Recruiting Intelligence

What we know: international students have a well-documented and unambiguous impact on the US economy and society. Each year the US is $43+ billion wealthier because of these students. And our classrooms, campuses, and communities benefit from their diverse viewpoints and clear-minded ambitions, keeping our workforce competitive, tech companies growing, and sciences advancing. 

There’s no skirting the fact higher education is in a reactionary period as the White House does all it can to implement short-sighted changes to US higher education (and we’re being generous here with our choice of words). Advocacy has never mattered more. Which makes the release of our latest research – done in collaboration with the great minds at NAFSA and Fox Hollow Advisory – that much more important. 

Opportunities to Meet the Intead Team  

• Look for us at NAFSA in May, NACUBO and APLU in June, and NACAC in September. Let us know  if you want to connect at these events.
• Meet us online Tues., May 6, for the next AIRC webinar where Intead CEO Ben Waxman will join Co-panelists Kevin Timlin, Southeast Missouri State University and Manisha Zaveri, Career Mosaic for the expert-led discussion: IEM Student Lifecycle Series: Effective Student Recruitment Strategies.  

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.

Phase I of Global Talent: International Student Employment Trends After Graduation – released for download today – gives preliminary, yet important findings that will help bolster conversations we’re all having right now. This report goes beyond public data to answer:  

• What is the longer-term value of attracting and retaining international students to US higher ed institutions?
• How do international graduates contribute to the US workforce and economy?    

The report analyzes behaviors, motivations, and the economic impact of international students after earning their US degree. Special thanks to each of the following participating institutions:  

• California State University, San Bernardino
• Ottawa University 
• Salem State University 
• Southern Methodist University 
• University of California, Davis 
• University of Houston 
• University of Kansas 
• University of North Texas 
• University of Redlands 
• University of Texas at Austin 
• Washburn University 
• Wichita State University 

This research explores the alignment between US institutions producing international student talent, the US economy, and US job market demands. It’s part of a larger initiative aimed at understanding how US education benefits both international students and the nation. Read on to download the report… 

In 2019, the Intead team along with FPP EDUMedia conducted primary research to assess the influencers, interests, and political reactions in African and Latin American student populations to help institutions like yours tap emerging, or what we now consider, evolving student markets. 

More than 12,300 international students from over a dozen countries responded to our survey. What we learned has helped shape some really important conversations with clients looking to broaden their international reach.  

Enrollment ambiguity continues to push us to explore new opportunities. We encourage you to return to this research for still relevant guidance as you look for ways to grow, diversify, and strengthen your international recruitment strategy.  

If you want to chat about how you are building your Fall 2024 strategy or the tactical execution approaches we have found most valuable, Ben and Iliana will be at the NACAC conference presenting alongside our colleagues from AIRC and Middle Tennessee State University on Sept 22 in Baltimore. Can we schedule a time to chat? Coffee's on us! 

We know folks are short on time and just want us to get to the actionable points. So, we took the key ideas from our previous research and put them into a one-pager comparing Africa, Central America, and South America. You can grab that at the bottom of this blog post.  

In the full Emerging Markets e-book, available to Intead Plus members, you will find very helpful recruitment strategy insights: 

• How your university can best appeal to student prospects in specific evolving regions and countries (segmentation)  
• Influential messaging tips that highlight your strongest differentiators (stand out in the marketplace)  
• Effective distribution channels to reach your target audience with those differentiators.  

To get the free one-page comparison, read on… 

The enrollment cliff has everyone a little on edge. People are burned out and frustrated. Leadership is looking for bigger gains in shorter time frames. And traditional students just aren’t showing up in ways they traditionally have.

It’s so clear that higher ed is at an inflection point. Thank the pandemic. Thank technology. The economy and unpredictable job market. The changing student landscape. What you need now more than anything is support. Ideally in the form of a soothsayer to tell you where and how to invest your time, energy, and resources. If only.

Our advice: take a deep breath and read this post.

While soothsayer we may not be, we do have some perspective on what lies ahead. And our record for predicting changes in the market has proven accurate for more than a decade. Long before the recommendations below became standard practice in enrollment management (they all sound so obvious now, right?), we advised colleagues to:

• Make better use of your CRM (or get one if you don’t have one), and embrace the add on features and API connections that improve tracking and results.
• Identify staff with the skills you need for each function of the enrollment process. Your creatives are not your meet and greeters and they are not your data analysts. You need all of these skills.
• Develop your international alumni as global ambassadors. (Most of you are still not doing this).
• Find reputable commission-based recruiting agents in your target countries and invest time in managing them very carefully.
• Train your domestic recruitment team in the nuances and needs of international students already studying in the US so they know how to address the important topics (visas, parental concerns, economic realities, etc.)

We know, it’s all old hat now. But a decade ago, very new to international enrollment management teams.

Today we are facing some pretty significant headwinds. Post-pandemic changes to how students evaluate universities. Growing financial pressures facing families. Increasing importance of careers and the ROI of your degrees. Heightened interest in certificates and shorter paths to career growth. Political divisiveness harkening back to the US civil unrest of the 1960s (or 1860s?). Are you factoring social justice including climate activism into your marketing plans?

These factors are all part of the student and parent mindset as they evaluate investments in university level education. The pool of nontraditional students is much larger and more diverse than the shrinking traditional student pool. And yet, the international student pool is one that is growing and projected to grow dramatically in the coming years.

If you’re ignoring any of these market segments, we strongly advise you don’t. Our analysis of and predictions about what influences student decision making, the tools and processes you need in place to be both efficient and effective, this counsel has been spot on for a very long time (our blog records act as our receipts).

You’re in the right place. Read on to be sure you are able to anticipate what is next and what to do about it.

That feeling when you recognize your passport stamps are indicators of future success – for you, and your future international students.

With all that 2023 travel and recruitment planning (so great to be back at it!), you may have missed some of our student recruitment analysis from Q1.

We’ll be in DC at the ACE annual conference in just a couple weeks and then we are planning some great things for NAFSA at the end of May. Can we connect with you at one of these events? Let us know.

We’ve summarized Q1 2023 right here to keep you up to speed. And we were heavy on the highly valuable downloadable resources this quarter. Go ahead, click where the insights grab you.

Read on...