The Market Monitor Digest (week 50/2025)
We're glad to bring you the key highlights from this week’s industry news. Thanks to the research from the BONARD Market Monitor team, you’re always in step with the latest market trends.
International Education
Global: Global trends in international enrolments and policies as we head into 2026
By ICEF Monitor, Dec 04, 2025
At the end of 2025, educators across major study abroad destinations are facing markedly different circumstances than in the post-pandemic years following 2020. In many Western countries, governments are constraining international student enrolments, while in Asia and some parts of Europe, the reverse is true.
UK: UK considers new charge for international students, prompting debate
By VnExpress, Dec 04, 2025
A new U.K. proposal would charge universities £925 (US$1,233) a year for every international student they enroll, a change experts warn could drive up tuition, shrink enrollment and strain university finances nationwide.
US: Education dept. labels hundreds of colleges as ‘lower earnings’
By Inside Higher Ed, Dec 09, 2025
About 23 percent of the nearly 5,900 institutions in the department’s database will be labeled as “lower earnings.” Those colleges enroll fewer than 3 percent of undergraduates and receive about $2 billion in federal student aid annually.
Canada: Government of Canada launches new initiative to recruit world-leading researchers
By Government of Canada, Dec 09, 2025
The Government of Canada will invest up to $1.7 billion over 12 years to attract and support more than 1,000 leading international and expatriate researchers, including Francophone researchers.
US: Uni of Essex to close Southend campus after drop in international enrolments
By The PIE News, Dec 09, 2025
The University of Essex will close its Southend campus in summer 2026 after dwindling international student numbers exacerbated financial pressures. International student numbers at the site have fallen by 52% since 2021/22.
Australia: International school enrolments rebound as sector confidence rises
By The Koala News, Dec 10, 2025
Overall enrolments in the school sector held strong, rising from 19,024 in 2024 to 19,768 in 2025 year-to-date. China is by far the largest source market, with over 80% listing it as their primary country of enrolment.
Canada: Canada considers cutting post-study work permits for international students
By VnExpress, Dec 10, 2025
The proposal would mark one of the most significant policy shifts in Canada's international-education system in more than a decade. Ottawa is considering limiting PGWPs only to graduates from programs tied to fields facing documented labor shortages, a list expected to prioritize health care, skilled trades, STEM, logistics and some areas of finance.
UK: Decline in Q3 summer period for English UK member schools
By Study Travel, Dec 11, 2025
Member schools of English UK experienced a 12 per cent decrease in student weeks in the peak summer period of 2025. For schools that participated in previous reports there was a nine per cent decline in junior student weeks during Q3, compared with the same period of the previous year. The report was prepared with help of BONARD.
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