Recruiting Intelligence

A quick test. How many of these can you answer right now, without sending a single email?

• Is internationalization explicitly included in your institution's strategic plan?
• Who specifically exercises authority over budgets and decision-making for each of these areas: international partnerships, research, and enrollment?
• How many international inquiries has your institution received over the past three academic years, and which tool(s) are you using to track them?
• How do you select your global recruitment markets?
• How many students are participating in your study abroad programs and how many in COIL? How many of your faculty use COIL?
• Are you performing as well and as efficiently as your peer institutions in any of these areas?
  

That last question is the real kicker.

Most SIOs can answer some of these immediately. Others will need to tap knowledge from offices across campus and find at least one spreadsheet nobody has opened since spring. We wonder how your president and business office team would fare with those questions. And back to that last question...very few, if any, have the answer to that one.

These questions are a sample of what's being asked in the AIEA-Intead study Examining Success Factors in Internationalization, now underway.

This research is about understanding what the investment in internationalization (and the org chart that investment supports) produces. And importantly, how that investment and those outcomes compare across 100 U.S. institutions. There is real power in the findings we will report.

During an Intead webinar held recently, Dr. Cheryl Young, Associate Vice President of Global Initiatives and SIO at Miami University, and Dr. Gian Mario Besana, Associate Provost for Global Engagement and Online Learning at DePaul University, both research participants, recently spoke about their experiences with the study so far. One unexpected benefit they both cited: simply working through the study's questions is prompting conversations across their campuses that weren't happening before.

Full disclosure, early cross-campus collaboration wasn’t the primary driver for the research study, but we’re thrilled to hear it is happening so quickly.

Listen to the full conversation from our webinar, which includes our colleagues from Miami University and DePaul along with Clare Overmann of AIEA, industry veteran Brad Farnsworth, and me, to get first-hand insight into why these two institutions joined the study and what they’re finding so far.

Read on…

Your chief business officer is navigating rising personnel costs, deferred maintenance, technology investments, enrollment pressure, and limited institutional patience. International enrollment can be part of the answer. Yet many business officers still do not see it that way.

That disconnect was hard to miss at the NACUBO Annual Meeting. Unlike the international student-focused conferences your Intead team typically frequents, introductions at NACUBO often began with budgets, employee counts, bargaining units, and capital obligations. Students entered the conversation later. That observation is not a criticism. It is a reminder that business officers experience the institution through a different set of pressures -- and international leaders gain influence when they understand those pressures and that lens.

Your job: Get your CBO to see international as a revenue center (not a cost center).

Last week, we explained that international enrollment has always been a finance strategy. NACUBO 2026 reinforced the point. But the international office has more to offer the business office than a budget request. You can bring a disciplined revenue opportunity, a diversification strategy, and a clearer view of global market risk.

The finance conversation is already happening

Business officers are not waiting for international leaders to enter the room. They are already evaluating new programs, AI investments, auxiliary revenue, cost reductions, partnerships, and the return on nearly every institutional commitment. International enrollment belongs in the room where these conversations are happening.

Often, chief business officers lack information about global recruitment. But here’s the thing: when the international office brings CBOs that critical information, leaders often present the information in a form that does not answer the questions finance leaders are asking.

Market potential, brand visibility, student interest, and competitor activity matter. So do investment horizon, net tuition, program capacity, support costs, downside risk, and clarity on the points at which leadership can adjust course.

That distinction shaped the NACUBO session Intead presented with three institutional leaders: Dr. Jia-Yi Cheng-Levine, Dean of International Affairs and Global Engagement at College of the Canyons; Dr. Tamara T. Cunningham, Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Initiatives and Arts & Campus Activation at University of California, San Diego; and Dr. Balaji Krishnan, Vice Provost for International Affairs and Professor of Marketing at the University of Memphis. Our session, “International Enrollment Growth Options: Three Publics Share Business Perspectives,” examined how three very different public institutions evaluate international student-focused investments.

The range of institutions mattered. A community college, a major research university, and an urban public university do not share the same market position, operating model, or organizational culture. Yet each institution faces the same core questions: Where can internationalization create value that aligns with institutional priorities? How will global investments create financial resilience?

Read on…

Our regular readers know our devotion to cross-cultural intersections. Today we focus your attention on the financial value of global.

At the NACUBO 2026 Annual Meeting, I spent several days listening to chief business officers talk about the problems consuming higher education: rising personnel costs, deferred maintenance, enrollment pressure, AI investments, student success vs. access, the loss of institutional knowledge as long-serving leaders retire, oh, and changing Federal policies and guidelines.

Important to note: just 13% of CBOs say their institution understands per-student program and activity costs very well as reported in Inside Higher Ed from their annual survey of CBOs. There’s an opportunity for you right there.

You know what did not come up at the conference? International enrollment.

Nearly every concern being discussed at NACUBO pointed toward the need for new, sustainable revenue streams. While international enrollment cannot solve every financial challenge facing a college or university, it can become a meaningful part of the solution. And given today’s pressures, international is just as reliable as any other options for revenue-sustainability being evaluated by your leadership.

The larger point is easy to miss amid headlines about visa delays, geopolitics, and fluctuating student demand: international enrollment drives revenue. And that revenue opportunity is not well understood by your business officers. In fact, your CBO needs to hear from you, and this is important: they don’t know that they need to hear from you.

Read on...

Sometimes the most important market signals come as memes. 

One tweet. 24 hours. Millions of followers. That’s all it took for India’s satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) to become a lightning rod for frustration among young people navigating one of the world’s most competitive education systems. 

If you’re recruiting students from India, this isn’t a political story. It’s a student sentiment story. And an effective use of social media story. And hey, Go Boston University!!! 

In mid-May, Abhijeet Dipke, who recently completed his master’s in public relations from Boston University’s College of Communication, saw that Chief Justice of India Surya Kant had compared unemployed young people in India to “cockroaches” and “parasites.” Dipke reacted by posting a single line on X: What if all cockroaches came together? 

While Kant later clarified his comment was aimed at people using fake credentials, not young people in general, the explanation was too little too late. A movement had taken shape. 

Memes and comments streamed in, with some suggesting young people start their own party. Dipke took that as his charge. With no budget and AI as his lone partner, he built a manifesto, logo, and website for the CJP (Cockroach Janta Party) within 24 hours. 

If you haven’t been following the news (or CJP’s Instagram account, now topping 26 million followers), the meteoric momentum of this online movement traveled swiftly offline, igniting street protests after the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET-UG, was canceled due to a leak of test answers. The repercussions of this decision were significant, including at least 13 reported suicides among students who had taken the voided exam. Protestors held Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan morally responsible and sought his resignation. Pradhan quit  on July 25, 2026.

That’s not all the new CJP won. Families of suicide victims will be compensated. And, no legal action will be taken against protestors. 

The CJP’s protest campaign secured its demands and wound down, but what becomes of the movement itself remains to be seen.  

The mindset behind this historic movement and significant events offers an important lesson in the evolving Indian student market. Read on… 

The element of surprise has gone missing. Eighteen months into an administration at odds with education, we’ve moved past shock. What remains is something more useful: resolve.

Ours is an industry worth fighting for. And we’re not fighting alone. Between ASU+GSV, WIEC, and NAFSA (access valuable conference presentation decks and other resources below), Q2 connected us with colleagues near and far who share our conviction. The conversations have been honest, the insights hard-won, and in between, we shared our thinking to help your team move forward with topics covering:

• How to use World Cup momentum to spur internationalization innovation
• 3 steps to improve AI-driven visibility for prospective students
• How to rethink your India strategy as the competitive landscape shifts
• What the upward trend in US students studying abroad means for recruitment and retention
• 2 focus areas and 2 resources to help you move the enrollment needle in turbulent times
• What to do now to shore up your Fall ’26 cohort (2026 time is about run out on this one - but useful for perspective on future cycles)
• NAFSA takeaways worth keeping

Missed one? This quarterly wrap-up has you covered. Read on…

Before the World Cup came to Boston, the Boston Globe delivered sobering news: hoteliers reporting tepid occupancy during event dates as prices dropped and minimum night stays went from four to two. Sold tickets as of mid-June “portend disappointment for the hospitality industry,” the paper wrote. The forecast looked as grim as the train to Foxborough Stadium looked long.

Then came the Tartan Army.

Boston, a city with genuine pride in its libations, started making emergency keg runs. Fenway Park didn’t know what hit it. Mayor Michelle Wu signed a formal letter of intent to make Glasgow a sister city. Locals are wondering if their city is, dare we say it, actually fun. No one has accused Boston of that since before Covid.

Then, right in the middle of this World Cup mania, the University of Strathclyde slid into our Instagrams with a perfectly timed message “Dear Boston, let Scotland return the welcome. Study in Glasgow – the world’s friendliest city.” Chefs kiss on the timing of that placement.

It seems we all are having a bit of fun.

The World Cup Reset

For those of us with a global point of view, the World Cup has served as a welcome corrective. The stories we typically hear have run dire for too long. Enrollment declines, visa uncertainty, policy whiplash, vanishing enrollment. But this moment has re-ignited faith in the idea of global community. The idea that we are better together is alive and well. Have we drunk the World Cup Koolaid?

Yes! Can we offer you any?

And yet, what University of Strathclyde’s ad quietly signals: while US institutions navigate the turbulence, competitors abroad are on the move. According to Keystone’s 2026 State of Student Recruitment report, drawing on 67,000 prospective students across 150 countries, the UK rose to the top of stated study intentions, interest in Italy and Germany held strong, and India entered the top 10 intended destinations for the first time. The globally mobile student population isn’t in decline; it’s expanding its options. The question is whether your institution will be in consideration.

Our suggestion: use the momentum of the World Cup to spur internationalization innovation at your institution. We, of course, have lots of ideas on that front. Chief among them: understand how your internationalization strategy and structure are actually serving you, and how they are not. As we ride through a moment of change, secure your foundation now. The ball is at your feet.

Read on for how we think you can move forward…

A general and intriguing observation from NAFSA 2026: academic leaders working in blue state institutions tend to be knee deep in defensive postures due to policy changes, while academic leaders working in red state institutions tend to be getting on with the work. Where do you fall?

If there’s one thing NAFSA confirmed, it’s that those who attended are focused on resilience. You’ll find slides below that speak to this point and offer recommendations.

For university leadership, international staff, and current and prospective international students, it is palpable. Which is why NAFSA and other industry conferences are so valuable. They remind us we are in this together, working toward a greater good. There’s power in numbers and in the learnings we gather from being outside our own institutions for a few days.

Speaking of in it together, we were thrilled that industry insider Lindsey Lopez joined the Intead team just before attending NAFSA this year. As our new chief strategy officer,  her 20+ years of senior leadership experience with enrollment management, domestic and global recruitment, edtech tools, and so much more adds the kind of hard-won perspective our clients are leaning on right now. Lindsey is working hand in hand with Chief Operating Officer Britt Godshalk, Director of Marketing Analytics Iliana Joaquin, and the rest of the Intead team.

Industry veteran Steven Boyd of Quinnipiac University offered sage advice during a NAFSA 2026 session: identify three conference takeaways you want to implement or pursue, write them on a sticky note, and post them where you’ll see them.

He’s not wrong. Attending NAFSA is like drinking from a fire hose. Centering your focus on the learnings applicable to your work is how to put the conference to work for you.

Taking Steven’s cue, today we offer three motivational ideas shared at NAFSA that have stuck with us, from an inspiring session by Barbara Bouza, designer of spaces and facilities who leads CannonDesign, insights from Karin Fischer of the Chronicle of Higher Education, and strategies for enrollment success in this political climate from our session with Steven Boyd and Karissa Peckham of Quinnipiac University, Melissa Wharton of University of Missouri-Kansas City, and our own Britt Godshalk. Our notes and a link to our session presentation deck follow. Read on…

Chaos is costly. Clarity is half off.

This truth brought to you by The Economist’s latest flash sale. Sometimes an ad sums up a vibe so neatly. Maybe the ad just caught us at the right moment. (Um, thanks Meta?)

Whether it was the morning coffee or the marketing kitsch, The Economist's attempt to get us to subscribe (we already do) served as a good reminder of the cost of chaos.

Pick your tumult: visa whack-a-mole, Duration of Status policy threats, internal budget cuts, NSF decimation, demographic cliff, you name it. The disruptions of the past 18+ months have cost our industry its equilibrium, individuals their sanity, and certainly some enrollment.

The numbers speak loudly: 97,000 fewer student US visas were awarded last summer, driven largely by a near-monthlong freeze on visa interviews. (Canada, UK, and Australia have similar downbeats). Now, DHS may adjust the “Duration of Status” for F-1 and J-1 visa holders, replacing it with a fixed admission period of up to four years and dimming the luster on some students’ dreams of a US degree. And, if history tells us anything, it won’t be the last disruption our international student hopefuls and enrollment leaders will endure.

Despite the continued chaos, we have actual work to do. Handwringing be damned! Students still want to enroll at your institution. Time to busy your team securing the fall cohort by shoring up those leads. This is ground you know well.

Read on for insights from our team, including our latest addition to Intead, Lindsey Lopez, on what to prioritize now to bring your 2026/27 leads into focus and produce your target yield.

Read on…

How is your LinkedIn feed treating you lately? The algorithm has so finely curated mine at this point that I have a seemingly endless stream of academic news from a wide variety of “mostly” insightful posts. All good food for thought.

Mostly, I scroll and learn. Other times, I marvel at the patterns of folks trying (perhaps too hard) to get noticed. Sometimes I’m frustrated by the all-too-common story arc: take something well known and accepted as truth and call it into question. These posts often prompt reader engagement but act as just a surface-level contrarian view with little insight to truly add to the conversation. And that description is likely generous.

There are many of us in the field seeking insights to help us navigate these troubled times. Academia, the headlines seem to tell us, is under tremendous strain. True enough, and yet, a lot of those headlines end up being a whole lot of noise.

History shows us that troubled times come and go. Some institutions will fail to ride out the storm. Those that do make it to the other side sometimes prevail by what seems to be dumb luck. Others plan and adapt, giving their institution the best shot at future success. With so much noise in the system and so many distractions, planning and adapting require focus – a focus that helps you see the important signals separate from the noise. No easy task.

Two recent trips to DC for conferences (AIEA and WIEC) offered the desirable opportunity to meet with our community, maintain connections, share experiences, and noodle about what really is noise and what the truly important signals are. Really helpful, as so many in our field seem to spend a lot of time wringing their hands and falling into the rut of complaining. It’s easy to do when times are legitimately tough.

But that isn’t leadership.

And that is not planning and adapting.

Below we offer two valuable focus areas where we believe academic leaders can move the needle despite the turbulence AND two helpful resources in times like these.

Read on…

Next week the British are coming, albeit to the opposite US  coast. 

As part of a broader effort celebrating collaboration between the US and the UK, the British Council’s Study UK team is hosting a large pop-up experience in Los Angeles designed to give area students, families, and educators an up-close look at what UK higher education is and can be. Sixteen UK universities, along with an array of niche experts and exhibits, are crossing the pond to put their best foot forward for students contemplating their academic futures. 

Full disclosure, the Intead team is proudly part of the effort to develop the cross-border collaboration.  

Though the event has been in the works for quite some time, as May 22 draws near, the timing seems particularly relevant as increasing numbers of US students are evaluating and taking advantage of study abroad opportunities. 

The UK, of course, is already a top study abroad destination for American students. 

Outbound with room to grow

In 2023-24, nearly 300,000 Americans studied abroad for academic credit, a 6% increase from the year prior, according to the latest data from IIE, marking a strong rebound toward pre-pandemic levels (~347,000 in 2018-19).

That said, only about 9% of US undergraduates study abroad for credit in any given year, and most for a short stint.

So, while the trend line is moving upward, participation remains modest relative to the opportunities available.

Most (64%) US study-abroad students go to Europe, with Italy, Spain, the UK, and France hosting nearly half of all participants. Japan became the fifth-largest destination for the first time in 2023-24, with 16% growth.

More interesting than the short-term numbers is what’s happening at the full-degree level.

IIE’s Project Atlas reports that more than 95,000 Americans are enrolled in full-degree programs at institutions abroad. Fifteen years ago, that number was much lower at 41,000 (with some caveats due to expanded reporting countries). Still, IIE confirms the trend is clear: more US students are opting to earn their full credentials abroad.

An increasing number of countries are taking note. 18 countries, including the UK, now have institutions accepting the Common App, meeting US students in a system they already know and trust. Our recent discussions with the Chinese Consulate in DC also point to increased efforts to attract international students to degree programs in China.

Those of us committed to the ideal of international education and the global ties these programs create have always understood the appeal. And while the number of American students doing so remains modest, the outbound trend is real, the drivers are tangible, and the institutions paying attention now will be better positioned for what’s coming.

Read on for our tips on how institutions can leverage this trend to enhance their connection to their current students and attract new applicants.