In our day-to-day professional work in international education, we all struggle to manage information flow, identify opportunities, synthesize possible solutions, and act appropriately to better ourselves, our audiences, and our world. To help in this often overwhelming task, Social Media & International Education (SMIE) Consulting offers this free weekly e-news brief to share our perspectives and to provide some wisdom along the way. Happy reading!
- TikTok is back under the US government microscope after concerns raised again about security concerns. So significant is this concern that EducationUSA, under State Department guidance, has not yet opened an account to connect with students.
- If you have ability to control your own international admissions web pages, connecting those pages to your social accounts is paramount. This piece from Social Media Explorer explains the easy ways to cross-promote your web and social links.
- If you’re actively using LinkedIn in your intl student recruitment (whether with counselors, influencers, or potential institutional partners), leveraging content creator tools is essential. Social Media Examiner explains how.
- In higher ed, we’ve gotten use to using Facebook ads to drive traffic, but is it the right kind of traffic. Here’s an interesting look at how to optimize your ads for the ideal web conversions.
International Education News
- What are we to expect coming out of the EducationUSA Forum this year? Here are my thoughts on why I’m disappointed by some of the takeaways from the first in-person Forum since 2019. While relationships were renewed, hopes were not.
- In the post-pandemic work world we live in, what are the intl ed challenges in hiring (and satisfying new staff) in market where top, preferred candidates may be slim pickings? Interesting thoughts from the team at Intead.
- How does the outgoing CEO of NAFSA Esther Brimmer see the future of US high tech? It’s not in chip legislation currently proposed, but rather in the hundreds of thousands of international students seeking places at US colleges.
- What immigration-related items in the recent reconciliation defense bill passed through the House last week? Precious few unfortunately. What did make it was a path forward for the “documented dreamers.”
- Though this article is written from the perspective of UK universities, the recommendations for how institutions can impact positively the lives of the international students in their care are both timely and entirely on point.
- In a recent INTO agent survey of 1400+ participants in 80 countries reflect strong growth to to most major English-speaking destinations, with a particular motivating factor being the opportunity for post-study work.
- It looks like Iraqi and US institutions will be strengthening research and exchange collaborations after recent talks between the US ambassador and Iraqi minister of higher education and research.
- In the recent i-graduate’s International Student Barometer research findings, “Almost all surveyed first-year students – 96% – said that they chose where to study based on the future career impact they believed this choice would have…. In addition, students’ estimation of what they would earn after graduating has become more important to their study abroad decision-making over the years.”
- Australia - The English language industry Down Under (like most in the western world) had sunk to 20 year lows during 2021, but a rebound seems to be underway.
- Australia - Latin American students are now back on Australia’s radar: “the Study Australia Experience (SAE) website was launched in January 2022, with content translated into Spanish and Portuguese. The website features 30 Australian education institutions and provides practical advice about studying in Australia, including student video testimonials.”
- Canada - In Canada, much like in Australia and the US, language schools took another drop in 2021 (12%) but not as steep a decline as 2020 (56%). The future, however, looks to be bright.
- Canada - Not a good sign for Indian students (Canada’s current #1 source of international students) hoping to study north of the border as study permit denials have risen from 15-20% to between 40-50% in 2022.
- Canada - While the number of study permit holders in Canada now exceeds pre-pandemic levels, huge backlogs are stalling a full recovery and upward trajectory for international student growth.
- New Zealand - In a day that intl students thought would never come, New Zealand has finally reopened its borders to fully vaccinated student visa holders, who will no longer need to quarantine on arrival. Let’s see if students will come back in numbers.
- United Kingdom - Anyone reading this article about a STEM shortage of talent in the UK will see similar arguments made as to why international students need to be part of the solution in the US.
- United Kingdom - The UK is also seeing a bit of a backlog with its visa approval system with the current wait is around 30 days from application to visa approval, about a week longer than what is predicted by UKVI offices.
If you’d like a more in-depth analysis of the main news stories each week, check out our Midweek Roundup international education live chat on Wednesday at 1pm ET on the SMIE Consulting Facebook page, YouTube channel, Twitter feed, and LinkedIn. A podcast version is available as well on all major podcast provider platforms.
