Latest news with #EricCrampton
Kiwiblog
13-06-2025
- Business
- Kiwiblog
We should target US international students
Eric Crampton writes: And so, New Zealand universities have the chance to do well while doing good. The case is simplest for students who have not yet begun US studies and are stuck in limbo with a pause in America's processing of F-1 student visas, or who just want to get out of the US. New Zealand could clearly advertise that any student accepted into an American university but who are having second thoughts about it will face simplified processing for a New Zealand student visa. And students who already have their American F-1 student visa could also be offered speedier, simplified NZ student visa processes. Students part way through their US degrees but nervous about being there next year may prefer to spend a couple of semesters here as study-abroad rather than as a full transfer. New Zealand's universities already handle study-abroad. It's a well-trodden path. Reminding students in American universities that this option is available could be very worthwhile. Tuition fees in the US are much higher than here. Simplified Immigration New Zealand processes for students already accepted to US universities should mean lower processing costs. The processing charge enabling Immigration New Zealand to do the job should be small when compared with the tuition fee difference between the two countries. … Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's pledge to double export earnings had seemed more than a little aspirational. But international education is an export service. The world's biggest provider of that service is in disarray. Doubling the number of international students served by New Zealand universities would previously have meant lowering standards. Now it could mean attracting excellent students who wouldn't have previously considered New Zealand – while helping a lot of people put into very bad circumstances. Doing well while doing good seems worth trying. This is an excellent idea, that the Government should pursue with urgency. We do indeed have a huge opportunity as foreign students in the US face great uncertainty. Having them enrol in NZ universities would benefit them and benefit us.
RNZ News
10-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Harvard's bonfire could be NZ's foreign student exchange
Harvard University's graduation day takes place amid escalating tensions between the university and the Trump administration. Photo: Getty via AFP One of the world's best universities, a magnet for the globe's brightest brains, is under attack by the Trump administration. And while Harvard is fighting various funding restrictions and bans on foreign student visas, harsher policies on America's borders are creating fear from returning students that they could be arrested by immigration officers and jailed or deported. International students are big money-makers for universities worldwide - in New Zealand they pay four times the amount in fees as domestic students. "We could be doing well while doing good," says the chief economist at the policy think-tank The New Zealand Initiative, Dr Eric Crampton. "It's amazing that America's throwing all this away. "We aren't the destination market for the best students in the world. But if the place that is the destination for the best students in the world suddenly says 'we don't want them any more' - my God we'd better be ready for that," he tells The Detail . Crampton is Canadian, but spent time in the US on a student visa so knows what it's like to study there. He's also taught at Canterbury University and has experience with exchange students. He says the American administration has now basically put every student visa under threat, with erratic threats coming from the President, whether over funding or threats to Chinese students on the basis that "they're all spies or something". Trump's move to bar international students from Harvard by blocking their visas has itself now been blocked by a court order , but the situation remains uncertain. At the same time foreign students are getting nervous about leaving the country and trying to get back in, with reports about people randomly getting arrested at the border. The hit to the US economy is expected to cost billions in revenue, and has been described as an "anti-intellectual spree". "When you live in America on something like a student visa, every interaction with the state you're reminded that you're less than an American. Even in 2002 it was very clear that you are there by their sufferance. "It would be awful being there now on a student visa because just imagine it ... you'd be paying $US50,000 per year in international tuition fees, maybe you've already paid for two years of study and you're coming towards the end of it ... and you've got two more years ahead of you ... if they cancel your visa you've wasted $100,000 and two years. "If you're at a place like Harvard, people wouldn't hold it against you, you could continue your studies elsewhere. People would say 'well, he was admitted to Harvard, he must be really good', but if you're at a mid-tier US university - which is still better than anything New Zealand has - you'll have sunk two years' worth of study and $100,000 worth of cost, and you won't be able to finish your degree. "It feels like the kind of spot where New Zealand could help. We've always been able to accommodate students on international exchange. We could make it really easy for students to come in that way." Universities New Zealand chief executive Chris Whelan says New Zealand is nearly back up to pre-Covid numbers of foreign students, with our eight universities having about 20 thousand full time equivalent students between them. "International students help, but they're just one of a number of different mechanisms that universities are looking to for making payroll and keeping lights on," he says. "We don't want to grow too far ... we want international education to be a genuinely quality and value proposition for both domestic students - giving them the ability to rub shoulders with people from different cultures - but also for the international students, to give them a genuine international experience. "But if any student did want to, or was forced to, discontinue their studies in the US, there are places like New Zealand that I think would welcome them and would make it as easy as possible for them to get here." Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here . You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter .
Newsroom
10-06-2025
- Business
- Newsroom
America's foreign student fiasco
One of the world's best universities, a magnet for the globe's brightest brains, is under attack by the Trump administration. And while Harvard is fighting various funding restrictions and bans on foreign student visas, harsher policies on America's borders are creating fear from returning students that they could be arrested by immigration officers and jailed or deported. International students are big money-makers for universities worldwide – in New Zealand they pay four times the amount in fees as domestic students. 'We could be doing well while doing good,' says the chief economist at the policy think-tank The New Zealand Initiative, Dr Eric Crampton. 'It's amazing that America's throwing all this away. 'We aren't the destination market for the best students in the world. But if the place that is the destination for the best students in the world suddenly says 'We don't want them any more' – my God we'd better be ready for that,' he tells The Detail. Crampton is Canadian, but spent time in the US on a student visa so knows what it's like to study there. He's also taught at Canterbury University and has experience with exchange students. He says the American administration has now basically put every student visa under threat, with erratic threats coming from the President, whether over funding or threats to Chinese students on the basis that 'they're all spies or something'. Trump's move to bar international students from Harvard by blocking their visas has itself now been blocked by a court order, but the situation remains uncertain. At the same time foreign students are getting nervous about leaving the country and trying to get back in, with reports about people getting arrested randomly at the border. The hit to the US economy is expected to cost billions in revenue, and has been described as an 'anti-intellectual spree'. 'When you live in America on something like a student visa, every interaction with the state you're reminded that you're less than an American. Even in 2002 it was very clear that you are there by their sufferance. 'It would be awful being there now on a student visa because just imagine it … you'd be paying $US50,000 per year in international tuition fees, maybe you've already paid for two years of study and you're coming towards the end of it … and you've got two more years ahead of you … if they cancel your visa you've wasted $100,000 and two years. 'If you're at a place like Harvard, people wouldn't hold it against you, you could continue your studies elsewhere. People would say 'Well, he was admitted to Harvard, he must be really good', but if you're at a mid-tier US university – which is still better than anything New Zealand has – you'll have sunk two years' worth of study and $100,000 worth of cost, and you won't be able to finish your degree. 'It feels like the kind of spot where New Zealand could help. We've always been able to accommodate students on international exchange. We could make it really easy for students to come in that way.' Universities New Zealand chief executive Chris Whelan says New Zealand is nearly back up to pre-Covid numbers of foreign students, with our eight universities having about 20,000 full-time equivalent students between them. 'International students help, but they're just one of a number of different mechanisms that universities are looking to for making payroll and keeping lights on,' he says. 'We don't want to grow too far … we want international education to be a genuinely quality and value proposition for both domestic students – giving them the ability to rub shoulders with people from different cultures – but also for the international students, to give them a genuine international experience. 'But if any student did want to, or was forced to, discontinue their studies in the US, there are places like New Zealand that I think would welcome them and would make it as easy as possible for them to get here.' Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here. You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.
RNZ News
10-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
America's foreign student fiasco
Harvard University's graduation day takes place amid escalating tensions between the university and the Trump administration. Photo: Getty via AFP One of the world's best universities, a magnet for the globe's brightest brains, is under attack by the Trump administration. And while Harvard is fighting various funding restrictions and bans on foreign student visas, harsher policies on America's borders are creating fear from returning students that they could be arrested by immigration officers and jailed or deported. International students are big money-makers for universities worldwide - in New Zealand they pay four times the amount in fees as domestic students. "We could be doing well while doing good," says the chief economist at the policy think-tank The New Zealand Initiative, Dr Eric Crampton. "It's amazing that America's throwing all this away. "We aren't the destination market for the best students in the world. But if the place that is the destination for the best students in the world suddenly says 'we don't want them any more' - my God we'd better be ready for that," he tells The Detail . Crampton is Canadian, but spent time in the US on a student visa so knows what it's like to study there. He's also taught at Canterbury University and has experience with exchange students. He says the American administration has now basically put every student visa under threat, with erratic threats coming from the President, whether over funding or threats to Chinese students on the basis that "they're all spies or something". Trump's move to bar international students from Harvard by blocking their visas has itself now been blocked by a court order , but the situation remains uncertain. At the same time foreign students are getting nervous about leaving the country and trying to get back in, with reports about people randomly getting arrested at the border. The hit to the US economy is expected to cost billions in revenue, and has been described as an "anti-intellectual spree". "When you live in America on something like a student visa, every interaction with the state you're reminded that you're less than an American. Even in 2002 it was very clear that you are there by their sufferance. "It would be awful being there now on a student visa because just imagine it ... you'd be paying $US50,000 per year in international tuition fees, maybe you've already paid for two years of study and you're coming towards the end of it ... and you've got two more years ahead of you ... if they cancel your visa you've wasted $100,000 and two years. "If you're at a place like Harvard, people wouldn't hold it against you, you could continue your studies elsewhere. People would say 'well, he was admitted to Harvard, he must be really good', but if you're at a mid-tier US university - which is still better than anything New Zealand has - you'll have sunk two years' worth of study and $100,000 worth of cost, and you won't be able to finish your degree. "It feels like the kind of spot where New Zealand could help. We've always been able to accommodate students on international exchange. We could make it really easy for students to come in that way." Universities New Zealand chief executive Chris Whelan says New Zealand is nearly back up to pre-Covid numbers of foreign students, with our eight universities having about 20 thousand full time equivalent students between them. "International students help, but they're just one of a number of different mechanisms that universities are looking to for making payroll and keeping lights on," he says. "We don't want to grow too far ... we want international education to be a genuinely quality and value proposition for both domestic students - giving them the ability to rub shoulders with people from different cultures - but also for the international students, to give them a genuine international experience. "But if any student did want to, or was forced to, discontinue their studies in the US, there are places like New Zealand that I think would welcome them and would make it as easy as possible for them to get here." Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here . You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter .
Scoop
05-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
A Fast-Track To Stronger Grocery Competition
Press Release – The New Zealand Initiative The Initiatives Chief Economist Dr Eric Crampton added, The underlying problem has always been regulatory structures that make new entry practically impossible. Fixing that real problem makes far more sense than break-ups that risk increasing … Wellington (Thursday, 29 May 2025) – The government has viewed stronger retail grocery competition as a national priority. But zoning, consenting, and overseas investment approval processes make new entry far too difficult. The New Zealand Initiative today showed how to open New Zealand's markets to more competition. It released drafting instructions for a Fast-track Supermarket Entry and Expansion Omnibus Bill, which would rapidly approve retail grocery developments at scale and cut through complex barriers that are preventing new supermarket chains from entering the New Zealand market. The proposed Fast-Track pathway would: Streamline rezoning, consenting and investment clearance processes for a set of new stores and associated warehouses as a package, providing decisions within months; Override obstructive planning regulations; Open New Zealand's grocery sector to the real possibility of a new competitor; Disappear when resource management reform has made the pathway irrelevant. Proposal author Dr Benno Blaschke said, 'New Zealand has a lot of fast-track regimes, but none of them can give a single, timely decision for complex projects across multiple councils. Our process achieves this and has been crafted for policy officials and legislative drafters to pick up and run with.' Dr Blaschke explains, 'Fixing the rules of the game allows the competitive process to unfold. If there are super-profits in grocery retail, opening the market lets new entrants compete for them while providing better service to consumers.' The Initiative's Chief Economist Dr Eric Crampton added, 'The underlying problem has always been regulatory structures that make new entry practically impossible. Fixing that real problem makes far more sense than break-ups that risk increasing prices for consumers.' The New Zealand Initiative is supported by businesses in its membership, including two supermarket chains. Our proposal would explicitly prevent existing major supermarket chains from using this fast-track process for at least five years, reserving the pathway for new entrants and smaller competitors before enabling existing chains to engage in more strenuous head-to-head competition. Dr Benno Blaschke and Dr Eric Crampton explore this research note in the latest New Zealand Initiative podcast. Listen here.
