Recruiting Intelligence

Meet Intead!  

• Find us at AIEA in DC in February, WEIC in DC in March, and ASU+GSV in San Diego in April. Be in touch to share a cup of coffee in person.

The goal for 2026 is clear: sustaining, if not growing, international enrollment despite external chaos. But is that even realistic in the current climate? Short-term gains are going to be hard to deliver, for sure. Failing to set your institution up for future growth, well, that is not a legacy we would choose. There are opportunities ahead that smart enrollment leaders are focused on.   

Looking backward, fall 2025 indicators offered mixed signals: decreased interest in master’s programs, fewer new arrivals (because many international students never left the country this past summer), more student-visa holders in 2025 vs 2024 (thank OPT for that) – and compelling counterpoints to each (nod to Karin Fischer for her perspective in The Chronicle’s “An Incomplete Enrollment Picture”).    

But first, which topics mattered most to you in 2025? Read on for the top 10 posts of last year as chosen by our readers. The countdown from 10 to 1 shows an interesting progression of the year’s hot topics. Take a scroll through and let us know what you think.  

Meet Intead!  

• Find us at AIEA in DC in February, and ASU+GSV in San Diego in April. Be in touch to share a cup of coffee in person.

eBook Reboot:  88 Ways to Recruit International Students 2025 update. Your tactical toolkit for the year ahead. Covering all the bases in 10 quick-read chapters. Fosters great ideation discussions with your team.

NOTE: This week, our Recruiting Intelligence Blog will take its regular end-of-year break. We will see you again on Jan. 7, 2026, with our usual actionable future focus.

The institutions emboldened to act by realities of enrollment drops and general wariness around US travel are playing the long game. It’s the right move. Those who take a wait-and-see approach are already losing ground on future enrollment. But you already know this. And if you’ve been reading our blog, you also know:

• Why now is the right time to take international on a campus roadshow  

• That your Career Services office is an underutilized gem 

• Our NACAC takeaways on students, staffing, and new H-1B implications 

• What enrollment teams need in times of ambiguity 

Didn’t catch those topics? Read on… 

Going to AIRC in Atlanta? Let’s connect!  

Join us Dec. 3, 2025, 1 – 4 p.m., for our workshop, Exploring Third-Party Business Models for International Student Recruitment, or any one of our other conference sessions. You are registered, right? 🙂

Or, meet us at:
AIEA in DC in February and ASU+GSV in San Diego in April.

How you get to clarity and forward motion: concrete data to identify the opportunities and cut through uncertainty. And importantly, you need stong presentations to build internal support for your plans. 

In this time of seemingly never-ending uncertainty, institutions need leaders who act. Read on for our views on what proactive enrollment leadership looks like… 

Meet Intead!  

• Find us at AIRC in Atlanta in December, AIEA in DC in February, and ASU+GSV in San Diego in April. Be in touch to share a cup of coffee in person.

eBook Reboot:  88 Ways to Recruit International Students 2025 update. Your tactical toolkit for the year ahead. Covering all the bases in 10 quick-read chapters. Fosters great ideation discussions with your team.

Our own research on the preferences and motivations of international students aligns with this. We suspect your experience does, too. Broader media reports emphasize that domestic families and students are increasingly focused on career outcomes as the justification for the cost of university. International students and families always have been. 

Where we are going with this: the more successful you are at getting students into the careers they want, the more successful you will be at getting students to fill the seats you want.  

And yes, we know you’re already telling prospective students that “95% of your graduates get a job or continue on to an advanced degree after graduation.” That’s no differentiator if everyone is saying it, despite its accuracy. 

This is where Career Services should chime in. Yet, many (read: most) students view Career Services through a lens of “why bother?” Hard to blame them. Help with resume and cover letter writing is too basic and can be provided by ChatGPT. Mock interviews have value, but there’s SO much more these departments could be doing to help students and your institution’s enrollment growth. 

Read on for some interesting data points and our recommendations for improving Career Services with an eye on driving enrollment…  

Meet Intead!  

• Find us at AIRC in Atlanta in December, AIEA in DC in February, and ASU+GSV in San Diego in April. Be in touch to share a cup of coffee in person.

eBook Reboot:  88 Ways to Recruit International Students 2025 update. Your tactical toolkit for the year ahead. Covering all the bases in 10 quick-read chapters. Fosters great ideation discussions with your team.

Of course, you have been staying informed about all the policy changes. And no, you won't provide a summary of the policy changes that are coming in weekly with your multi-faceted plan to address each one, giving appropriate weight to the student, department, and institutional priorities.

Still, you know your colleagues are coming from a good place as they express their dismay. It can be gratifying to establish that these colleagues actually know your office and your role exist! We jest (but only a little). 

Are you seeing the opportunity? 

The SIO’s job is rarely well understood. The international staff swims in different, more complex currents than the larger domestic team. Storm clouds that the domestic team can ignore look entirely different from the SIO's office.  

Just one example: A downturn in oil prices, for instance, can disrupt the finances of students from oil-dependent economies. An economic shift like this rarely impacts domestic students. Is the domestic enrollment marketing team even aware of stuff like that? Likewise, any sudden shift in international currency exchange rates can alter student retention realities overnight. 

Truth is, you’ve been addressing the new realities each time new policies or statements emerge. And you’ve even informed your internal community about your efforts. Have they been listening? 

This really is a golden moment to get leadership across campus in tune to what is going on with international enrollment, international student experience, and overall campus internationalization efforts. It is a golden opportunity to let your colleagues know what their role could and should be.  

Deep breath. Therein lies the opportunity. Read on… 

Meet Intead!  

• Find us at NAFSA Reg XI in Springfield in November, and AIRC in Atlanta in December. Be in touch to share a cup of coffee in person.

eBook Reboot:  88 Ways to Recruit International Students 2025 update. Your tactical toolkit for the year ahead. Covering all the bases in 10 quick-read chapters. Fosters great ideation discussions with your team.

So, while you’ve been navigating stalled visas, funding uncertainties, increased competition, and, we hope, maybe a bit of summer vacation this past quarter, we’ve published actionable ideas on: 

• Predicting student yield 
• Finding right-fit education agents 
• Keeping your education agent partnerships strong 
• Creating “Reel” connections, based on our work with a UK higher ed NGO 
• Staying the course in international student recruitment despite headwinds 

Plus, access to popular worksheets on: 

• Agent evaluation
• Building strategic international enrollment plan

Read on… 

Meet Intead!  

• Find us at NACUBO in Phili and NACAC in Columbus in September, NAFSA Reg XI in Springfield in November and AIRC in Atlanta in December. Be in touch to share a cup of coffee in person.

Bookmark this: Intead’s Resource Center 
Access 800+ articles, slides decks, reports with relevant content on any topic important to enrollment management and student recruiting.  Check it out.

From everything we’ve seen, heard, and researched, students still want what they’ve always wanted: a good education, a career on the other side of graduation, meaningful friendships, and some international adventure.

These aspirations persist – despite anti-immigration rhetoric, despite visa complications, despite global uncertainty. Student goals have persisted through 9/11, the 2009 global financial crisis, Brexit, and skyrocketing US tuition. They’ve persisted within Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z, and are showing up in Gen Alpha. 

So yes, some things change (see below). But the fundamentals of what pursuit of education is all about, not so much.

Below we offer a useful one-pager breaking down the steps to building a strategic international enrollment plan. Your colleagues have scooped these up from us during our conference presentations and downloaded them from our website. Helpful perspective as you consider your options and your processes in place (and those desired).

Read on… 

Meet Intead!  

• Find us at NACUBO in Phili and NACAC in Columbus in September, NAFSA Reg XI in Springfield in November and AIRC in Atlanta in December. Be in touch to share a cup of coffee in person.

Bookmark this: Intead’s Resource Center 
Access 800+ articles, slides decks, reports with relevant content on any topic important to enrollment management and student recruiting.  Check it out.

Sustaining a successful partnership with your agents requires mutual investment, clear and frequent communication, and trust. The most effective agents act as a true extension of your enrollment team. That level of service, however, requires an institutional partner who remains responsive and provides ongoing support all along the way. 

Seems obvious. And yet, too many institutions sign the agent contract, hit autopilot, and expect results to roll in. If it were that easy, you wouldn’t need an agent strategy. But you do. 

• Metrics to evaluate education agent performance
  
• Streamlined internal processes that make your institution easy to represent
  

An often overlooked and critical element: Who on your university team have you assigned to managing your agent partners? If it is the new, eager staffer in your office with no real international experience (because, how hard can it be?), you are in for lackluster results or worse.  

Today we outline how to get this right. Read on… 

Meet Intead!  

• Find us at NACAC in Columbus in September and AIRC in Atlanta in December. Be in touch to share a cup of coffee in person.

Bookmark this: Intead’s Resource Center 
Access 800+ articles, slides decks, reports with relevant content on any topic important to enrollment management and student recruiting.  Check it out.

This year most of the Indian students Deepika talks to are being patient. “They are checking in with me to determine if now is the right time to apply, or if they should wait.” Similar to the travel disruptions the world experienced during the Covid pandemic, many of the obstacles families encounter won’t change student intention, just the timing. 

We’ve been seeing this measured reaction, particularly at the graduate-level.  

Many undergraduate students who are uncertain about their immediate plans have enrolled in Indian universities or institutions for the time being, according to Deepika. They’re keeping their options open and are considering transferring to the US once conditions improve. Some are also exploring pathway programs through their current institutions as a bridge to US education. 

There is palpable hope among students we’ve spoken with anyway. The political climate is hazy, and the immigration rules have become chaotic and more restrictive; nobody denies that. But the hope is that this, too, shall pass. So, students continue to stay informed and often turn to their education agents to verify what they’re hearing. 

Below we share a valuable agent evaluation tool for your use.

Read on…