Recruiting Intelligence

India is the second largest source of international students coming to the U.S. Many factors are contributing to this flow of students and current projections suggest future growth in the number of Indian students studying in the U.S. and other countries. In looking at the Indian market you will find a very diverse student population and complex market than many outside observers assume. When we here at Intead evaluate the Indian market, we consider the many "micro-markets" within the country that are more likely to be effective for international student recruitment. 

International travel tours and college fair attendance are two of the biggest expense items in most international admissions departments that utilize this recruiting channel for their international student enrollment.  We have developed a list of criteria for you on how to select vendors for these trips.

Innovators in education are using technology to produce better educational outcomes. Another set of innovators in academia are using technology to differentiate higher education program offerings and stand out in the global marketplace.

We will share a range of innovation trends in pedagogy with you today. Ever since we traveled to Australia and talked with UK universities last year for our last ebook on agent management, we have been spending more time evaluating and researching these markets. 

In late 2013 we unveiled STOURY, a unique app designed to tell your university's story anywhere, in any language. STOURY allows you to deliver dynamic, vibrant and informative conversations.

We've been in the fields of higher education, international student recruitment and digital marketing for quite a while and we've found there is ONE QUESTION EVERYONE ASKS.

While the headline for this post may be a bit overly provocative, we hope it caught your attention and you will read on. We think this is an important one and we want all hands on deck. You are an important participant in maintaining educational integrity as market forces push to streamline your institution.

The Delta project is one of our favorite data sources and this latest report did not disappoint. Their lastest Delta Project Report looks at what drives the cost of higher education.

The report identifies the main cost drivers and shows that higher ed headcount as a ratio of the number of students enrolled remained relatively flat at public institutions and increased x percent at private universities (see Chart 1 below).

From a business point of view, the challenge is productivity: institutions did not produce any growth per employee. Before you start sputtering about using this measuring stick for the academic market, bear with us for just a couple paragraphs. We can leave it to your colleagues conferring MBAs to debate why there was no growth. They can also consider how to establish benchmarks for measuring growth for education. For our purposes today, we are simply looking at this as a financial and statistical fact that other parts of the economy have shown increased productivity or more output per employee hour. 

This year, we have been asked to recruit 10% more international students to internationalize our campus and to raise the necessary tuition revenue. Yes, we understand the financial pressures that we are under as a college and greater international student enrollment can be part of our long-term viability as we have been tracking a trend of weaker demographics in our typical domestic recruitment region. In talking to prospective domestic students and their parents, I know the pressure our higher tuition bills put on families.

I love what we accomplish as a college. We may not belong to the elite group of colleges, but I know we do change lives. More precisely, our professors, academic and other advisors, counselors, and fellow students change lives.

Student retention is one of the key buzz words in higher education. As a metric, this one is a key indicator or an individual institution's success in providing a valued education and in aggregate, an indicator of our country's ability to export education. 

Claudia Osna Geber is our newest Intead intern. Ms. Geber and her husband arrived in New York a few weeks ago to enhance their educational experiences and to live life abroad. As international students they are able to provide a unique perspective to our readers. This is Ms. Geber's first piece for the Intead Recruiting Intelligence Blog. Her experiences and insights can help to inform those who are in the business of international student marketing and international student recruitment.

The visa interview is one of the unpleasant steps in the process of becoming an international student in the United States.  We recently had a conversation with Tony Edson, who worked for the State Department for 28 years and dealt with the visa process.  We suggest five activities to help your prospective students feel more comfortable with the process.  You can dispel online and offline rumors that make your students nervous during the interview, set the right tone and show that you care about your students. You will be doing your job better, increasing the odds of your students receiving the visa without a hitch and allowing them to enroll at your college. Don't leave it up to chance.