Photo Rights: Fanshawe College Website
A huge blow at Fanshawe College, where the facility will suspend 40 programs this fall in response to a sharp decline in enrollment. This stems from the federal government imposing limits on how many on the number of international students the school can accept.
Five of the programs are based out of the St. Thomas Elgin Regional campus: BIM and Integrated Practice (also suspended in London); Child and Youth Care (will continue in London); Construction Project Management (also suspended in London); Mechanical Engineering Technician – CNC/CAM; and Mechanical Engineering Technician – Tool and Die.
Fanshawe expects a 64% drop in international students by next year, according to an earlier statement by President Peter Devlin. Fanshawe had one of Ontario’s highest international student populations, with approximately 11,700 permits approved in 2023. However, that number has been cut by more than half due to new federal visa restrictions. International students typically pay about twice the tuition of domestic students.
On Tuesday, staff meetings were held across Fanshawe’s campuses to communicate the program suspensions. Other Ontario colleges have already announced similar measures, giving students and staff time to prepare for the upcoming academic year.
Programs affected include advanced police studies, applied aerospace manufacturing, broadcasting, business management, cannabis applied science, construction project management, fine art, journalism, public relations, and retirement residence management.
Fanshawe officials emphasized that while the programs are suspended, they may return in the future.
The full list of suspended programs – those that are not accepting new students and have no confirmed return date but will allow current students to finish their studies – is available at this link https://www.fanshawec.ca/admissions-finance/program-suspensions
Written by Chris Soares and Ian McCallum
