Tag: study

Study visa applications to NZ dip, approval rate jumps nearly 7%

According to data highlighted by Immigration New Zealand (INZ), the government agency responsible for managing the country’s immigration system, the first 10 months of 2025 saw 55,251 study visa applications, down from 58,361 in the same period last year.

However, approval rates have risen sharply. In 2024, INZ approved 42,724 of 58,361 applications (81.5%) and declined 9,161 (17.5%). Meanwhile, in 2025, despite fewer applications at 55,251, approvals rose to 43,203 (88.2%) with 5,317 declined (10.9%).

NZ sets itself apart from other key study destinations

Even as major anglophone study destinations take a cautious approach to international education policy, New Zealand is aiming to be an outlier in the market.

The country is looking to boost international student enrolments from 83,700 to 119,000 by 2034 and double the sector’s value to NZD$7.2 billion (GBP £3.2bn) under the recently launched International Education Going for Growth plan.

This month, new rules came into effect allowing eligible international tertiary and secondary students with visas from November 3 to work up to 25 hours a week, up from 20, while a new short-term work visa for some vocational graduates is also expected to be introduced soon.

“As part of the International Education Going for Growth Plan, changes were announced to immigration settings to support sustainable growth and enhance New Zealand’s appeal as a study destination. These changes aim to maintain education quality while managing immigration risk,” Celia Coombes, director of visas for INZ, told The PIE.

“Immigration New Zealand (INZ) and Education New Zealand (ENZ) work in close partnership to achieve these goals.”

We have more students applying for Pathway Visas year on year, which means more visas granted for longer periods, and less ‘year by year’ applications
_{^{Celia Coombes, Immigration New Zealand}}

Why the drop in study visa applications?

While study visa approval rates have skyrocketed over the past year — a stark contrast to the Covid period, when universities across New Zealand faced massive revenue losses owing to declining numbers — stakeholders point to a mix of factors behind the drop in new applications.

“There has been an increase in approvals, but overall, a slight decrease in the number of students applying for a visa. However, interest in New Zealand continues to grow,” stated Coombes, who added that the number of individuals holding a valid study visa rose to 58,192 in August 2025, up from 45,512 a year earlier.

“We have more students applying for Pathway Visas year on year, which means more visas granted for longer periods, and less ‘year by year’ applications.”

While multi-year pathway visas can cover a full planned study path, reducing the need for repeated applications, Richard Kensington, an NZ-based international education consultant, says refinements could make the route more effective in attracting international students.

“The Pathway Visa, introduced nearly a decade ago as a trial, has never been fully expanded. Although reviews are complete and the scheme is set to become permanent, no additional providers have been given access,” stated Kensington.

“Simple refinements — such as allowing pathways to a broad university degree rather than a specific named programme — would encourage more students to utilise this route.”

The drop could also be linked to the underdeveloped school sector and the slower recovery of New Zealand’s vocational education sector, as noted by Kensington.

“The school sector remains one of New Zealand’s most untapped international education markets. Demand is growing, especially from families where a parent wishes to accompany the student. The Guardian Parent Visa makes that a viable option,” stated Kensington.

“Vocational education hasn’t rebounded in the same way. The loss of work rights for sub-degree diplomas has significantly reduced demand from traditional migration markets.”

New Zealand’s vocational education woes

Just this year, the New Zealand government announced the disestablishment of Te Pūkenga, the country’s largest vocational education provider, formed through the merger of 16 Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics.

It is being replaced by 10 standalone polytechnics, following concerns that the model had become too costly and centralised.

“Te Pūkenga’s rise and fall created real confusion offshore. With standalone polytechnics returning, we should see greater stability from 2026 onwards,” Kensington added.

“Many polytechnics are now relying on degree and master’s programmes, putting them in more direct competition with universities.”

Applications fall in China, climb in India

As per data shared by INZ on decided applications across both 2024 and 2025 — including on ones submitted in earlier years — countries like India (+2.7%), Nepal (+26.8%), Germany (+5.2%), and the Philippines (+7.8%) have seen growth in the number of study visas approved.

Meanwhile, many East and Southeast Asian markets have recorded year-on-year declines, most notably the largest sending market, China, which dropped by 9.9%.

The data shows that while 16,568 study visas were approved for China in January–October 2024, this fell to 14,929 in 2025 though it remains the largest source country.

Other markets such as Japan (-9.7%), South Korea ( -24.8%), and Thailand (-33.7%) also saw significant declines.

According to Frank Xing, director of marketing and operations at Novo Education Consulting, the slowdown from China is clear, with weaker student interest reflected in both their enquiries and feedback from partners, and echoed by some New Zealand institutions.

“It’s a mixed picture — a few schools, particularly in the secondary sector, are still doing well, but many providers are starting to feel the impact,” stated Xing, who believes several factors are driving the slowdown.

“The first is the weaker Chinese economy — many families have been affected by job losses or lower business income. In the past, property assets often helped families fund overseas study, but the real estate downturn has reduced that flexibility,” he added, also noting New Zealand’s own unemployment challenges and competition from lower-cost destinations.

“We’ve actually seen some students abandon their New Zealand study plans or switch to more affordable destinations such as Malaysia or parts of Europe.”

According to Xing, while China remains one of New Zealand schools’ strongest markets, this could change as Chinese families place greater emphasis on career outcomes — an area where New Zealand’s slower job market remains a challenge.

He added that New Zealand’s role as the 2025 Country of Honour at China’s premier education expo could help raise awareness among prospective students.

False applications remain a major concern

For Education New Zealand and INZ, the more immediate challenge now lies in addressing fraudulent applications, according to Coombes.

“New Zealand sees a lot of false financial documents. To address this and help ensure students have the money they need to live and study in New Zealand, we are improving processes to maintain integrity and streamline processing,” stated Coombes.

“This includes expanding the Funds Transfer Scheme, where students deposit their living costs in New Zealand, and they are released monthly.”

According to Kensington, some agencies across South Asia and likely parts of Africa, where New Zealand has limited representation may not meet required standards, creating challenges. However, he believes improved processing is reducing the impact.

“INZ only accepts financial evidence from specific banks in some jurisdictions. Student loans must be secured; unsecured loans aren’t accepted even from major banks,” stated Kensington.

“It’s hard to say whether fraud is increasing, but the rise in high-quality applications means INZ can process many files quickly and devote more time to forensic checks where needed.”

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November 28, 2025
UK study visa applications up 7% while dependant numbers plummet

New Home Office migration statistics show the full effect of an almost outright ban on dependants – with numbers dropping sharply for the second year in a row since the policy was announced.

While there were 419,558 main applications for UK study visas in the year ending September 2025, marking a 7% increase on the previous year, there were 20,366 dependants – a 57% decrease year on year.

It marks the second consecutive year of falling dependants, with this number decreasing annually by a whopping 87% in the year ending September 2024.

It follows new rules introduced in January 2024 to ban students on postgraduate-taught programs from bringing their dependants with them to the UK.

The number of UK study visas issued to international students and their dependants rose sharply after 2016 – reaching a post-Covid peak of 652,072 in 2023. Now, since the dependants ban, the number of study visas issued has fallen to 439,924.

According to the Home Office, there has been roughly one dependant for every 20 main study visa applicants since the year ending March 2025 – a stark decline since the year ending September 2023, when this number stood at six per 20 main applicants.

Source: Home Office

Indian students were issued the most sponsored study visas in the year ending September 2025, with 99,18 visas issued. Chinese students made up the second biggest cohort – with 89,397 visas issued, 15% fewer than the previous year.

Pakistani students were the third biggest group – issued 39,924 study visas, while there were gains for Nepali students (up 89% to 20,572) and Nigerian students (up 56% to 30,009).

According to James Pitman, chairman of Independent Higher Education (IHE) and CEO of Studygroup, the effect of the dependants ban has been discriminatory – disproportionately affecting women.

Speaking in a personal capacity at yesterday’s IHE annual conference, Pitman acknowledged that the dependants visa has “a major flaw”, but said that this could have been corrected rather than withdrawing the scheme entirely for taught degrees.

“As predicted by the sector, that withdrawal was gender discriminatory, leading to the loss of 19,000 female students vs prior year in the January 2024 intake alone,” he said. “Every one of those was a human story, of ambitions denied, families fractured, careers restricted and yet again women being discriminated against – in this case by UK government policy.”

Every one of those was a human story, of ambitions denied, families fractured, careers restricted and yet again women being discriminated against
^{_{James Pitman}}

Home Office figures obtained by Pitman via a freedom of information request show a marked year-on-year decline in women issued sponsored study visa grants for courses at RQF level 6-8 or equivalent starting in January.

In 2023, of 81,079 total student visas, 45% were issued to women, compared to 55% that were issued to men. But the following year, after the dependants ban was brought in, the gender split was 66% in favour of men. These numbers stayed stable in 2025, the data showed, with 65% of sponsored study visas issued to men.

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November 27, 2025
Canadian sector hits back over plan to cancel study permits in crises

Immigration Minister Lena Diab told a House of Commons committee last week that the Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act (Bill C-12) would target “people who are going to be committing large-scale fraud”.

However, an opposition member, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner, rejected the idea that the Liberal government needs sweeping powers to keep the immigration system functioning.

“That sounds like an authoritarian dictatorship to me,” Rempel Garner said.

Languages Canada Executive Director Gonzalo Peralta told The PIE News there was a need to define under what conditions Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) could cancel student visas.

“The term ‘public interest’ as grounds for cancelling visas or applications is vague and does not provide the assurances needed to ensure that legitimate students are not inadvertently impacted by the legislation,” Peralta said.

At the committee meeting, Rempel Garner argued: “It seems like you’re trying to give yourself and your department more powers to correct mistakes in the system that they could have made in screening out potential fraud to begin with.”

The term ‘public interest’ as grounds for cancelling visas or applications is vague and does not provide the assurances needed

In the wake of a large number of fraudulent study permit applications made by unscrupulous education agents, in 2023 the department implemented a system requiring applicants to present a verified letter of acceptance from a designated learning institution in order to obtain a study permit.

In many cases, the students said they were not aware that their agent was submitting fraudulent documents on their behalf.

MP Rempel Garner called out the minister for blaming students and other newcomers to Canada. “Why don’t you make the system work instead of punishing the victims of human trafficking,” she demanded at the meeting.

Larissa Bezo, president of the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE), told The PIE her group supports measures to uphold the integrity of the International Student Program. “However, we do not want to see international students who have been the victims of fraud unfairly punished,” Bezo said.

Peralta of Languages Canada condemned the Liberal government for failing to consult with the sector about this legislation and other policy changes.

“In the case of the proposed Bill C-12, a more comprehensive definition is needed of the specific conditions under which IRCC could cancel visas,” Peralta said.

Canadian immigration policy has hit the headlines over the past week after Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government set out its intention to cut new international study permits by more than 50% in 2026-2028 – going further with enrolment caps that are already causing significant problems for the international education sector.

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November 7, 2025
Ireland sees 38% surge in Indian student interest: student perception study 2025
The study, which surveyed students, parents, and counsellors across India, highlights how Ireland’s mix of academic excellence, affordability, safety, and employability is reshaping perceptions and driving enrolments.

Ireland’s rise as a destination

The report shows that while India continues to lead globally in outbound student mobility, sending more than 760,000 students abroad in 2024, Ireland’s growth has been particularly striking. From just 700 Indian students in 2013, enrolments crossed 9,000 in 2023/24 a 120% increase in five years. Even in 2024, when overall outbound mobility dipped by nearly 15%, interest in Ireland grew by 38%.

What makes this growth significant is that it is not driven by marketing or advertising alone, but by the trust created through authentic student experiences, alumni voices, and counsellor guidance. Families see Ireland as a country that delivers not just degrees, but outcomes.

Key highlights from the student perception study 2025
- India leads in global outbound mobility: 7.6 lakh Indian students went abroad in 2024, compared to 2.6 lakh in 2020.
- Ireland’s rapid growth: Indian enrolments rose from 700 in 2013 to over 9,000 in 2023/24 a 120% jump in five years.
- Academic excellence: Six Irish universities now rank among the world’s top 500.
- Affordable pathways: Tuition and living costs are 30-40% lower than in the US or UK; one-year Master’s programs add time and cost efficiency.
- Employability outcomes: 80% of graduates secure employment within nine months; 1,800+ global companies including Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Pfizer offer strong career pathways.
- Safety and community: Ireland ranks as the world’s third safest country, with over 60,000 Indians already settled.
- Tier II/III interest rising: Students from Coimbatore, Guwahati, and Kochi are increasingly choosing Ireland, aided by education loans and growing awareness.
A new student mindset

The report underscores a fundamental shift: Indian students are increasingly outcome-oriented. Decisions are now guided by employability, post-study work opportunities, affordability, and return on investment, rather than prestige alone.

Peer and alumni referrals, counsellor guidance, and authentic word-of-mouth are the strongest drivers of choice. Ireland’s reputation in STEM, AI, sustainability, data science, and cybersecurity is particularly resonant with this new generation of aspirants.

Decisions are now guided by employability, post-study work opportunities, affordability, and return on investment, rather than prestige alone

This aligns with India’s own reforms under the National Education Policy (NEP) and UGC guidelines, which are actively encouraging student exchange, internationalisation, and the establishment of foreign campuses within India. Together, they signal a new era where India is not just an outbound source market but also a global partner in talent and education.

Why Ireland matters

Ireland’s rise as a destination of choice reflects more than just academic strength. It represents trust – the trust of students who see real employability outcomes, of parents who value safety and affordability, and of institutions worldwide who view India as a critical partner in shaping global education.

As global higher education undergoes transformation, Ireland’s expanding reputation, student-first approach, and strong industry linkages position it uniquely. It is not a “Plan B” market; it is becoming a first-choice destination for Indian students.

For families making one of the most important decisions of their lives, the message is clear: Ireland is where ambition meets opportunity.

About the author: Aritra Ghosal is the Founder & CEO of OneStep Global, a market entry firm specialising in higher education. With deep expertise in student mobility and institutional strategy, he has worked with global universities to expand their presence across Asia. Under his leadership, OneStep Global has partnered with leading institutions to build authentic student connections, support internationalisation, and shape the future of global education.
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October 31, 2025
Canada’s study permits plunge by 60% in immigration reset

New IRCC data has revealed plummeting international student arrivals from January to August this year, with stakeholders bracing for further declines as the government pushes forward with efforts to reduce temporary residents in Canada.

“The international education sector is rightly concerned that study permit approvals are far below the caps, but the news release makes clear that those concerns are not shared by the Carney government,” Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) Matthew McDonald told The PIE News.

The figures showed less than 90,000 new international students entered Canada from January to August 2025, making it highly unlikely that Canada will meet its goal of issuing 437,000 study permits this year, as announced in January 2025.

While international student arrivals have fallen by 60%, the government has painted the figures as a “story of success” in reducing Canada’s temporary resident population, said McDonald.

Taken together, the number of work permit holders and study permit holders decreased by 22% from August 2024 to 2025 – a trend that the IRCC said was “a clear sign the measures we’ve put in place are working”.

The drop has brought the total number of study permit holders (including those who hold a work and study permit at the same time) down to 802,425 – 21% less than in 2024 and the lowest level since 2021 during the pandemic.

It sets Canada on track to drastically miss the government’s target of issuing a total of 437,000 study permits this year, which was a 10% reduction of the original 2024 cap.

Given the expected shortfall, stakeholders are calling for greater transparency about IRCC’s objectives, highlighting the detrimental impact of the decline on institutions whose budgets were largely guided by the 10% cap.

The TR data release is a weather balloon … to see if the Canadian public accepts the message that immigration is now under control in Canada

Matthew McDonald, RCIC

The timing of the release less than two weeks ahead of the 2025-2027 Immigration Levels plan has not gone unnoticed by commentators, who are expecting an update to align with the incoming 2025 budget and the shifting vision of Canada’s long-standing openness to immigration.

“The temporary resident (TR) data release is a weather balloon, alongside updated processing times, to see if the Canadian public accepts the message that immigration is now under control in Canada,” said McDonald.

“The Carney government is concerned about the floor, not the ceiling—i.e., about wrestling down the TR population below 5%,” he added.

Currently, the government aims to reach the 5% goal by the end of 2027, with Carney acknowledging it will take several years to reduce TR levels by restricting those coming in and transitioning more temporary residents to permanent residency.

Notwithstanding any surprises in the upcoming budget and Immigration Levels Plan, McDonald said he expected the government to “hold their foot” on new study and work permit approvals for several years to come.

Ahead of the federal budget announcement, the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) is urging the government to launch a renewed International Education Strategy to “restore Canada’s global brand to bolster its foreign policy and trade relationships”.

The body highlighted the economic contributions of international students who contributed nearly CA$40bn to the country in 2022, boosting local communities and filing labour shortages.

What’s more, CBIE emphasised the cultural perspectives international students bring to Canada’s campuses and their importance to the country’s soft power, with students who leave becoming ambassadors for Canada in their home countries.

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October 24, 2025
A Study Abroad Life Design Course for Transfers

For many college students, connecting their interests to career and life goals can be a challenge. Transfer students may find it especially difficult because they lack familiarity with the campus resources available to help them make those connections. A course at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management aims to help these students chart their path, in part by sending them on an international trip.

The Design Your Life in a Global Context course encourages transfer students to apply design thinking principles to their college career and beyond and organizes a short study abroad trip led by a faculty member. The experience, mostly paid for by the institution, breaks down barriers to the students’ participation and aims to boost their feelings of belonging at the university.

The background: Since 2022, all students in the Carlson School of Management undergraduate program have been required to complete an international experience. The goal is to motivate them to be globally competent, to support their development as business leaders and to create collaboration with international colleagues, according to the school’s website.

Study abroad experiences have been tied to personal and professional development. A recent survey of study abroad alumni by the Forum on Education Abroad found that 42 percent of respondents indicated studying in another country helped them get their first job.

For U of M’s business school students, these experiences are made possible by funding from the Carlson Family Foundation, which provides scholarships through the Carlson Global Institute and the Learning Abroad Center.

In addition to Design Your Life in a Global Context, the university offers Design Your Career in Global Context, which sends students on a similar short study abroad experience.

The framework: Design Your Life in a Global Context meets once a week throughout the fall semester and then culminates in a 10-day trip to Japan, a country instructor Lisa Novak selected because of its unique focus on work-life balance and well-being.

“If you’re familiar with the concepts of ikigai, it’s all about finding one’s purpose and aligning what you love, what the world needs, what you’re good at and what you can be paid for,” said Novak, director of student engagement and development at the Carlson School. “We’re going to be learning about this concept while we’re abroad.”

Because transfer students, like first-year students, can face challenges acclimating to their new campus and connecting with peers, the class is designed in part to provide them with resources and instill a sense of belonging within their cohort.

In addition, the course helps students apply life design principles to their whole lives, modeled after Stanford University’s design thinking framework.

“Through the class, we equip students with the tools and strategies to design their college and career experience that aligns with their values, interests, strengths, needs and goals,” Novak said.

Going abroad: During the 10-day trip, students explore Tokyo and Okinawa.

They visit Gallup’s Tokyo office to learn about the Clifton strengths assessment and the research the organization is doing in Japan. In Okinawa, students learn from residents living in a “blue zone,” an area of the world where people live the longest and have the fewest health complications.

“We learn about some of the factors that contribute to longevity in that area of the world and then connect that back to designing one’s life and a life of purpose,” Novak said.

In addition to class content, the trip offers students an opportunity to participate in intercultural learning and experience international travel that may be unfamiliar.

Before they leave for Japan, Novak and her colleagues from the Carlson Global Institute support students with travel logistics, including securing a passport, creating a packing list and navigating currency exchange.

“I also bring in different food from the area,” Novak said. “We call it ‘taste of Japan.’ I have different candy or snacks from Japan and they get to experience the culture a little bit in that way and get excited about what we’re doing.”

Novak also leads guided reflections with students before, during and after the trip to help them make sense of their travels and how the experience could shape their worldview.

“I just hope that they recognize that the world and business are increasingly global and connected,” Novak said. “Being able to navigate difference and build connections and have conversations with people that are so different than you is a powerful learning experience.”

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October 24, 2025
What’s in the post-16 white paper for postgraduate study?

The term “postgraduate” appears exactly 14 times in the Post-16 Education and Skills white paper : a clear improvement over 2021s Skills for Jobs (a mere two mentions in the appendix) and one more than 2016s Success as a Knowledge Economy (the one with the actual postgraduate student loans).

So it looks like, more so than I’d personally have expected, “post-16” really does include “postgraduate” for once. But what does that mean?

Fees & maintenance

The obvious place to start is with the big headline: the planned increase to maximum tuition fees in the next two parliaments and the legislation to enable this to happen automatically thereafter. There’s also the (re)commitment to increase maintenance loans each year (I’ll leave Jim to explain what’s wrong with that).

None of this really impacts postgraduate Masters and PhD students. Masters loans will also continue to increase with forecast inflation, but fees aren’t regulated and still aren’t properly monitored, despite promises to do so in 2016. PhD fees are largely shaped by the size of UKRI studentships, about which more below.

I do think it’s interesting to consider what these undergraduate changes will do to perceptions of postgraduate fees. Will the cost of an MA or MSc provoke less sticker shock once BA and BSc fees (very quickly) cross the £10k rubicon? Or will greater undergraduate student loan debt make another £13k or so for a Masters feel less palatable?

Personally, I think this stuff could end up mattering a lot, particularly if the government wants to improve postgraduate participation. Which apparently it does.

Postgraduate participation

We’re told that the government will “for the first time seek to address the barriers faced by disadvantaged students in accessing and succeeding at postgraduate level.”

It’s fascinating to think about what this actually means.

On access right now, little is known and less is done. There are some pockets of committed good work, often spotlighted here on Wonkhe and often supported by organisations like UKCGE (who I’m pleased to see will be funded to develop their involvement). But I can still point to data across our platforms demonstrating that postgraduate participation often looks very different to postgraduate interest.

Postgraduate success, meanwhile, isn’t included in OfS B3 metrics and there’s still no postgraduate TEF. That means that, whilst continuation to a Masters records a good outcome for a university, progression from there isn’t really evaluated. The closest we have is LEO, which, though cited as “one of the best data sources” to drive informed student choices, is a crude and lagged metric taking no account of someone’s background.

But what’s most intriguing is that all of this appears in relation to Access and Participation Plans.

APPs determine a university’s ability to charge the higher undergraduate fee level. Postgraduate fees aren’t regulated, which leads to some of the mess around postgraduate funding. What’s here clearly isn’t a proposal to start scrutinising and intervening around PG fees but – like several other parts of the white paper – talking in this way is a potential step towards fundamental change.

Home-grown PGR

The white paper actually has a lot more to say about PhDs than it does about Masters degrees. Here’s where we find the most specific references to barriers faced by disadvantaged students and to challenges faced within specific subject areas.

Here’s also where we find repeated references to a ‘home grown’ pipeline for UK research talent. Again, this is an interesting distinction to make. One of the few major interventions in PhD funding in recent years was the decision to open 30 per cent of UKRI studentships to international applicants from 2021. It hasn’t had a big impact on enrolments but it has meant more students – of all origins – competing for the same broad pot.

The specific policy is light here (lots of verbs like ‘explore’ and ‘consider’) but prioritising domestic PhDs leads naturally to thinking about interventions around domestic funding.

Elsewhere there are much clearer and very positive changes to medical and parental leave for UKRI-funded PhD students. This is explicitly framed as bringing conditions in line with employment law and therefore a step towards recognising that PhD students aren’t just students. Of course, this only applies directly to the relatively small proportion of students funded by UKRI.

Post 16 postgraduate

This is the first white paper in around ten years with a meaningful amount to say about postgraduate study. It does seem to understand what some of the key problems are and it seems to appreciate that PG is part of a joined-up system.

There are other questions to ask – there’s little on Masters study and the perverse quirk of the international fee levy robbing PG to pay for UG feels worth scrutinising – but for once the government is asking questions about PG too. That is a good thing.

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October 23, 2025
Protecting Every Marketing Dollar: How Collegis Helped Block $2.2M in Ad Waste with CHEQ [CASE STUDY]

CHEQ is trusted by more than 15,000 companies — from the Fortune 50 to emerging disruptors — to enable and protect each critical touchpoint in the evolving, human-AI customer journey. Powered by the only integrated Traffic, Threat, and Identity Intelligence Engine, CHEQ distinguishes legitimate users from bad actors — human, AI agent, or bot — and, in real-time, delivers granular, context-specific insights to marketing, commerce, and security platforms. With a best-in-class

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October 21, 2025
Texas Study Reveals Power of Combined Accelerated Programs for College Success

High school students who combine dual enrollment courses with Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate programs are significantly more likely to graduate from college and earn higher salaries in their early twenties than peers who pursue only one type of accelerated coursework, according to a new report from the Community College Research Center.

File photoThe study, which tracked Texas high school students expected to graduate in 2015-16 and 2016-17 for six years after high school, found that 71% of students who took both dual enrollment and AP/IB courses earned a postsecondary credential within six years—including 60% who completed a bachelor’s degree. By comparison, only 10% of students who took no accelerated coursework completed any postsecondary credential.

“Most dual enrollment students in Texas also take other accelerated courses, and those who do tend to have stronger college and earnings trajectories,” said Dr.Tatiana Velasco, CCRC senior research associate. “It’s a pattern we hadn’t fully appreciated before, which offers clues for how to expand the benefits of dual enrollment to more students.”

The financial benefits of combining accelerated programs extend well beyond graduation. Students who took both dual enrollment and AP/IB courses earned an average of $10,306 per quarter at age 24—more than $1,300 per quarter above students who took dual enrollment alone and nearly $1,400 per quarter more than those who took only AP/IB courses.

These advantages persisted even after researchers controlled for student demographics, test scores, and school characteristics, suggesting the combination of programs provides genuine educational value rather than simply reflecting differences in student backgrounds.

While the study revealed promising outcomes for students combining dual enrollment with career and technical education programs, participation in this pathway remains critically low. Fewer than 5% of students combine a CTE focus—defined as taking 10 or more CTE courses—with dual enrollment.

Yet those who do show remarkable success. By age 24, dual enrollment students with a CTE focus earned an average of $9,746 per quarter, substantially more than CTE-focused students who didn’t take dual enrollment ($8,097) and second only to the dual enrollment/AP-IB combination group.

The findings suggest a significant missed opportunity, particularly for students seeking technical career paths who could benefit from early college exposure while building specialized skills.

The report highlights concerning equity gaps in accelerated coursework access. Students who combine dual enrollment with AP/IB courses are less diverse than those taking AP/IB alone, raising questions about which students have opportunities to maximize the benefits of accelerated learning.

Early college high schools present a partial solution to this challenge. These specialized schools, where students can earn an associate degree while completing high school, serve more diverse student populations than other accelerated programs. Their graduates complete associate degrees at higher rates and earn more than Texas students overall by age 21. However, early college high schools serve only 5% of Texas students statewide.

With less than 40% of Texas students without accelerated coursework enrolling in any postsecondary institution, and only one in five Texas students taking dual enrollment, researchers see substantial room for expansion.

The report’s authors recommend that K-12 districts and colleges work to expand dual enrollment participation while ensuring these programs complement rather than compete with AP/IB offerings. They also call for increased access to dual enrollment for CTE students and additional support structures to promote student success in college-level coursework during high school.

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October 18, 2025
Some social emotional lessons improve how kids do at school, Yale study finds

Social emotional learning — lessons in soft skills like listening to people you disagree with or calming yourself down before a test — has become a flashpoint in the culture wars.

The conservative political group Moms for Liberty opposes SEL, as it is often abbreviated, telling parents that its “goal is to psychologically manipulate students to accept the progressive ideology that supports gender fluidity, sexual preference exploration, and systemic oppression.” Critics say that parents should discuss social and emotional matters at home and that schools should stick to academics. Meanwhile, some advocates on the left say standard SEL classes don’t go far enough and should include such topics as social justice and anti-racism training.

While the political battle rages on, academic researchers are marshalling evidence for what high-quality SEL programs actually deliver for students. The latest study, by researchers at Yale University, summarizes 12 years of evidence, from 2008 to 2020, and it finds that 30 different SEL programs, which put themselves through 40 rigorous evaluations involving almost 34,000 students, tended to produce “moderate” academic benefits.

Related: Our free weekly newsletter alerts you to what research says about schools and classrooms.

The meta-analysis, published online Oct. 8 in the peer-reviewed journal Review of Educational Research, calculated that the grades and test scores of students in SEL classes improved by about 4 percentile points, on average, compared with students who didn’t receive soft-skill instruction. That’s the equivalent of moving from the 50th percentile (in the middle) to the 54th percentile (slightly above average). Reading gains were larger (more than 6 percentile points) than math gains (fewer than 4 percentile points). Longer-duration SEL programs, extending more than four months, produced double the academic gains — more than 8 percentile points.

“Social emotional learning interventions are not designed, most of the time, to explicitly improve academic achievement,” said Christina Cipriano, one of the study’s four authors and an associate professor at Yale Medical School’s Child Study Center. “And yet we demonstrated, through our meta-analytic report, that explicit social emotional learning improved academic achievement and it improved both GPA and test scores.”

Cipriano also directs the Education Collaboratory at Yale, whose mission is to “advance the science of learning and social and emotional development.”

The academic boost from SEL in this 2025 paper is much smaller than the 11 percentile points documented in an earlier 2011 meta-analysis that summarized research through 2007, when SEL had not yet gained widespread popularity in schools. That has since changed. More than 80 percent of principals of K-12 schools said their schools used an SEL curriculum during the 2023-24 school year, according to a survey by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) and the RAND Corporation.

Related: A research update on social-emotional learning in schools

The Yale researchers only studied a small subset of the SEL market, programs that subjected themselves to a rigorous evaluation and included academic outcomes. Three-quarters of the 40 studies were randomized-controlled trials, similar to pharmaceutical trials, where schools or teachers were randomly assigned to teach an SEL curriculum. The remaining studies, in which schools or teachers volunteered to participate, still had control groups of students so that researchers could compare the academic gains of students who did not receive SEL instruction.

The SEL programs in the Yale study taught a wide range of soft skills, from mindfulness and anger management to resolving conflicts and setting goals. It is unclear which soft skills are driving the academic gains. That’s an area for future research.

“Developmentally, when we think about what we know about how kids learn, emotional regulation is really the driver,” said Cipriano. “No matter how good that curriculum or that math program or reading curriculum is, if a child is feeling unsafe or anxious or stressed out or frustrated or embarrassed, they’re not available to receive the instruction, however great that teacher might be.”

Cipriano said that effective programs give students tools to cope with stressful situations. She offered the example of a pop quiz, from the perspective of a student. “You can recognize, I’m feeling nervous, my blood is rushing to my hands or my face, and I can use my strategies of counting to 10, thinking about what I know, and use positive self talk to be able to regulate, to be able to take my test,” she said.

Related: A cheaper, quicker approach to social-emotional learning?

The strongest evidence for SEL is in elementary school, where the majority of evaluations have been conducted (two-thirds of the 40 studies). For young students, SEL lessons tend to be short but frequent, for example, 10 minutes a day. There’s less evidence for middle and high school SEL programs because they haven’t been studied as much. Typically, preteens and teens have less frequent but longer sessions, a half hour or even 90 minutes, weekly or monthly.

Cipriano said that schools don’t need to spend “hours and hours” on social and emotional instruction in order to see academic benefits. A current trend is to incorporate or embed social and emotional learning within academic instruction, as part of math class, for example. But none of the underlying studies in this paper evaluated whether this was a more effective way to deliver SEL. All of the programs in this study were separate stand-alone SEL lessons.

Advice to schools

Schools are inundated by sales pitches from SEL vendors. Estimates of the market size range wildly, but a half dozen market research firms put it above $2 billion annually. Not all SEL programs are necessarily effective or can be expected to produce the academic gains that the Yale team calculated.

Cipriano advises schools not to be taken in by slick marketing. Many of the effective programs have no marketing at all and some are free. Unfortunately, some of these programs have been discontinued or have transformed through ownership changes. But she says school leaders can ask questions about which specific skills the SEL program claims to foster, whether those skills will help the district achieve its goals, such as improving school climate, and whether the program has been externally evaluated.

“Districts invest in things all the time that are flashy and pretty, across content areas, not just SEL,” said Cipriano. “It may never have had an external evaluation, but has a really great social media presence and really great marketing.”

Cipriano has also built a new website, improvingstudentoutcomes.org, to track the latest research on SEL effectiveness and to help schools identify proven programs.

Cipriano says parents should be asking questions too. “Parents should be partners in learning,” said Cipriano. “I have four kids, and I want to know what they’re learning about in school.”

This meta-analysis probably won’t stop the SEL critics who say that these programs force educators to be therapists. Groups like Moms for Liberty, which holds its national summit this week, say teachers should stick to academics. This paper rejects that dichotomy because it suggests that emotions, social interaction and academics are all interlinked.

Before criticizing all SEL programs, educators and parents need to consider the evidence.

Contact staff writer Jill Barshay at 212-678-3595, jillbarshay.35 on Signal, or [email protected].

This story about SEL benefits was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Proof Points and other Hechinger newsletters.

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October 13, 2025