Acceptance revoked for many international students after NBCC deadline change
CBC
Adebayo Ogunleye's phone has been ringing off the hook almost daily for three months.
As president of the Nigerian-Canadian Association of New Brunswick, he's getting messages from concerned Nigerian international students applying to the New Brunswick Community College.
A deadline change for international students to submit immigration documents to NBCC — after they were already accepted — led to the college cancelling their admission.
Additionally, the college has stopped accepting applications from students from Nigeria and Ghana for the 2024-2025 school year.
"Definitely the trust is broken," said Ogunleye, whose list of impacted students has reached about 40.
"This affects students in terms of their career, it has also affected them psychologically because the career is hanging [on] the opportunity for them to forward their education," Ogunleye said.
International students applying to start at NBCC in January were initially given a deadline of Dec. 8 to submit proof of a study permit, the government visa allowing them into the country.
But by September, NBCC had changed this deadline to Nov. 17. Delays at the federal level to issue study permits meant the students did not receive their study permits by the new date.
A screenshot of the NBCC website, showing the new Nov. 17 deadline, says: "Any documents received after this time will be considered late, resulting in the cancellation of your application and admission."
On Nov. 20, just days after the moved-up deadline passed, the college sent emails to the students who could not submit their study permits in time.
Their acceptance had been cancelled.
"The decision is final," the email said.
But any possibility to re-apply or defer to the following semester, fall 2024, was also off the table, because of the cap on admitting any more Nigerian students.
CBC News received a letter signed by 21 Nigerian students applying to NBCC, who had all been affected by the deadline change, but none were comfortable giving an interview.
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