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Saudi students choosing Canadian universities as part of mass scholarship program

A massive scholarship program in Saudi Arabia has led to an influx of international students in Canadian Universities. For the past 2 years Saudi Arabia has been footing the bill for about 62,000 students to attend foreign universities. Canada has quickly become a popular destination for the Saudi students (placing third after the United States and Britain). The Globe & Mail reports on the financial and cultural benefits this influx of students brings to Ontario's post-secondary institutions.

"In a small classroom at Toronto's York University, a handful of students gather each morning to practise their English."

"Saudi Arabia is a very safe country, so you can go anywhere," a young woman writes on the blackboard as they take up the day's lesson."

"In fact, all the students in this intensive language class are Saudis, here thanks to a decision by their government to pump billions of petrodollars into higher education. At York, the language school can't keep up with demand and has capped Saudi enrolment at 94 to comply with a policy that no single group should account for more than one-third of students."

"The scene at York is being duplicated across Canada as universities make the most of Saudi Arabia's massive scholarship program, which is footing the bill for about 62,000 students to attend foreign universities. Roughly 10,000 Saudi students are studying at Canadian institutions, including Dalhousie and the University of New Brunswick, and thousands more are on the way...It's a trend that promises needed relief for Canadian campuses as they struggle with funding shortfalls."

"Governments and schools are rolling out the welcome mat. At a recent fundraising dinner, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty looked to Australia, where educating foreign students is the country's third-largest industry, as an example to be emulated. "We could use the funds this generates to help expand our schools for our kids and create jobs," he said. "We could attract the best and brightest from around the world to study here."

read full story here
original source Globe & Mail
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