Week of October 21, 2024

This week's top #socialmedia and #intled news stories include webinars on diversifying intl enrollments and Middle East scholarships, a defense of student personas, more focus on student outcomes for future students, country guides on China, India, Ghana, Nepal, and more.

Social Media News

• This webinar has perhaps the best title of 2024: A lack of diversity spells adversity. For those wanting to learn some strategies (hopefully) on how to diversify international enrollments, check out this upcoming OIEG webinar.
• Are you looking for the latest updates on Middle East scholarship programs? This upcoming ICEF webinar will focus on recent changes to government scholarships from Oman, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.
• Billed as the playbook for the future of international student recruitment marketing to Asian students, Sinorbis sets the bar high delivering on expected trends, per-country insights, regulatory considerations, and more.
• I am all in on this Intead blog about the underutilization of student personas in international student recruitment marketing. Don’t get lazy and try a one-size-fits-all “international” persona. It will not work.
• Has the college admissions process been taken over on both sides by AI? This Nation piece takes a look at students’ anxieties about how their applications will be reviewed as well as admissions offices’ concerns on essay authenticity.
• What trends are shaping higher education marketing in 2024 and beyond? Changing privacy laws, the search cliff, consumer expectations, and brand awareness are driving marcom departments mad.
• While I appreciate the kudos I have received since making The PIE’s 50 Voices - North America edition last week, the reality is there are so many other worthy voices on this list (and many who didn’t make it) that you should follow.

International Education News

Big Picture Issues

• Having been a part of the 1+2+1 program offered through AASCU to bring qualified Chinese undergraduates from designated and highly vetted partner universities, I can vouch for the transformative experience this program offers.
• This piece from India about the tax implications for F1 students who seek to apply for H1B visas says all you need to know about how intent Indian audiences are about the transition to work in the United States.
• My hometown Jesuit university is bearing the brunt of some unfortunate precipitous drop (77%) in new international graduate enrollments down from what they were expecting this fall. Some tough decisions needed to plug a $36 million hole in the budget.
• Here’s a new ranking that should gain traction with international student parents concerned about ROI and outcomes of US degrees. “International families deserve an objective benchmark before they make expensive choices about the American educational journey.”
• So what is the job market like for international students in the US these days? It ain’t easy. “It’s very difficult. Many students want US work experience before returning home, but employers have a learning curve when it comes to hiring international graduates.”
• We all know that US federal departments don’t always align on international student issues. But the difference in interpretation on the “study abroad programs of more than 5 months for international students” issue between two units of DHS is comical.

Solutions Central

• While this article focuses primarily on some great visa data for Indian v Chinese F-1 students in recent years, the title of this article is covered right at the end of the piece. Clearly the lack of any US international education strategy is a problem that needs remedying.
• This QS report explores the preferences and motivations for study on over 70,000 students considering the US and Canada for higher education. Teaching quality, sustainability, employability and more matter to these students. Do you emphasize these things?
• This OIEG report on the need for diversity “highlights the challenge of balancing institutions’ revenue generation goals with the mission of attracting more diverse international students who are often those who need the most support to be able to afford a costly US education.”?
• Students from Ghana have long seen the US (and the UK) as prime destinations for their higher education. This third part of a WES report focuses on the other main West African nation supplying students to US colleges and universities.
• It’s a big week for country-level reports. Bonard takes a look at the evolving Chinese market suggesting that choice of agents, knowing students’ behaviors, and leveraging visa acceptance rates are keys to traction in this 2nd largest market.
• India has to be on every US college’s radar for student recruitment. This QS report suggests a bevy of tools and messages to target Indian students to enhance your institution’s chances of success to attract them.
• Sandwiched in between India and China is Nepal (both literally and politically). This ICEF piece examines Nepal where 20% of its tertiary-age students go abroad for education. Working while studying and scholarships are most important here.
• What is certain is that US officials in India are pumping up the level of interest to Indian audiences of the desire of US colleges and universities to increase the number of tie-ups (partnerships) with Indian institutions. We certainly are.

Global Roundup

• Global -This ICEF podcast takes a look at how Canada, UK, and Australia’s international ed communities are dealing with the policy shock decisions of the past year or so. Quite enlightening as to their responses.
• Global - Outcomes matter . “Students, policy makers, and community stakeholders are all looking for more evidence of career outcomes from study abroad. Educators must therefore place much more emphasis on connecting student goals to long-term labour market needs, and on keeping those student outcomes in focus throughout the recruitment process.”
• Global - One of the biggest causes of the pushback from governments in key destination markets has been the pressure on housing . The themes that still must be addressed in this battle are affordability, availability, and accountability.
• Australia - This Australian Financial Review article makes 5 claims about how national security will be threatened by the soon-to-be imposed international student caps the government is implementing. Short-sighted? Perhaps.
• Australia - International students Down Under are sick of being made to be scapegoats by the government. Their rallying cry - You need us - certainly rings true for Australian colleges and universities.
• Australia - The lead sentences from this article from New Zealand hit the nail on the proverbial: “Something strange is happening in Australia. The federal government is promoting legislation to reduce one of the country’s largest exports – education services.”
• Australia - If the Australian parliament needs a reminder of the self-inflicted damage it is about to do on the country’s higher education sector, it needs look no further than the drop in rankings of Australian universities in the latest THE World University Rankings.
• Canada - Will sanctions that are being called for against India by Canadian politicians be the tipping point that sinks Indian students’ interest in studying in Canada? We’ll see. Currently, over 50% of international students in Canada are Indian.
• Canada - What most US international educators don’t realize about the Canadian post-secondary sector is the role of vocational colleges in enrolling overseas students. The data here is from 2021 before the explosion happened in public-private partnerships with colleges.
• China - The winds of change are blowing (lightly) in China for institutions hoping to expand their partnerships with overseas universities in key areas, including dual degree master’s programs.
• China - Much to the chagrin of many Intensive English Program directors in the US, the Duolingo English Test is growing in popularity behind the Great Wall as students see it as a less expensive, more convenient alternative to TOEFL and IELTS.
• India - Indian high school students are beginning to flock to boarding schools around the world (not just in the UK). This increasingly common phenomenon signals a shift in the demand for international education earlier in the student life cycle.
• UK - Which English proficiency test dominates among international students applying to the UK via CAS? No surprise that IELTS reigns supreme with over 34%. No other test received more than 8%.
• UK - Are British unis worried about the 16% drop in student visas issued this year? Yes, but there are still troubling waters ahead yet to be navigated. How will the Labour government respond?
• UK - When times get tough, how should UK institutions respond? Focus on current student satisfaction . Then unis should build on their successes in future marketing efforts like was done previously with the #WeAreInternational campaigns.

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 . An audio-only version is available on all major podcast provider platforms.