International students cause revenue bump
Increase in enrolment at CBU was more rapid than anticipated
This year’s influx of international students at Cape Breton University has resulted in a significant unbudgeted revenue bump for the university, which is continuing to see the number of domestic students enrolled decline.
Gordon MacInnis, vice-president of finance and operations, said the university saw about a $5-million unbudgeted increase in revenue this year.
“When we develop an operating budget, of course it’s based upon a series of assumptions,” MacInnis said. “Back in the spring, what we were expecting from an enrolment perspective was a slight decline in domestic student enrolment and somewhat of a growth curve in the international marketplace.”
What CBU actually saw this fall was a decline — although not as great as in some other years — in Canadian students and more rapid international growth than was anticipated.
“As a result of that, we’re going to see increased revenues … but corresponding we’re also going to see increased costs in terms of delivery of programs in the classroom, student support service costs and recruitment-related costs,” MacInnis added.
This fall, CBU received almost 2,000 international students. More than 1,000 of those students are from India, and about 500 are from China. It’s the first time that Indian students have emerged as the largest cohort at CBU. Another 200 foreign students are expected to arrive in January although numbers aren’t finalized.
It’s difficult to predict at this point the number of additional international students CBU may receive in January because it’s dependent on issues including proof of financing and visa processes.
In addition to helping to boost student numbers, the international students are enhancing CBU’s coffers as they pay differential fees that result in the total fee level about double what domestic students pay. But along with the increased revenue, there is accompanying growth in costs to provide necessary services for the international cohort.
There have been other growing pains as well, with an appeal going out for off-campus housing for students.
In an interview last week, CBU president David Dingwall said under his leadership he doesn’t foresee additional residence construction on campus but that doesn’t preclude the university working with private interests to encourage additional off-campus housing, in areas such as downtown Sydney.
One of the bigger ticket items CBU is undertaking is an upgrade of on-campus wireless Internet access, which is expected to cost $500,000-$600,000.
“Wireless internet service is designed to handle a certain volume of devices and I think under normal circumstances people are carrying more devices these days than they were five, 10 years ago,” MacInnis said. “Certainly, with the increased numbers of students and users on our system, the system is bogging down, it’s just not designed to handle the volume of devices it’s presently being called upon to support.”
The improvements will be rolled out in stages, with more modern hardware installed and the number of public access points tripled.
CBU has also embarked on a
partnership with Cape Breton Transit, paying for enhanced transit service to the campus. The university is also reviewing how it provides student services, MacInnis said, such as health services, and adding more support staff in some areas such as international advisers and an off-campus housing co-ordinator.
In collaboration with deans, CBU is also reviewing classroom-based services to accommodate the increased numbers.
“We need a more systemic approach to how we’re going to approach that for January,”
MacInnis said.
In addition to its own recruiting staff, CBU like other universities makes use of international agents in recruiting potential students and with increased foreign enrolment comes the requirement to pay increased fees to those agents and agencies.
As for whether the international growth is sustainable, MacInnis acknowledged it’s “early days” for the influx of Indian students but indications are positive that they will continue their educations at CBU. He added managing growth of this nature is a challenge that public sector institutions in Cape Breton haven’t generally had to handle.
“It’s certainly a welcome challenge, but it does strain the organization in a number of ways when you’re not accustomed to it,” MacInnis said.