Date:27/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/27/stories/2008122757281800.htm

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Cash-strapped families look to colleges in Canada

Peter Schworm

Over the years, Americans have often turned to their northern neighbour in times of need or convenience, whether to evade the draft or buy prescription drugs. Now, as the U.S. economy heads south, growing ranks of New England students are looking north to Canada as a college destination.

Colleges in eastern Canada report mounting interest this fall among high school seniors from the north-east, with a stronger U.S. dollar making already low tuition costs for Americans.

Although applications for the next academic year are not due , schools from Toronto to Halifax say many students in the Boston area and throughout the region are drawn by the allure of an international college experience relatively close to home.

Dalhousie University in Halifax said requests for information from New England students have tripled this fall. McGill University in Montreal, where 100 students from Massachusetts enrolled this fall, and the University of Toronto have seen a new level of interest from across the border.The Canadian dollar’s “decline is unfortunate for us, but good for American students,” said Adam Lotesto, a recruitment officer at the University of Toronto. “They can have a great education at a great value.”— New York Times News Service