[LINK] "American brains are Canada's gain"

[rfmcdonald]

In The Globe and Mail, Elizabeth Church suggests that Canadian schools are starting to attract significantly larger contingents of American students thanks to lower education and other costs.

Libby MacCarthy had never been to Canada when she applied to Dalhousie University at the suggestion of a friend. After a campus visit during a cold snap in April, the Maine native was still undecided about the merits of a Canadian education.

But when the offer from her top U.S. choice arrived without a promise of financial aid, the annual $25,000 (U.S.) difference in cost made up her mind.

"Canadian universities are like hidden gems," said the 21-year-old, who starts her fourth year in Halifax in September. "A lot of them are Ivy League-quality schools and they are just a lot less expensive."

At a time when many U.S families are finding they have fewer dollars than they expected to spend on higher education, the price of a Canadian undergraduate degree is looking attractive.

That feeling is being fuelled by increased marketing from the Canadian government and more interest by Canadian schools, drawn to the American market as a way to maintain enrolment, attract more tuition dollars and give their campus a more international outlook.

Signs of that push are showing up this spring. Many schools say their U.S. applications are up, and so is the number of students saying yes to offers.

"The U.S. is one of our target areas, no question," said Asa Kachan, the registrar at Dalhousie, where applications from American students are up 14 per cent this year.

In a province with 11 universities and a declining high-school population, Ms. Kachan says attracting foreign students is vital. The school does that by tapping into networks of U.S. guidance counsellors and sending staff to key high schools. Foreign students account for 8 per cent of enrolment, but Dalhousie wants to raise that to 10 or 12 per cent.