Globalization in Higher Education

The University of Notre Dame crest. 

On Monday, January 10, we went to the University of Notre Dame for a lecture on globalization in Australian higher education.  Education is the third largest export in Australia, behind coal and iron ore.  Gerry Turcotte, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at University of Notre Dame spoke about university education in Australia and the difficulties in study-abroad students experience.  Sean Lennon from the Education Abroad Network discussed trends in international education and the ways in which Australia generates export earnings by recruiting foreign students to study here.  

Australia uses university education as an export because students come to this country to receive a higher education.  Study-abroad students must convert their own currency into Australian dollars in order to utilize the service of an Australian education.  Even though students are coming IN to Australia (which makes it seem like an import), education is an export because Australia is executing the service of educating others. 

A recent event that has challenged the sector of higher education is the rising value of the Australian dollar.  This makes it more expensive for international students to study and live here.  In addition, visa policies are making it more difficult for students to gain entry into the country.  In Sean Lennon’s presentation, we learned that China had an increase of 18.9% from 2008 of study-abroad students in Australia, but this number may plummet in the very near future.  In the course packet article “Call to Tackle Foreign Student Drop,” we read that Chinese students are discouraged by the large sum of money needed to get a temporary visa, which is required for a semester or longer in another country.  Both of these challenges create a disincentive to study in Australia. 

Inside the campus.

Private universities are a relatively new phenomenon in Australia.  Such universities include University of Notre Dame (Sydney, Perth, and Broome) and Bond University (Sydney).  UND was founded in 1989 and Bond was founded in 1987.  On the other hand, there are many more private universities with a much longer history in America.  Perhaps America has larger and older private universities because colonists established private colleges affiliated with their religion when they came to this country.

In Australia, the federal and state governments are not constrained by the same separation of church and state that is present in America.  In fact, the government supports and funds private universities associated with Catholic and Anglican religions.  The government gave the University of Notre Dame land, money and research grants in order to support the school.  The Broome campus in the Kimberley district is fully funded by the government. 

Liz and I are ready for some yummy steak!

We ended the evening with a group dinner at Phillips Foote, a restaurant near the Harbor Bridge.  We got to pick out our cut of meat and grilled it on our own.  I realized I’ve never grilled my own steak before, but it was a successful first effort!  It’s a good thing I’m learning more than Australian economics during this course! 

Even girls can grill!