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Fanshawe College is preparing for the 2025 school year with thousands fewer international students

Fanshawe College is preparing for the 2025 school year with thousands fewer international students

The president of Fanshawe College predicts the school will have around 5,000 fewer international students next semester, which will impact the college’s financial results.

Peter Devlin said the decline in first-year enrollment will continue into the spring semester, which will impact the number of classes offered in each program.

“I can share with reasonable confidence today that we are forecasting a 47 percent reduction in Tier 1 international student enrollment for January and a 39 percent reduction for May enrollment,” Devlin wrote in an email to internal staff obtained by CBŚ News.

The university’s international student population has increased significantly in recent years, with approximately 11,700 permits issued in 2023 and 2024, meaning the third-largest number among Canadian post-secondary institutions. In 2018, the school was attended by just over 4,000 foreign students.

The federal government has placed a cap on the admission of international students amid concerns that large numbers of students are contributing to housing shortages and high rents. The new target for 2025 and 2026 will be 437,000. permits throughout the country.

The province also ordered that some “priority programs,” such as early childhood education and health and social services, must include a minimum number of international students, while for some one-year business management programs, foreign enrollment will require a two-year gap.

“Fanshawe is conducting a thorough review of our current programming offerings and comparing them to criteria established by the federal and provincial governments,” Devlin wrote. He said the task is to determine which quality programs allow for postgraduate work.

Devlin said outside consulting firm StrategyCorp was hired to conduct an independent review of Fanshawe College’s operations to identify savings.

“This review is being funded by the provincial government and there will be stakeholder consultation and opportunities for engagement. I expect the review to be completed by March 2025.” – Devlin wrote.

He told staff that despite the uncertain period, he was confident the college would continue to achieve long-term success.