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!
- How much does your international admissions invest in customer service? How do you get there? This Intead blog shares how significant mapping your student personas can be to serve incoming international students effectively.
- If you’re eager to learn about student recruitment in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Pakistan, Egypt, and Oman, you will want to join this Tuesday’s webinar from the folks at IDP Connect.
- We all know internationalization is more than simply enrolling more students from abroad. How to do that well and add value is no easy feat. This PIE webinar focuses on how the University of Hull in the UK has done it.
- How is your institution supplementing the education received by students taking online classes? This ICEF podcast asks the questions of how you can truly enhance what students get from their experience outside the online class.
- The bipartisan push to get TikTok in check in the United States widens to include a Democratic senator urging both Apple and Google to remove the short-form video sharing platform from their app stores.
- Anyone doing marketing abroad knows countries have their own peculiarities to account for before blindly slinging dollars (or yen) in social ads, SEO, and digital marketing. This Webcertain guide on Japan will help understand the land of the rising sun.
- With all the ChatGPT talk going around, social media marketers can be forgiven for exploring how AI writer and design tools can help with content creation. This Social Media Examiner article shares some excellent advice on this topic.
International Education News
- For most international enrollment managers, we know diversification is a priority. This ICEF Monitor article on a Studyportals report on what the top 14 source markets includes some curious ones for US colleges: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Syria.
- Should US institutions be doing more to protect Chinese students? Yes. This line rings true: “Although the US now is focused on equity, diversity and inclusion, most of the time EDI does not include international student population.”
- One thing is clear with the layoffs many intl ed tech companies have experienced in recent weeks, too few have been realistic with growth expectations, and clearly too many pushed the boat out too far, too fast.
- Of all the universities rankings out there, the most international universities list is one that seems most out of sync with reality. Small countries with multiple active intl ed neighbors always rise to the top of this THE list.
- Are elite western universities continuing to perpetuate ethnic, racial, and class distinctions? This report by a University of Birmingham professor suggests, sadly, they do, because there is little done to equip disadvantaged students properly.
Solutions Central
- For those following the direct admissions phenomenon in the US, the early returns this year are quite promising with many participating colleges meeting or exceeding their goals to help them diversify. Now, will they yield come the spring?
- First-year student enrollments were up for the first time this past fall since before the pandemic. With the pending demographic cliff, will this trend continue, or will it be a minor blip? Depends on where colleges put the emphasis on recruiting.
- I think it’s fair to say that standardized tests, particularly for undergraduate admissions, are fading into the sunset. More than 80% don’t require them, and only 4% of Common app colleges do.
- The ways international students can document their English proficiency are expanding every year. With additional tests, more holistic approaches to evaluating prior studies like the type of curriculum, language of instruction, and nation of education can be used.
- US embassy and consulate officials in India expect not only to surpass the number of student visas issued in last year’s record 125,000 in 2023, but to be back up over pre-pandemic overall adjudications. They will need to, in order to meet demand.
- Australia - International student work hours in Australia have been brought back to 40 per 2 weeks with university staff encouraging this return to sanity. Why? “It is also critical that Australia actively works to maintain its enviable reputation for quality and not allow international student talent to become perceived as a proxy migrant workforce.”
- Australia - Chinese students who had been taking online courses are being forced to return to Australia in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, they are up against a visa backlog as 40K attempt to get back down under before classes begin this month.
- Canada - Atlantic provinces in Canada like New Brunswick, where skilled workers are at a premium, are doing all they can to offer international students reasons to stay. The $1 million campaign, Study and Succeed, aims to do just that.
- Canada - After an usually slow 2022 for incoming international students, Canada is rebounding well this year with applications up. No surprise when safety, quality of education, and a welcoming community for immigrants are the top 3 reasons to come.
- China - Old pathways for Chinese students aren’t as appealing as they once were. We’ll see who can become more flexible to offer more attractive elements to meet a more discerning marketplace.
- China - Another factor that will make the Chinese market tougher is the declining population, leaving less competition (still high, but reduced numbers) for top institutional places. Nothing like our demographic cliff here in the US, only a 6% drop between 2020-30.
- China - With the sudden change in China from the government to no longer certify any online courses done this spring semester (northern hemisphere) at institutions abroad, the mass exodus of Chinese students back to their colleges overseas is underway.
- New Zealand - To better facilitate a return to normal in terms of international student flows after three years of declining numbers, Universities New Zealand has booked 400 seats on flights. Get it done.
- Switzerland - For a small country like Switzerland to be concerned that not enough of its college-age population is studying abroad (it currently stands at 15.7%), there are lessons to be learned here for institutions hoping to grow outbound students.
- United Kingdom - Is a “great international student scandal” happening in the UK? Maybe, but post-grad numbers are exploding. The challenge is how short-term recruitment cycles have become for these 1-year master’s programs. Exhausting!
- United Kingdom - Is this becoming the norm at UK unis: curbs on further international student applications for master’s programs in February for Fall intakes? Apparently, app growth from India, Nigeria, and Pakistan is causing significant challenges.
- United Kingdom - University leaders at British universities are seeing billions of pounds lost if the Sunak government stops international student enrollments at “low quality institutions.” Are they right? It would be nonsensical to do so.
- United Kingdom - Two of the five targeted countries for growth in inbound international students (Saudi Arabia and Vietnam) by British universities actually showed declines in the most recent year.
SMIE Consulting Midweek Roundup
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.
