How universities decide who to admit for undergraduate programs is becoming increasingly intertwined with immigration criteria, raising concerns around equity and transparency. With Canadian universities heavily reliant on tuition fees from international students, immigration factors like the likelihood of receiving a study permit are taking on greater weight in admissions decisions.
The federal government recently implemented a system capping the number of study permit approval letters that provinces can issue each year. This has forced universities to be more strategic in converting admission offers to fee-paying international students. Several institutions are now working with for-profit edtech companies that claim to use artificial intelligence to predict an applicant’s likelihood of receiving a study permit.
According to reports, some Ontario universities are already utilizing these services to help determine which international applicants to accept based on their perceived immigration approval odds. This challenges fundamental principles around equitable access to higher education and could impact campus diversity.
Study permit approval rates vary significantly by country of origin, with 2021 figures showing rates as low as 34% for Nigerian applicants compared to 84% for Chinese applicants. Admissions officers must now weigh complex factors like assessing whether a student is “bona fide” and has strong enough ties to their home country.
The rise of AI-driven systems to evaluate these immigration criteria on universities’ behalf raises transparency concerns. The data sources, algorithms, and profit models used by edtech companies remain opaque “black boxes.” There are also issues around the mass collection of applicant personal data and the lack of regulation around commissioned recruitment agents.
While both university admissions and immigration systems inherently involve some discrimination in selection processes, explicitly allowing immigration interests rather than academic merit to determine the makeup of a student body is potentially problematic. By prioritizing applicants with higher projected study permit approval odds, the diversity of international enrollment and the future pool of Canadian immigrants could be reduced.
To uphold principles of equitable access, experts argue provinces should publicize institutional study permit allocations and the federal government should disclose any applicant data shared with private companies. The edtech firms should also provide transparency around their algorithms, data use, and financial models. However, the underlying issue remains the chronic underfunding of public higher education in Canada.
