Scholarships withdrawn: Algoma U scrambles to replace 260 departing Saudis

Facing significant enrolment declines among post-millennials and international students, Algoma University has embarked on a bold plan to find enough new learners to stabilize its student population within two years.

Algoma U President Craig Chamberlin said last week that his biggest short-term enrolment challenge involves Saudi Arabian students.

More than 300 Saudis have come to Algoma on generous King Abdullah scholarships funded by the Saudi government.

But the scholarship program is being retooled to support students at the world's 200 best universities, and Algoma is no longer on the list of approved schools and programs.

There are currently 259 full-time equivalent Saudi students at Algoma University.

That's expected to drop to close to zero within three years, President Chamberlin told a board of governors meeting last Thursday.

"Saudi Arabia has cancelled the program," Chamberlin told reporters later.

"These poor students now, they're being supported through to the end of their programs. But there's no new  students coming into the program because it's no longer being offered."

Saudi Arabia sends more students to Algoma University than any other nation, by far.

The second-most-common nationality among Algoma U international students is China, with just 48 scholars.

Twenty-three students hail from Nigeria, 16 from Japan, nine from Bangladesh, seven from India, four from the United States, three each from Sri Lanka and Ghana, two from Pakistan, one from a non-Saudi Persian Gulf nation and 13 from other small countries.

Algoma University recruiters are also facing a longer-term, province-wide challenge involving the Post-Millennial Generation, also known as Generation Z, iGen, ReGen or the Homeland Generation.

"The number of 18-to-20-year-olds in Ontario started to decline in 2014," Chamberlin said in a written report prepared with assistance from Brent Krmpotich, Algoma U director of student recruitment.

"This trend is expected to continue until 2021, when this age group will be at 89 percent of its 2013 level." the president said.

"In all regions except the Greater Toronto Area, the population of 18-to-20-year-olds in 2036 is expected to remain below 2013 levels."

How Algoma U plans to stabilize its enrolment

The strategy developed by Krmpotich and Chamberlin calls for a strong focus on recruiting students in the Greater Toronto Area and overseas.

"Recruiters will spend more time attending university and college fairs in the GTA and less time visiting small- and  medium-sized communities in regions with declining demographics," their report states.

"The only region in the province experiencing population growth is the GTA. The GTA accounts for 49 percent of the 18-to-20-year-old population in Ontario and contributes 60 percent of the intake from Ontario."

"The demographics in most Canadian provinces are as bad or worse than Ontario's so looking for students in other provinces is not likely to be successful. Algoma will focus on recruiting more students from international markets we are currently engaged in as well as developing new international markets."

As for Anishinaabe students, Algoma U has noticed that most of its students arrive via community college or apply as mature students.

"Based on the makeup of Algoma's current Anishinaabe student body, we will shift our focus from visiting secondary schools to visiting colleges and adult learning centres," the strategy states. 

The following country profiles are excerpted from President Chamberlin's plan for student recruitment:

Nigeria