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!
- What does the latest IDP Connect research, Emerging Futures II, tell us about student priorities in their university searches? Australia is gaining in popularity, outcomes and high quality education drive choices: 11,000+ student responses from 90+ countries.
- In the world of e-mail marketing, particularly at colleges doing international recruitment, A/B testing is perhaps the most often understood. This Intead piece (part 2) shares the importance of what to test: subject lines, multimedia content, and more.
- It’s silly to think that something so simple as adding stickers to your Reels posts can make a difference. But the reality is Instagram Add Yours stickers in a variety of ways can elevate your brand in a variety of ways.
- One thing we often forget amongst our many tasks as international student admissions staff is how continual updates and dynamic content on our websites affects our overall SEO. Think about at least updating your key site pages monthly.
- Auditing your social media marketing has to be done to determine true impact of your various posts. This Social Media Examiner article shares a 9-step process to ensure you’re maximizing your impact.
International Education News
- Coming out of the pandemic, higher ed enrollments seem to be all over the map. Every institution has their own story about how well or not they are recovering. What is clear to me, those institutions that aren’t growing need a shake up.
- This ICEF Monitor article shares useful insights into student visa issuance in the years around the pandemic with new visas issued in 2022 at the highest in 6 years while SEVIS By The Numbers shows enrolled Chinese v Indian students only 10K apart.
- Different attitude in China toward the US exist between those that have spent time in the US and those that have not ventured beyond the Great Wall. There are many facets to the decline in Chinese students in the US, not solely politics.
- “Before the pandemic, only 10%-20% of Chinese students would consider applying to colleges in multiple countries, but now roughly 70%-80% will. The United States is no longer the only destination for Chinese families to send their children.” Perspective.
- Well played by the US Embassy in Delhi. Opening 100K interview slots for H and L visa applicants is just smart business on so many levels. Now if that could only be replicated around the world in countries with high visa wait times.
- India is returning the love we’re showing their students and future employees lately by making obtaining an Indian visa for US citizens a lot easier. If you’re only in India 72 hours or less you can apply online.
- With everything else happening with China, there are still investment groups from China willing to invest in financially struggling US colleges. Obviously, this example does not set a very positive example.
- Sending more US students abroad has seemed liked the impossible nut to crack with only 2% going abroad. How can the benefits of study abroad be scaled successfully? Podium Education shares a particularly approach for the other 98%.
- With the economic collapse in Sri Lanka and devastating flooding in Pakistan, encouraged to see IIE once again stepping up to coordinate emergency funding for currently enrolled students from these two countries.
- Our universities are supposed to be bastions of free speech. So, if we don’t walk the talk with our international students and protect their speech, what does that say? Thoughtful piece from Karin Fischer’s Latitudes on this important topic.
- Glad to hear higher ed leaders continuing to advocate for a US international ed strategy, but comprehensive action with a plan from the US government is still sorely missing. “We are in a global competition for talent,” Feldblum said. “We need to get to a point where everyone in this room who’s at a US institution can say that coming as an international student to the US can be part of an immigration pathway.”
- I love the concept of this Times Higher Ed opinion piece about growing US higher education’s footprint overseas. Outside of a few trailblazers mentioned in the piece, US colleges are amateurs at trans-national education. Miles to go…
- In case you missed it, employability for international students is a top concern not only for enrolled students about to graduate but for prospective students seeking institutions that can deliver on promises. Solid article from Maureen Manning at The PIE summarizing the needs.
- This recent National Academy of Sciences report highlights what we in international education have been saying for years: “is experiencing problems attracting talent as other countries have stepped up to compete in the global battle for highly skilled people.”
- Our international students need specialized assistance if they are going to be successful in finding employment after graduation. These authors stress the importance of developing what they call an immigration portfolio for soon-to-be intl grads.
- Australia - Down Under, Australian universities are seeing trends mirrored here in the US, with Indian students ramping up dramatically, filling the void left by Chinese students who have sought different educational pastures abroad.
- Australia - Work hour caps in Australia have been reinstated (starting June 2023). Good, but this little nugget shares that Nepal is #1 in new intl student visa applicants to Aussie unis. Why? Many of these students wish to study in the VET sector and send the money they make from jobs home.
- Canada - You’ll hear no arguments from me that Canada needs to get its act together in terms of better vetting of agents hired to recruit overseas students to their campuses. While more an issue for the vocational colleges, some universities also fail to address the quality control issue.
- Canada/Germany - According to OECD data, two nations rise above the rest in terms of keeping international students in country (5 years after enrolling). Canada and Germany have a 5 year 60% retention rate for overseas students.
- China/Russia - Interesting to see this piece addressing why Russia and China’s inbound international student numbers have dried up for very different reasons. An illegitimate war and a heavy-handed pandemic response are denting these nations’ intl education reputations.
- United Kingdom - This public uni/private providers debate in the UK is a curious one. “International recruitment teams are increasingly pressed to deliver bigger results without corresponding investments in resources, which forces innovative thinking about the role the private sector can play.”
- United Kingdom - This past week’s resignation of the British home secretary was greeted with positivity by UK universities. What is clear is that universities need stronger government backing to achieve their recruitment targets.
- United Kingdom - The news that British business schools are rated top for future business students from overseas should not sit well with US (and other nation’s) MBA programs. Why? “The return of the two-year post-study work visa, the UK’s prominent Covid vaccination program, and its strong range of business schools have all contributed to its positive perception globally.”
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.
