Latest news with #HongKongUniversityofScienceandTechnology
India.com
14 hours ago
- Business
- India.com
Why Are World's Brightest Students Suddenly Turning Their Backs On America?
New Delhi: Once a gold standard for global higher education, the United States now sees international students slipping away. Visa holdups under President Donald Trump have turned many accepted students into unfortunate droppers. Top universities worldwide have stepped up. London, Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, each now offers refuge as America's academic appeal dims. For decades, the United States reigned as the default choice for ambitious students. Today, its standing unravels, not from academic shortcomings, but policy decisions. Trump's administration urged universities to depend less on foreign students. Actions followed and foreign students faced deportation over activism. Their legal status got revoked over minor offenses. Social media scans became part of the visa process. Many students, especially in China, dropped out of U.S. plans in the wake of months-long processing delays. Britain Sees Gain as the U.S. Stumbles Ipsos predicts a 30-40% drop in new international enrollments in the United States. It is likely to risk a $7 billion hit in student spending. Meanwhile, universities in the United Kingdom thrive. Applications leapt 2.2% this fall, driven by a strong surge from China and the highest number from the United States in 20 years. Business and management programmes report sharp growth. Asia Becomes Most Comfortable Neighbourhood The pandemic's travel fears now meet immigration red tape. Families in China and Southeast Asia choose culturally familiar hubs such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology received a 40% surge in international applicants. Associate Provost Alison Lloyd reports receiving more than 500 inquiries from U.S.-based students, with ~200 transfer applications underway. Hong Kong's Chief Executive John Lee extended an invitation and promise of expanded work rights to students blocked from the United States. UAE & Kazakhstan Once sidelines in global academia, the two countries are now emerging as rising stars. Home to branches of many international universities, Dubai saw international enrollment grow 33% from 2024 to 2025. Kazakhstan is also attracting global interest. Satellite campuses from the Illinois Tech and the University of Arizona help position it as a regional academic hub. Confidence Shifts The student exodus is not merely logistical. Worldwide universities are strategically reacting. Institutions in the United Kingdom, Asia and the Middle East ramp up global outreach, simplify transfers and bolster student support. American universities sit tangled in policy gridlock. Is American Dream Losing Behavior? The United States remains desired, but no longer taken for granted. Policies and politics now overshadow prestige. The loss waits in the balance, not only wallets and enrollment, but global standing. Will America adjust before the next dozen academic hubs firmly take root? Clues lie not in Harvard or Stanford, but in Birmingham, Dubai and Hong Kong.
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
US visa delays push international students to UK, Asia, and Middle East
Once revered as the global gold standard for higher education, the United States is facing an erosion of its academic influence. As immigration policies under President Donald Trump grow increasingly restrictive, international students, many already accepted by top US institutions, are being pushed to reconsider their American aspirations. From London to Hong Kong and Dubai to Singapore, universities worldwide are capitalizing on this shift. The world is watching, and more than ever, the American academic fortress looks less like a beacon and more like a barricade. From destination to deterrent The United States has long held unrivaled dominance as the number-one destination for ambitious students abroad. Yet today, that status is being dismantled not by academic competitors, but by political choices. The Trump administration has openly urged US universities to reduce their reliance on international students. The government has gone further., attempting to deport foreign students over pro-Palestinian activism, revoking legal status for thousands based on minor infractions, and instituting broad social media screenings for new visa applicants. As a result, some students are abandoning plans to study in the US altogether. In China, visa wait times are so protracted that many applicants have given up. British campuses see an uptick amid US decline While the US faces a projected 30–40% drop in new international enrollments, threatening to strip its economy of $7 billion in student spending according to US media reports, Britain is experiencing the opposite trend. Despite its own immigration tightening, the UK is gaining. Official figures show a 2.2% rise in international undergraduate applications this fall, with record surges from China and a 20-year high in applicants from the United States itself. Graduate acceptances are also up, particularly for business and management programs. Asia rising: Staying closer to home gains favour The pandemic may have started the trend, but it's US immigration policy that has accelerated it. An increasing number of Chinese and Southeast Asian families are opting to send their children to closer, culturally familiar locations like Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. Hong Kong's universities are responding swiftly. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has seen a 40% spike in international undergraduate applications. According to Alison Lloyd, associate provost, over 500 inquiries have come from students in the US, with around 200 formal transfer applications in progress, as reported by The Associated Press. The city's chief executive, John Lee, has even issued an open invitation to those blocked from entering the US, offering expanded work rights for international students. The UAE and Kazakhstan: Unexpected contenders Nations that were once educational peripheries are now stepping into the global spotlight. The United Arab Emirates, particularly Dubai, has embraced the crisis as an opportunity. Hosting dozens of branch campuses from international institutions, Dubai saw a 33% jump in international students between 2024 and 2025. Kazakhstan is also rising on the academic radar. With universities like Illinois Tech and the University of Arizona operating satellite campuses, the Central Asian nation is quietly building itself into a regional education hub. Cracks in confidence, and the global response For many international students, the shift is not just logistical—it's philosophical. Universities outside the U.S. are not merely passively benefiting—they're mobilizing. British, Asian, and Middle Eastern institutions are investing heavily in global outreach, relaxed transfer pathways, and increased student support, while American schools remain entangled in political gridlock. A turning point in global education The US remains the dream, but it is no longer the default. In a moment when borders are tightening and politics intrude upon academia, the American higher education system finds itself in retreat. The cost is not merely fiscal, but reputational. As competitors rise and students reroute, the question lingers: Will America's universities adapt before their global prestige is permanently eroded? For now, the answer may be playing out not in Boston or Berkeley, but in Birmingham, Dubai, and Hong Kong. Ready to navigate global policies? Secure your overseas future. Get expert guidance now!
The Star
6 days ago
- Business
- The Star
HK universities see success in drive to attract more top talent from abroad
HONG KONG: Professor Gao Yang, a prominent scholar in the fields of robotics and aerospace, left King's College London to join the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in May after being approached to take up new roles there. While her move back to Asia was primarily driven by her family's needs, she said Hong Kong's current focus on developing its scientific fields at a world-class level as a strategic driver for long-term growth was a major pull factor for her. At the same time, the geopolitical and economic climates elsewhere in the world – in particular, Western countries – have become increasingly challenging for academics to navigate. Said Prof Gao: 'Compared with the greater uncertainties in the UK and Europe, the situation in Hong Kong in terms of the volume and scale of support poured into research, innovation and commercialisation looks a lot more positive, stable and sustainable. The investment in (my field of) aerospace programming definitely seems more determined and committed.' The mainland China-born academic, who has spent 20 years teaching in the United Kingdom after a decade of studying in Singapore, now heads HKUST's Centre for AI Robotics in Space Sustainability as well as its Space Science and Technology Institute, and teaches at its department of mechanical and aerospace engineering. Professor Gao Yang said she was drawn by Hong Kong's current focus on developing its scientific fields at a world-class level. Prof Gao is one of the successes that Hong Kong is seeing in its drive to attract more international talent to teach at the city's top universities. It comes as the Asian financial hub ramps up efforts to develop its artificial intelligence and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) industries as engines to power future growth in the city. The city has also been increasingly aligning its economic development with China's objectives, which include ramping up technological innovation and scientific research in competition with the United States. Statistics from some Hong Kong universities have shown a notable rise in new faculty appointments from abroad. But that many of these scholars are of mainland Chinese origin has raised some concerns about talent diversity. HKUST, one of the city's eight publicly funded universities, said it had 'welcomed more than 100 top scholars and scientists from mainland China, the United States, Germany, France, South Korea, Singapore and other countries' since it started a global recruitment campaign in October 2022. It 'aims to hire another 100 faculty members', the university told The Straits Times. The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), also publicly funded, told ST it had 'recruited over 150 leading international and promising young scholars from 15 regions including mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America' since 2023. Its programmes have been 'attracting top non-local research talents to Hong Kong to participate in innovation and technology development', it added. Hong Kong's education chief Christine Choi also revealed in April that 'world-renowned professors from US institutions are relocating to Hong Kong', driven by tighter visa policies and geopolitical tensions affecting traditional Western study destinations. She declined, however, to provide more details, citing a 'need for discretion to ensure smooth transitions'. Among prominent international scholars who have relocated to Hong Kong over the past year are meteorologist Chen Fei, who worked at the US National Centre for Atmospheric Research for 26 years, and Harvard University-trained economist Jin Keyu, who was a tenured professor at the London School of Economics for 15 years. Both academics joined HKUST. HKUST has been among the most proactive of the city's tertiary institutions in taking advantage of global developments to attract international talent, academics and students alike, to Hong Kong. In May, it promised unconditional offers to Harvard University students immediately after the US government moved to halt foreign enrolment at the college. In Britain, the flagging economy has affected research funding for many academics, as grants are based on a proportion of the country's gross domestic product, noted Prof Gao. 'As this situation carries on, it is likely to affect more domains and bring more academics to Asia,' she told ST. Of her experience in Hong Kong so far, Prof Gao said she was 'completely surprised and amazed by the proactive engagement from sectors including the decision-making think-tanks, businesses, the government and industry to build dialogue' in her field. 'Such seamless collaboration between the scientific community and think-tanks will help make a more profound impact on society beyond just academia,' she added. Over at CUHK, global Stem scholar and prominent mathematics professor Wei Juncheng moved back to Hong Kong in late 2024 after 11 years of teaching at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada. Professor Wei Juncheng said tensions between the US and China have spilt over into Canada, affecting academia as well. Prior to his stint at UBC, Wuhan-born Professor Wei, 57, had taught for 18 years at CUHK after obtaining his doctorate from the University of Minnesota in the US. 'In the last few years, tensions between the US and China have somehow also spilled over into Canada, affecting the environment in academia as well,' Prof Wei told ST. 'Applying for research grants has become more difficult and political for some academics (in Canada),' he said, adding that many mainland-born scholars applying for funding were now required to fill up more forms delving into their backgrounds and specify that they were not researching in areas of strategic sensitivity or those that would help China. Tighter visa restrictions have also impeded global exchanges as the once-frequent Chinese government-sponsored academic visitors can no longer obtain visas to visit Canadian universities for learning and collaboration, he added. There have also been reports of the Chinese authorities restricting educators from leaving the country or visiting universities overseas. Prof Wei said he has observed a large and growing number of mainland-origin academics leaving the West in recent years. 'Despite having been educated in the US, many of my mainland-born academia friends there have moved back to China, with the influx accelerating especially in 2025,' he said. 'I chose to return to Hong Kong as I'm already familiar with CUHK's environment and I still prefer the internet and academic freedom we enjoy here.' The recent inflow of internationally trained scholars into Hong Kong comes after the city's public universities reported a record number of academic staff departures two years ago. Some 7.6 per cent of staff, or 380 out of about 5,000 in the eight institutes, quit in the 2022/2023 academic year, while 7.4 per cent left the year before. The departures coincided with a mass exodus of both local and foreign talent following the Covid-19 pandemic and the imposition of a national security law in Hong Kong in 2020. Some analysts have raised concerns, however, that those hired to fill the vacancies are tilted heavily towards mainland-born scholars, potentially affecting academic diversity. Mainland-origin academics have outnumbered their local counterparts at nearly all of the eight publicly funded universities since 2023. Some 41 per cent of all of the institutes' academic staff are now from mainland China, according to official data. Student numbers in Hong Kong's universities have also increasingly veered towards mainlanders, accounting for 74 per cent of the city's pool of non-local first-year students in the 2024/2025 academic year. Hong Kong's growing number of mainland-born academics is due to both push and pull factors, according to Associate Professor Alfred Wu from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore. 'The push factor is the increasing difficulty for these scholars to continue operating in the West, while the pull factor is that – with Hong Kong now paying a lot more attention to research that integrates well into the Greater Bay Area's (GBA) development plans – it makes academic collaboration much smoother for these scholars, as they understand mainland Chinese culture much better,' Prof Wu told ST. The GBA refers to the region comprising Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in mainland China's Guangdong province. But the consequent drop in diversity within academia could hinder the city's ability to innovate, adapt to global changes and maintain its competitiveness as an international hub, Prof Wu suggested. 'People need to think long term – having diversity means that we try to reduce our risks by not putting all our eggs into one basket,' he said. 'Decreasing diversity in Hong Kong universities may not be a problem now, but the situation may be different a decade or two down the road if Hong Kong's focus for growth has to shift away from its alignment with mainland China.' - The Straits Times/ANN
Straits Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
HK universities see success in drive to attract more top talent from abroad
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The city has also been increasingly aligning its economic development with China's objectives. – Professor Gao Yang, a prominent scholar in the fields of robotics and aerospace, left King's College London to join the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in May after being approached to take up new roles there. While her move back to Asia was primarily driven by her family's needs, she said Hong Kong's current focus on developing its scientific fields at a world-class level as a strategic driver for long-term growth was a major pull factor for her. At the same time, the geopolitical and economic climates elsewhere in the world – in particular Western countries – have become increasingly challenging for academics to navigate. Said Prof Gao: 'Compared with the greater uncertainties in the UK and Europe, the situation in Hong Kong in terms of the volume and scale of support poured into research, innovation and commercialisation looks a lot more positive, stable and sustainable. The investment in (my field of) aerospace programming definitely seems more determined and committed.' The mainland China-born academic, who has spent 20 years teaching in the United Kingdom after a decade of studying in Singapore, now heads HKUST's Centre for AI Robotics in Space Sustainability and Space Science and Technology Institute, and teaches at its department of mechanical and aerospace engineering. Professor Gao Yang, from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology's department of mechanical and aerospace engineering. PHOTO: HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Prof Gao is one of the successes that Hong Kong is seeing in its drive to attract more international talent to teach at the city's top universities. It comes as the Asian financial hub ramps up efforts to develop its artificial intelligence and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) industries as engines to power future growth in the city. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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Statistics from some Hong Kong universities have shown a notable rise in new faculty appointments from abroad. But that many of these scholars are of mainland Chinese origin has raised some concerns about talent diversity. One of the city's eight publicly funded universities, HKUST said it had 'welcomed more than 100 top scholars and scientists from mainland China, the United States, Germany, France, South Korea, Singapore and other countries' since it started a global recruitment campaign in October 2022. It 'aims to hire another 100 faculty members', the university told The Straits Times. The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), also publicly funded, told ST it had 'recruited over 150 leading international and promising young scholars from 15 regions including mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America' since 2023. Its programmes have been 'attracting top non-local research talents to Hong Kong to participate in innovation and technology development', it added. Hong Kong's education chief Christine Choi also revealed in April that 'world-renowned professors from US institutions are relocating to Hong Kong', driven by tighter visa policies and geopolitical tensions affecting traditional Western study destinations. She declined, however, to provide more details citing a 'need for discretion to ensure smooth transitions'. Among prominent international scholars who have relocated to Hong Kong over the past year are meteorologist Chen Fei, who worked in the US National Centre for Atmospheric Research for 26 years, and Harvard University-trained economist Jin Keyu, who was a tenured professor at the London School of Economics for 15 years. Both academics joined HKUST. HKUST has been among the most proactive of the city's tertiary institutions in taking advantage of global developments to attract international talent, academics and students alike, to Hong Kong. In May, it promised unconditional offers to Harvard University students immediately after the US government moved to halt foreign enrolment at the college. In Britain, its flagging economy has affected research funding for many academics as grants are based on a proportion of the country's gross domestic product, noted Prof Gao. 'As this situation carries on, it is likely to affect more domains and bring more academics to Asia,' she told ST. Of her experience in Hong Kong so far, Prof Gao said she was 'completely surprised and amazed by the proactive engagement from sectors including the decision-making think tanks, businesses, the government and industry to build dialogue' in her field. 'Such seamless collaboration between the scientific community and think tanks will help make a more profound impact on society beyond just academia,' she added. Over at CUHK, global STEM scholar and prominent mathematics professor Wei Juncheng moved back to Hong Kong in late 2024 after 11 years of teaching at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada. Professor Wei Juncheng, Choh-Ming Li Professor of Mathematics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. PHOTO: COURTESY OF PROF WEI JUNCHENG Prior to his stint at UBC, Wuhan-born Prof Wei, 57, had taught for 18 years at CUHK after obtaining his PhD from the University of Minnesota in the US. 'In the last few years, tensions between the US and China have somehow also spilled over into Canada, affecting the environment in academia as well,' Prof Wei told ST. 'Applying for research grants has become more difficult and political for some academics (in Canada),' he said, adding that many mainland-born scholars applying for funding were now required to fill up more forms delving into their backgrounds and specify that they were not researching in areas of strategic sensitivity or that would help China. Tighter visa restrictions have also impeded global exchanges as the once-frequent Chinese government-sponsored academic visitors can no longer obtain visas to visit Canadian universities for learning and collaboration, he added. There have also been reports of Chinese authorities restricting educators from leaving the country or visiting universities overseas. Prof Wei said he has observed a large and growing number of mainland-origin academics leaving the West in recent years. 'Despite having been educated in the US, many of my mainland-born academia friends there have moved back to China, with the influx accelerating especially in 2025,' he said. 'I chose to return to Hong Kong as I'm already familiar with CUHK's environment and I still prefer the internet and academic freedom we enjoy here.' The recent inflow of internationally trained scholars into Hong Kong comes after the city's public universities reported a record number of academic staff departures two years ago. Some 7.6 per cent of staff, or 380 out of about 5,000 in the eight institutes, quit in the 2022/2023 academic year, while 7.4 per cent left the year before. The departures coincided with a mass exodus of both local and foreign talent following the Covid-19 pandemic and the imposition of a national security law in Hong Kong in 2020. Some analysts have raised concerns, however, that those hired to fill the vacancies are tilted heavily towards mainland-born scholars, potentially affecting academic diversity. Mainland-origin academics have outnumbered their local counterparts at nearly all of the eight publicly funded universities since 2023. Some 41 per cent of all of the institutes' academic staff are now from mainland China, according to official data. Student numbers in Hong Kong's universities have also increasingly veered towards mainlanders, accounting for 74 per cent of the city's pool of non-local first-year students in the 2024/2025 academic year. Hong Kong's growing numbers of mainland-born academics are due to both push and pull factors, according to Associate Professor Alfred Wu, from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore. 'The push factor is the increasing difficulty for these scholars to continue operating in the West, while the pull factor is that – with Hong Kong now paying a lot more attention to research that integrates well into the Greater Bay Area's (GBA) development plans – it makes academic collaboration much smoother for these scholars as they understand mainland Chinese culture much better,' Prof Wu told ST. The GBA refers to the region comprising Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in mainland China's Guangdong province. But the consequent drop in diversity within academia could hinder the city's ability to innovate, adapt to global changes and maintain its competitiveness as an international hub, Prof Wu suggested. 'People need to think long term – having diversity means that we try to reduce our risks by not putting all our eggs into one basket,' he said. 'Decreasing diversity in Hong Kong universities may not be a problem now, but the situation may be different a decade or two down the road if Hong Kong's focus for growth has to shift away from its alignment with mainland China.'
South China Morning Post
25-07-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Shanghai conference sets stage for US-China face-off in heated race for AI supremacy
Shanghai will host its eighth annual flagship artificial intelligence (AI) conference this weekend as China ramps up competition against the US for supremacy in the fast-developing technology. The three-day World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), with the theme of 'Global Solidarity in the AI Era', will kick off on Saturday with an opening keynote from Premier Li Qiang, who also headlined last year's event. A high-level meeting on global AI governance will be held in tandem with the conference. The main forum, taking place at the Shanghai World Expo Centre, will feature a line-up of renowned international scientists and business leaders. Nobel laureate and 'AI godfather' Geoffrey Hinton, Harry Shum, council chairman at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Turing Award winner Andrew Yao are among the participants. Prominent business leaders who will speak include former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, MiniMax founder Yan Junjie and SenseTime CEO Xu Li, along with senior executives from Siemens and Schneider Electric. The SenseTime booth at last year's WAIC in Shanghai. Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images The conference represents an opportunity for China to showcase to the global AI community its latest advancements amid a heated race between the world's two largest economies. On Wednesday, the White House released a 28-page AI Action Plan designed to further strengthen exports of American AI technology to China and limit the spread of Chinese AI models, as part of the Trump administration's sweeping plan to shape the rules governing the fast-moving technology.
