BridgeU In Brief: w/c 3rd October

Good morning

What's really driving international students' decision making?

Would it surprise you to know that there is no single answer to this question?

Probably not. But what's more interesting is how the answer to the question changes depending on the region of the world you're talking about.

For example, we often talk about the increasingly diverse range of higher education options at students' fingertips, and how difficult it can be for tomorrow's international undergraduates to sift through the many institutions, degree programmes and career paths that open up before them.

But this problem of choice takes on a different manifestation in a Middle Eastern country like the UAE, compared to a Latin American country like Colombia.

Why? Because the international schools market and indeed international higher education infrastructure is more established in the Middle East than it is in parts of Central and South America.

In a recent webinar, we explored how 89% of the international student population in UAE are expats (or, what has come to be known in international education as 'third culture kids')

These students may already have lived in several countries in young life and are likely to hold more than one passport. So, when the time comes to explore their higher education options, these students are often much more aware of the options at their fingertips.

Contrast this with their counterparts in countries across the Americas, where an emerging international schools markets makes it more likely that students (and indeed their counsellors and teachers) will need guidance to help them choose the right country and the right institution for them.

Let's take a second example - the role of parents in the university application process.

For parents in Asia Pacific countries, we learned that one of their key concerns is the safety of their son/daughter when going to study at an institution that's several time zones away. But for parents in countries across Central and South America, it's more often the case that they need to be consulted in their child's university application process for financial planning purposes.

As international recruitment season gathers momentum, these regional variations serve as an important reminder as to why universities need localised recruitment strategies, and offer vital insights into how your admissions team can adapt accordingly.

What's new at BridgeU

• What does success look like for today's international undergraduates? We reflect on a recent webinar that we held with reps and current international students at the University of York and the University of Liverpool
• Don't forget you can watch our entire webinar series on 'How To Build Your International Schools Network' on our Events page.
• We're offering you a personalised data snapshot of 2023 international applicants' interest in your institution for the next few months. Click here to request yours.

What's caught our eye this week

• University World News report on why, for the UK higher education sector, there's no sign of things returning to 'normal' in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic
• Julian Hare, a columnist for the Australian Financial Review, has written an interesting article arguing that current regulatory structures and tuition fee models is embedding uniformity between Australian universities, preventing them from creating a truly diverse and varied higher education experience for international applicants.

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