Bridgetown Barbados...Jan. 28, 2013 -- Though small in terms of population and geographical size, the Caribbean looms large when it comes to taking advantage of educational opportunities in the United States.
The Caribbean is one of the highest “sending regions” in the world to U.S. universities and colleges and Maria Mercedes Salmon, Regional Education Advising Coordinator for Education USA, intends to see that it remains so.
Speaking during a recent familiarization and networking trip to the region, Salmon said:
“Per capita, it’s very high compared to other huge regions or countries like Brazil – with the large population that they have, they are sending approximately 9,000 students a year. When you analyze that ratio, it’s much lower than what the Caribbean is sending.”
In fact, the Institute of International Education’s 2012 Open Doors report shows that there were 10, 987 Caribbean students in the United States last year. This topped the numbers from many other places with much larger populations such as Nigeria (7,028), Australia (3,848) and Germany (9,347). Read more...

By Janet Lorin. Freshman applications to many U.S. colleges and universities are rising this year, fueled by a surge of international students, even as costs increase and the number of U.S. high school graduates declines. At Tufts University, international applications climbed 12 percent from a year ago and have more than doubled since 2004. The number of foreign students seeking admission to the University of California, Berkeley jumped about 22 percent this year, while the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League member, reported a 38 percent increase since 2010.
U.S. universities are searching overseas to fill slots with more students who can pay full tuition as the pool of domestic prospects declines and the annual cost to attend at some private colleges tops $60,000. Schools are boosting their recruiting staffs and travel budgets to pursue more international applicants. Read more...

By Bob Sun. There is little consciousness on campus of what the practical and political realities of having a large international population are.
This past winter break, I spent much of my time—when I wasn’t sleeping—trolling LionSHARE and writing cover letters for summer internships. That is, when I could find them, which is strange, since there is no dearth of jobs available to Columbia students. Especially for those students looking in industries that have a large presence in New York City, the problem is one of having too many options: It would be impractical to apply to the some 200 positions in finance currently open for this summer alone. But not for everyone. Hidden somewhere in most job descriptions is a line that reads: “Candidates must have permanent work authorization to work for any company in the United States for an unlimited period of time without restrictions.” I would hazard a guess that it doesn’t even register with most prospective applicants. But for the 19 percent of us who are international students , myself included, it is a line that greatly reduces the number of opportunities we can pursue. Read more...

By Anna Malinovskaya. Perhaps all international students discover at some point that going to college in the States costs more than they pay in money terms. I have experienced personal costs that will impact my life long after my education here is done. Some I was prepared to encounter, and others caught me off-guard. I don’t regret my decision to study in the States, but coming here has meant closing some doors and cutting off some possibilities.
As long as I can remember, mainstream political opinion in Russia has been anti-American, encouraged by the older generation who grew up in the Soviet Union and taught that America was an enemy to be opposed. Not everyone in the country is anti-American of course – in fact, most people I know are not actively anti-American – but there is an underlying suspicion of American values and intentions. As a result, my decision to study in America is viewed warily, and even negatively, by some. Read more...

By Jordan Weissmann. The last few years haven't exactly been gentle to our public colleges and universities, or the students who attend them. Cash-poor state legislatures have gone to town on their higher education budgets, and as they've hacked away, tuition has risen along with the sums undergraduates have had to borrow. In total, 38 states cut post-secondary funding since the recession, many by more than a fifth.
So in that light, it sadly can be considered welcome news that just 16 states are planning to slash their spending any further in FY 2013, according to the Grapevine project at Illinois State University, which released its annual roundup of state-by-state higher-ed funding on Tuesday. The worst cuts this year are pending in Florida (8 percent), Alabama (6 percent) and New Jersey (5.5 percent). Another 16 legislatures increased their budgets by less than 2 percent, which will likely amount to a cut once inflation takes its bite. On the other hand, that means higher-ed will get a budget boost in 18 states. So let's say the glass is 1/3 full. Read more...

By Michael McDonald. Moody’s Investors Service cut its 2013 outlook for all of U.S. higher education to negative, citing mounting pressure on revenue sources.
“Most universities will have to lower their cost structures to achieve long-term financial sustainability and fund future initiatives,” Moody’s said today in a report, led by analyst Eva Bogaty.
The ratings company previously had a stable rating for market-leading research institutions and a negative rating for other U.S. universities and colleges since 2009. The cost to attend college has increased faster than the rate of inflation over the past four decades, with some private institutions topping $60,000 a year. Read more...

By Cherise Lesesne. In order to support the partnership between the United States and Brazil, referred to as the Joint Action Plan to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Discrimination (JAPER), the Brazilian government has agreed to send approximately 1,000 students to several of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities. As a result, selected HBCUs are preparing efforts to accommodate an average of 30 to 50 students to be admitted into each selected school for the 2013 fall semester.
Brazil, a country that shares a similar historical past to the United States as a hub for transported African slaves, relies heavily on affirmative action within the education system. Facing many of the same social and economic disparities that minorities in the United States endure, the Brazilian government established the JAPER agreement in 2008 to initiate an interagency that would share resources between commercial, economic and educational efforts. Along with the JAPER agreement was the formation of the HBCU-Brazilian alliance, which recognized the social and economic challenges for Afro-Brazilian students. Read more...

Bienvenido al sitio web de la Red de Educación Continua de América Latina y Europa. Nuestro objetivo es impulsar y promover el desarrollo y crecimiento de la educación continua para alcanzar los más altos estándares de calidad académica y administrativa, y contribuir con el desarrollo de una sociedad más justa y equilibrada.
ENCUENTROS 2013
III ENCUENTRO REGIONAL – RECLA
Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla
México - 30 y 31 de mayo de 2013
XVIII ENCUENTRO INTERNACIONAL – RECLA
Universidad Politécnica de Valencia
España, 2 al 4 de octubre de 2013
Noticias
Por Catalina Rodríguez. Saludo y bienvenida 2013 A todos nuestros asociados y amigos de la comunidad RECLA, un especial saludo en este inicio de actividades, esperamos seguir contando con su participación y apoyo en las diferentes actividades de la Red como son  el encuentro regional e internacional, pasantías de gestores de educación continua, premios Recla, novedades de la educación continua ( proyectos ALFA III) entre otros.

By Karen Seidman. With too few aboriginal students opting for a university education, the country's universities are launching a new online tool to make it easier for aboriginal students to succeed in obtaining a higher education. The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada is launching an online directory of programs and services on Thursday to help aboriginal youth access the information they need to go to university. While this won't quell the growing grassroots Idle No More campaign that continues to highlight a tumultuous relationship between governments and Canada's First Nations, it was a little glimmer of welcome news locally at the Kahnawake reserve.
"It sounds positive," said Chief Kenneth McComber of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake. "Education is a very big issue and something online would be helpful."
AUCC president Paul Davidson said the organization has made it a priority to "increase access and success for aboriginal students."
Aboriginal youth are one of the fastest-growing segments of the Canadian population. There are more than 560,000 aboriginals under the age of 25 across Canada, yet the university completion rate for the aboriginal population is eight per cent - about a third of the national average. Read more...