This week's top #socialmedia and #intled news includes mobile recruitment message tips, viral video success explained, two million international students in the US by 2030, the US as #1 in the eyes of future international students, visa declines in Australian key markets, international student pressures in Canada, and troubling warning signs from UK universities.
- Is there a disconnect in your communications between what you think future students want and need to hear and what they actually want? This upcoming TAP webinar promises to evaluate student and international office survey results.
- What are the five keys to personalizing your smartphone recruitment messaging? The team at Intead presents an excellent primer on maximizing your efforts: targeted ads, local campus highlights, mirrored communication styles, and more.
- Saudi Arabia is changing. Has your recruitment strategy kept up? This upcoming EducationUSA webinar on ways US students will explain some ways to tap into new opportunities for partnership with Saudi institutions.
- We all want it, but how do we get there? This ICEF Monitor article explores five ways to ensure your short-form videos achieve viral success: doing research, knowing what’s trending, avoiding lectures, creating a hook, and encouraging comments.
- Are you active in Malaysia recruiting students? This upcoming PIE webinar aims to examine the key factors Malaysian students and parents consider when choosing overseas study destinations.
- Are your graduate business programs accurately messaging Gen Z students? This QS blog looks at the wish list of this latest crop of business students: “prioritizing ethics, sustainability, and mentorship as they look to enter the working world.”
International Education News
- Big news! I heard this during a recent IIE program in Thailand and did a double-take. The latest report on the future of international student enrollments in the US suggests that by 2030, our numbers could nearly double to over two million.
- Solid article from NAFSA on the test-optional debate from an international admissions view: “For the 75 percent of four-year institutions [that are] currently test-optional, I think the message for students is clear: The?greater majority of U.S. colleges do not put significant weight in the admissions process on standardized testing."?
- The US needs to keep its best STEM talent. So it’s no surprise that international educators should be advocating to their elected representatives to support the Keep STEM Talent Act, that proposes a direct path to citizenship for F-1 STEM students.
- Are current protests on US campuses nationwide having a negative impact on prospective overseas students’ consideration of studying here? If they see these actions as the value of freedom of speech in action, probably not.
- A report on selective colleges’ use of race-conscious admissions policies even before the recent Supreme Court decision banning such practices, showed only marginal progress toward stronger integration of a more representative student body.
- Does a strong dollar (or pound) help or hurt universities seeking to recruit international students? With only a limited understanding of currency valuations, it’s not hard to see how significant an impact a strong dollar has on the price of education.
- Though this article raises concerns over the high rates of US student visa denials, there is blame on both sides. US institutions that don’t require enough of a deposit before issuing I-20s as well as poor advice from agents and lack of documentation in country.
- Secretary of State Blinken in a recent speech at NYU-Shanghai: “One thing I want to make sure is that, in both of our countries, we develop and we have rising generations who know each other, who know about each other, and hopefully, who understand each other.”?
- We’re #1 (for now) in the eyes of future students. In the latest IDP Emerging Futures student survey, “the?US has taken ‘pole position’ in the eyes of international students. More than?11,500 from 117 countries were asked about?study destinations.”
- When it comes to all but the elites and a small number of large state institutions, SAT/ACT are optional for most US colleges. This article from the North Texas Daily news sheds light on why that returning to required tests is a step backward.
- In typical fashion, the US ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, makes a bold claim. He does not expect US student visas to Indians to decrease in our lifetime. “I think nothing ties our countries and our people together, more than our exchange students.”
- What’s one US institution that has been killing it (in the best way possible) when it comes to international student recruitment? Webster University in St. Louis (and its global network of overseas campuses) is now fully one-third international.
- Australia - Prospective students in Nepal and India who have seen Australian vocational colleges as a path to work Down Under, are seeing visa denial rates skyrocket since the introduction of the Genuine Student Test.
- Australia - In the “good but too late” news category, an Australian report claims that international students are not to blame for the housing crisis. In fact, the rent increases started in 2020 as international student numbers began to decrease.
- Canada - The Immigration Minister, Marc Miller, reinstates international student off-campus work limits to 24 hours a week. Why? “To be clear, the purpose of the international student program is to study and not to work.” Don’t tell that to students.
- Canada - And in perhaps what is seen as a double-blow to international students in Canada, rising unemployment is rampant. "International students already pay so much in fees, and the increasing rent and living costs have only added to the financial pressure."
- India - The path toward Indian institutions enrolling more international students has been made clear by the UGC: “?HEIs may create up to 25 percent supernumerary seats for international students, over and above their total sanctioned enrolment for Undergraduate and post-graduate programmes.”
- UK -A major employer in the UK, one of the big four accounting firms, has begun to rescind job offers for international graduates in recent weeks due to the British government’s raising the minimum salary necessary to sponsor skilled workers.
- UK - When times are tough in international education, we band together and fight back. In the UK, the re-launch of #WeAreInternational may be a bellwether for other countries facing similar resistance within the halls of power. Could the US be next if the election this November goes a certain way? #YouAreWelcomeHere part two could be coming soon.
- UK - Fully a third of British universities have announced job cuts in the wake of government actions that precipitated significant drops in new international students enrolling this spring. Expect that number to increase if the decreases continue.
- UK - The list of six UK institutions that enroll a third of international students seeking asylum is likely not a list any of the six wish to be on. “The leaked figures come amid widespread concern that higher education is being abused as an immigration route.”
- UK - This PIE News piece paints a dim near-term future for UK universities: “the drop in?applications in the first three months of 2024 shows ‘the real effect that changes to the?dependant visa,?the recent?increase?to application fees and health surcharges,?and?the?graduate visa review?are having on the confidence international students have in the UK.’”
- UK - Don’t think many British unis are overly dependent on international student revenue? “The vice-chancellor of the University of Lincoln in England has blamed government policies for its ￡30 million (US$37.5 million) shortage.”
SMIE Consulting Midweek Roundup
If you’d like a more in-depth analysis of the main news stories each week, check out our?#MidweekRoundup?#intled?#livechat?on Wednesday at 1 pm ET on the SMIE Consulting?Facebook?page,?YouTube?channel,?Twitter feed, and?LinkedIn. A podcast version is available on all major podcast provider platforms.
