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International Students in Irish Higher Education 2011-2012

Education in Ireland, November 2012

International Students in Ireland 2011/2012 Table of Contents Abbreviations

2

Executive Summary

3

1

Introduction and Survey Methodology

5

2

The Survey Findings

8

2.1 Income Generated by International Students

9

2.2 Location of International Students

12

2.3 Mode of Study and Duration of International Students

13

2.3.1 Intramural (on-shore) Students

13

2.3.2 Offshore Students and Transnational Education

14

2.4 Level of Study for International Students

16

2.5 Subject Choice for International Students

18

2.6 Country of Origin for International Students

21

2.6.1 Priority Countries and Europe

3

Conclusion

23

28

Appendix 1 – List of HEIs surveyed

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Appendix 2 – Country of Origin of all International Students

31

International Students in Higher Education in Ireland 2011/12

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Abbreviations DES – Department of Education and Skills DIT – Dublin Institute of Technology EI – Enterprise Ireland HEA – Higher Education Authority HEI - Higher Education Institution IEBI – International Education Board Ireland IIE – Institute for International Education IoT - Institute of Technology JYA - Junior Year Abroad NFQ – National Qualifications Framework OECD - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development QS - Quacqurelli Symonds (www.qs.com) STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths TNE – Transnational Education UIS – UNESCO Institute for Statistics UNESCO – United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation


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Executive Summary This brief paper is based on Education in Ireland’s 2011-2012 survey of international students in Ireland providing a summary of the data findings under several categories including: income generated; overall numbers; mode and duration of study; level of programme; subject area and country of origin. Further detailed analysis is available upon request. There is no doubt that Ireland is facing strong global competition from countries such as the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand who are all investing significant amounts in promoting their countries to international students. The challenging budgetary context means that there continue to be issues regarding capacity, resource allocation and staffing levels which can restrict institutions in scaling their international effort. Accordingly, the data points to uneven development in international education in Ireland. Notwithstanding the tough reality faced by the sector, there have been a number of positive achievements and strategic developments in the past twelve months which should yield results in future years. While our marketing budgets are small compared to our competitors, this has resulted in more innovative and cost-effective approaches to promoting Ireland including a much greater focus on social media (where interactions have increased from 30,000 in 2011 to 400,000 in 2012) and peer recommendations from international students through the innovative student ambassador blog. The new Education in Ireland portal will further strengthen our online profile. Ireland’s profile received a boost from a variety of external sources: the US Open Doors survey revealed that Ireland remains a top 10 destination for US study abroad students; Dublin was listed by QS as one of the top ten cities in the world to be a student and the International Student Barometer Survey ranks Ireland ahead of all other English-speaking countries, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands for international student satisfaction. Enterprise Ireland is continuing to work closely with the HEIs both strategically and practically in priority countries to support their internationalisation efforts.


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Key findings:



Overall numbers of international students registered in Irish higher education institutions are comparatively stable at around 32,000 - an increase of around 2% over last year’s figures.



These top-level figures mask some important underlying trends. Universities have seen quite strong growth in their student numbers (8% over last year), but there have been declines in the Institutes of Technology (1%) and Private Colleges (22%).



The composition of Ireland’s international student cohort is also changing in important ways. PhD student numbers have increased by 35% and now account for 20% of Ireland's international students – Ireland’s performance in this area is above international norms. There has also been a 6% increase in full-time degree student numbers. International students have increased under all the STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) fields.



Revenue growth has continued to be strong. International education is now estimated to be a €1 billion sector for the Irish economy, with international students in higher education contributing around €700m and English language students around €300m.



The best performing priority market has been Malaysia, which saw 10% growth in student numbers. While growth in other priority markets has been more modest, a renewed focus on India, China, the US and Ireland’s participation in Brazil’s Science without Borders Programme should see stronger growth in these markets in 2013 and beyond.



The crucial importance of transnational education (TNE) to the global expansion in international education - and therefore to the future prospects of Ireland in this sphere - is becoming obvious. The rate at which Irish HEIs are rising to this challenge is mixed, but already this data indicates that 23% of Ireland's international students are offshore and this had led to a shift in the profiles of some countries of origin. For example, 46% of Chinese students are now studying offshore and the numbers based in Ireland have dropped by 10% (300) in one year.


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International Students in Ireland 2011/2012 1

Introduction and Survey Methodology

Education in Ireland had been collecting figures on international students in Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) since 2002 (under the International Education Board Ireland (IEBI) and since 2009 under Enterprise Ireland). The data described here was collected from 45 Department of Education and Skills (DES)recognised HEIs which are involved in international education in Ireland. The HEIs are grouped into four broad sectors as defined by the DES1:

 the University sector (including the seven universities, university recognised colleges (5) and colleges of education (4));

 the 13 Institutes of Technology and Dublin Institute of Technology;  the independent/private colleges (11) and  other state-aided colleges (4).

This report discusses overall trends and where relevant disaggregates data by sector. No information on any individual HEI is provided. In order to have a clear understanding of exchange, study abroad and other short-term student numbers, the Education in Ireland survey attempts to capture the total number of international students studying at an HEI over the entire academic year. This differs to the census approach taken by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) which captures the number of students in an institution on a given day. The HEA publish data on international students in full-time education in public institutions only. In order however to provide national clarity the HEA and EI are working together to agree one system of data collection on international students. ….

1

Please see appendix 1 for a full list of HEIs which took part in this survey.


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The raw data from the 2011/12 survey records 32,132 as registered with the participating HEIs during that academic year. At first sight, these figures indicate a 10% increase over 2010/11, however direct comparison over the two years does not provide an accurate reflection of the current situation. As was the case last year, the 2011/12 figures are skewed by a number of issues including: 1. Inconsistent recording of domicile data within the HEIs In line with international best practice HEIs are requested by both the HEA and EI to provide data by domicile in order to include only students who have crossed a national border to study. However, despite clarification on these definitions on several occasions by both bodies, the issue of domicile versus nationality continues to cause concerns around the reliability of the data. The situation is improving annually but HEIs continue to record student information in a variety of ways, most commonly by nationality, but also by residency, citizenship and sometimes simply by current address. 2. Substantial recorded increase in numbers from two major HEIs Two major HEIs reported substantial increases in their numbers but stated that this change was due only to improved data gathering systems within the institutions rather than an actual rise in international student numbers. 3. The inclusion of students studying at offshore campuses and on distance education programmes For only the second year this survey includes data on offshore students (as required under the government’s Internationalisation Strategy2). The numbers recorded here increased from 4,503 last year to 6,166 this year. While increases are likely here, some of the growth could be attributable to institutions completing this section accurately for the first time. A strong increase was also noted in “distance education” students whose numbers have grown from 489 last year to 1,128 this year. The issue of transnational education is discussed in more detail below and is the subject of a forthcoming Education in Ireland research paper. 2

Investing in Global Relations: Ireland’s International Education Strategy 2010-2015. DES September

2010.


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Chart 1: Offshore & Distance Education Students 2010/11 & 2011/12 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0

Distance Education

Offshore 2010 / 11

2011 / 12

Source: Education in Ireland 2011, 2012

Unless otherwise stated, the figures in this report relate to international students physically based in Ireland.


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2

The Survey Findings

Ireland attracted students from 170 countries or territories during the 2011/12 academic year (up from 163 in 2010/11) and of these students 52% were female and 48% male.

Chart 2: International Students in Ireland 2010/11 & 2011/122 (excludes offshore & distance education students) 26,000 25,500 25,000 24,500 24,000 23,500 23,000 22,500 22,000

2010/11

2011/12

Source: Education in Ireland 2011, 2012


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2.1

Income Generated by international students

International students generate substantial income both for their institutions and for the country they are living in. In the USA for example, which has the highest number of international students (almost 765,000), it is estimated that these students and their dependents generate $22.81 billion for the economy3. In Ireland International students and their visitors generate revenues of approximately €1 billion per year: €700 million comes through spending and tuition relating to students in higher education approximately €300 million from English language students4. Figures from this survey indicate that tuition income has risen by almost 10% to €2305 million this year from €209 million last year and from €189 million in 2009/10.

Chart 3: Income Generated by International Students in Higher Education 2011/12

Tuition income, €240m

Student Spending, €345m

Visitors to Students, €120m

Source: Education in Ireland 2012

In addition to tuition income it is estimated that international students in Ireland during the 2011/12 academic year will have spent approximately €345 million on accommodation and

3

NAFSA 2012: The Economic Benefits of International Students to the US Economy. November 2012.

4

Failte Ireland ELTS Survey 2012.

5

The figures provided here do include distance and offshore students as the tuition figure recorded only the royalty which is repatriated back to Ireland (a total of just under €8 million).


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other living expenses. These figures are extrapolated from DIT research6 on international student expenditure carried out in 2011/12. This detailed survey breaks down expenditure by type of student (e.g. Erasmus, JYA, Level 6 – 10, full-time etc) under a series of headings including rent, utilities, food, transport and communications, books, IT and socialising and has been applied here across all the categories excluding distance and offshore students. The DIT research also found that 86% of international students take several long distance bus/coach journeys (an average of 6.67) during their time in Ireland and that almost all students who responded (97%) took international flights out of Ireland each year. The numbers of flights per student ranged from 1 to 30 with the average number being 3.62. JYA and Erasmus traveled the most taking an average of 4.3 flights during their time in the country. Two thirds of students have family visitors on average 7.6 times during their stay in Ireland (staying for an average of 11 nights if they come as the student settles in year 1, and 8 nights for subsequent visits). If conservatively we assume that 16,600 students are having 2 visitors per year (we do not have information about friends visiting but have anecdotal evidence suggests that this is common) for an average of 9.5 days, this generates a further €120 million into the economy including flights, hotels and general living costs.

Chart 4: Tuition Income Generated by International Students 2011/12 (includes offshore and distance education students )

Uni vers i ty Sector, €194.5, 84%

IoTs, €16m, 7%

Privates, €18m, 8% OSA, €1.5m, 1%

Source: Education in Ireland 2012 6

This web-based research was carried out on behalf of DIT and the Department of Education and Skills by Direction Research in late 2011 and early 2012.


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Looking more closely at tuition income, it is clear that while the university sector accounts for 70% of international students it generates almost 85% of the income (€194.5 million). This trend remains unchanged from previous years and the discrepancy stems from higher fee levels at university level and from tuition income related to medical and veterinary students (n = 3,744, 548 of whom are studying offshore), fees paid by these students total €106 million or 54% of tuition income for universities. In line with the decline in student numbers the income in both the private colleges and the IoTs has decreased by €4 million and €2 million respectively - a negative trend in both sectors which has been noted since 2009/10. As international student numbers rise in the other state aided colleges a corresponding increase in tuition income is evident.


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2.2

Location of International Students

In line with the experience of most destination countries, the data from this survey clearly shows that Ireland's international students are primarily located within the university sector. This sector7 hosts 70% of students (up from 66% over the last few years) and as chart 5 illustrates has been responsible for most of the growth over the last year. The other main providers continue to demonstrate a decline in international numbers which has been evident for the last few years. 

The Institutes of Technology (IoTs, including DIT) host 16% of international students, down from 19.5% from last year. (The IoTs host a total of 4,885 students, down from 4,916 last year).



Thirteen percent of international students are in the private college sector which has 8 witnessed a decrease of 22% in its student numbers over the last year . (The private colleges host a total of 3,207 students, down from 4,144 last year).



Other state aided colleges continue to account for 1% of international students and while the numbers in these colleges are very low they have demonstrated a growth of over 40% in 2011/12.

Chart 5: International Student Location 2010-11 & 2011-12 (excludes offshore & distance education students) 18,000 16,000 14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 0

Universities

Privates

IoTs 2010-11

OSA

2011-12

Source: Education in Ireland 2012 7

The 'university sector' includes university recognised colleges and the colleges of education (see appendix 1 for the full list of HEIs included here). 8

Some of this decline is accounted for by the collapse of H S I College in Limerick which was included in the 2010/11 survey and recorded 301 students at this time. Some of these students were absorbed by other colleges.


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2.3

Mode of Study and Duration

The survey aimed to generate a comprehensive overview of all award and credit seeking international students within the HEIs from full-time students to exchange students (including those on a short courses such as summer programmes). Table 1 provides a breakdown of the findings by the mode of study of the international student over the last three years.

Year 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12

Table 1: International Students by Mode/Duration 2011/12 (All) Full-time Exch/short (%) Distance Offshore Not (%) (%) (%) Specified (%) 16,201 (66%) 8,447 (34%) 109 (