student Population Continues to Soar

We’ve reported previously that Canada was predicting 900k international students in 2023; new reporting shows that number may be higher. Canada has rapidly become a destination choice for international students. The strategy has included easy visa processing and post-graduation work opportunities. Many in our sector are urging the administration and policymakers to make changes; without change we risk losing our #1 spot!

  • An article by ApplyBoard has summarized recent data from IRCC. The data shows that from January to June 2023, the Canadian government issued more than 280,000 new study permits, a 77% increase compared to the same period in 2022.

Check out the story from CIC News >