After School Africa takes a look at student loans and international students.

"Normally, many people do not like the idea of loans, and it is not the first option in the minds of many people," the article notes. "However, student loans can be the only option for some students who want to actualize their goals."

Read about the various types of student loans, and their potential risks, here. (August 2023)

A student from Indonesia writes about his path to studying for an MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Among his suggestions: apply to a range of schools and craft a compelling personal essay. Read more here. (August 2023)

International students have many things to learn about the U.S. when they arrive on American campuses. U.S. News & World Report delves into a less-common topic: academic integrity.

The magazine explores basic expectations at many U.S. schools, including how to use quotes and citations in papers, how to avoid plagiarism and navigating artificial intelligence pitfalls.

Read the full story here. (August 2023)

SAN DIEGO — 

A surge in inquiries from China for overseas study tours to the U.S. suggests that parents of children from primary to high school are willing to pay the big money so their offspring can have an American classroom experience during their summer vacations.

Yvonne Shi, director of Offer Education Consulting in El Monte, California, said study tours offer children authentic American courses, the experience of living with American families or in school dormitories, a variety of extracurricular activities, English classes and visits to schools where they could enroll full time.

Shi told VOA Mandarin that this year, despite the simmering tension between Beijing and Washington, "the number of inquiries we got has increased exponentially compared with that during the pandemic."

She added, "We have also noticed that the age of the children studying abroad is getting younger. In the past, the main market for study tours was in high schools, and in recent years, it has gone into junior high schools and even elementary schools."

Shi and others who help Chinese parents to plan overseas study tours said most of the children are sent to study abroad so that they can experience the education methods and systems in the U.S. to broaden their horizons. Some parents hope the summer experience will serve as the first step to future full-time studies in the U.S.

For other parents, the consultants said, summer tours that focus on athletics are a bigger draw than academics. The athletic programs are designed to expose children to different training techniques than they might have in China and improve their skills.

The tours offer opportunities to play with local sports teams at professional venues. But as is true of the academic tours, the athletic tours usually include visits to a school where the children could enroll full time.

Unless the children enroll in courses for credit, which would require a student visa, the children come to the U.S. on tourist visas, according to the consultants, and return from both types of tours with improved English language skills.

Faith Li is a mother from Hangzhou, in China’s Zhejiang Province. She decided to send her son, Caleb Lu, to an American high school after he participated in a summer program at San Gabriel Christian School in San Gabriel, California, in 2016.

Today, the school’s website offers information for international students who want to enroll fulltime with a tuition of $24,750 plus fees as, well as information about the 2024 summer program.

"I [was] really not interested in the education methods in China," Li told VOA Mandarin. "When my son was a child, he went to an elementary school with a good reputation. The class was overcrowded, with more than 40 students in one class, and we had to give the teachers red envelopes with money on various holidays.

"Sometimes, at parent-teacher meetings, the teachers were not direct with what they meant, and you would have to guess what they really wanted to say. … The school's education method was not diverse, just like cram-feeding. They only evaluate students with test scores," she said.

Now, Lu is enrolled at Pacific Union College, a private liberal arts college in Angwin, California. He’s pursuing a double major in pharmacology and business at the school, which is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He wants to pursue a doctorate in pharmacology from nearby Loma Linda University, which is affiliated with the same Christian group.

Li said, "We made a plan for him to study in the U.S. in 2016. Because only private schools in the U.S. could issue F1 visas, we applied for a private high school."

After Pacific Union College accepted Lu, Li said she and her husband moved to the U.S., where the family attends church every week.

Lu said that the education methods and learning environments in the U.S. are very different from what he experienced in Hangzhou, where he attended primary school before coming to the United States to attend high school and college.

"In China, when teachers teach, there is only one correct answer, which is what the teachers tell you,” he told VOA Mandarin.

"In the U.S., we can have free discussions," he said. "Usually, my classmates and I will read articles together and have group discussions, and everyone will have the right to speak.

"Even when the teachers are teaching, we can ask questions, and the teachers encourage us to actively participate in class discussions to find answers," Lu said.

The CHIPS and Science Act was signed into law a year ago and promised billions of dollars in funding for science at U.S. colleges and universities. However, Congress is already falling short of the funding targets called for by the legislation, instead focusing on investments in America’s semiconductor industry.

Katherine Knott explains the situation for Inside Higher Ed. (August 2023)

In the Financial Express, Indian students take a look at money matters for international students in the U.S.

Here are the details on credit cards, currency and more. (August 2023)

Martha Mulally, a biotechnology professor in Canada, urges each of her students to make a friend in the course. She noticed that students seemed disengaged and lonely, not knowing how to interact with each other after years of virtual instruction during the pandemic.

So, she insists they work together outside of class in groups of their choice: not just because it’s good for them, but also because it’s good for their learning.

"The reality is that science is a team sport," Mulally says.

Beckie Supiano profiles some of the unlikely, and heartwarming, friendships students have made in her report for the Chronicle of Higher Education. (August 2023)

The Daily Northwestern, the student newspaper at Northwestern University, has advice for international students bound for the U.S.

The tips include:

• Familiarizing yourself with the restrictions that come with an F-1 visa holder.
• Tapping on-campus resources like the Office of International Students for support.

Read the full story here. (August 2023)

Programs focusing on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) are popular among foreign students looking to study in the U.S. After School Africa takes a look at some of the reasons why these paths are popular and gives a rundown of study options. Read more here. (August 2023)

Telangana Today, an Indian news outlet, has a rundown on the immunizations international students must receive to study in the U.S.

"Vaccination is mandatory for students of all levels, including undergraduates, graduates, and doctoral candidates, regardless of their residential status," the story notes. Get the full list here. (August 2023)

Indian news outlet Telangana Today has some tips on how international students can acclimate to life in the United States.

They include:

• Attending welcome-week events organized by the university.
• Taking advantage of support services offered by the school's international student office.
• Joining clubs and organizations.

Read the full article here. (August 2023)

U.S. states differ in education levels, college faculty pay, student enrollments, and more. This tool from the Chronicle of Higher Education lets you quickly compare them. (August 2023)

Amena Sadat, a political science Ph.D. student at the University of California, Riverside, fled Afghanistan with only the clothes on her back after the Taliban took over.

Her educational journey has been harrowing. Many of her family members did not want her to study, and one, a local politician, even canceled a scholarship rather than award it to her. But she did not give up.

Imran Ghori reports for the university publication Inside UCR. (August 2023)

While the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling eliminating affirmative action in college admissions only applies to higher education, many elite industries, such as consulting and investment banking, that hire students right out of college may struggle to meet their own diversity goals, according to an article in Forbes.

While firms have promised to broaden their search, some observers are questioning their dependence on elite schools in the first place.

Forbes investigates.(August 2023)

Many selective universities in the U.S. offer “early action,” which can boost a student’s chances of getting in if they apply early.

These programs have been criticized, since underprivileged students are often unfamiliar with the deadlines and unable to get their applications in on time.

Now, Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, plans to only offer the option to students who are the first members of their families to attend college.

Liam Knox has more for Inside Higher Ed. (August 2023)