Recruiting Intelligence

The US continues to be a top destination for international students. As other anglophile countries find new reasons to limit their student intake (we’re looking at you Canada, Australia, and UK), there is still competition for student attention. Now is no time for US institutions to rest on their laurels.  

The macro numbers around student mobility are always interesting. But the fact is that each institution has tremendous potential in any given market if it plays its unique cards well.  

It starts with market intelligence, understanding your consumer, their motivations, influencers, and how the unique attributes of your institution relate to those consumer insights. There are questions you and your recruitment team are asking: 

• Are you reaching the right prospective international students?  

• Are your markets diversified enough? Targeted enough?  

• How do you know if you are doing all of this well? 

Opportunities to Meet the Intead Team  
- NAFSA Region XI, Hartford, Connecticut, Oct. 27-29, 2024
- PIE Live North America, Boston, MA, Nov. 19-20, 2024
- AIRC, Seattle-Bellevue, Washington, Dec. 04-07, 2024 -- including our pre-conference global marketing workshop. A full day of Intead global intel (lunch included ; -). Details here. 

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

Over the past year we’ve offered insights into regions we think are well worth watching on 3 continents – China, India, Vietnam, Tanzania, Guyana. Each of these countries offers something interesting for international student recruiters to think about. All won’t be right for every institution, but each are right for some.  

Read on to understand how we’re thinking about these markets and to link to our more in-depth articles each one.  

The plight of your visa-seeking international grads may best be summed up in this quote, “Given the choice between a prostate exam and sponsoring a work visa, hiring managers will probably choose the former.”  

Zeke Hernandez, a Wharton School professor and author of The Truth About Immigration, gave us a good chuckle with that one when we read it in an August 2024 issue of The Economist. It’s funny because it’s true as the meme goes.   

In an analysis done by ed tech company F1 Hire, only 1.6% of the 1.5 million job postings analyzed had sponsorship-friendly language in the job description. This research was part of Intead’s Connecting Dots report How International Students are Finding US Jobs, published in May. If you haven’t seen it yet, find it here. Our analysis of US Department of Labor data and proprietary data from F1 Hire offers job market insights you won’t find anywhere else. 

Opportunities to Meet the Intead Team  
- NAFSA Region XI, Hartford, Connecticut, Oct. 27-29, 2024
- PIE Live North America, Boston, MA, Nov. 19-20, 2024
- AIRC, Seattle-Bellevue, Washington, Dec. 4-7 -- including our pre-conference global marketing workshop. A full day of Intead global intel (lunch included ; -). Details here. 

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

Understanding career pathways for international students is an increasingly necessary topic for those of us who advocate for and work on behalf of this valuable and important student population. In fact, 84% of international students cite career advancement as their top motivator for studying abroad. And >99% believe it’s why their families want them to study abroad (source: Intead’s Know Your Neighborhood 2024 report).  

But it’s so much more than that. These bright, highly skilled students are a crucial part of the economy. As pointed out in a recent Economist article, immigrants account for 14% of the US population yet are responsible for 36% of the country’s total innovation. It makes sense why. They bring not just knowledge, but new ideas, perspectives, and networks that help shape their work environments. Global perspectives, ideas, and connections benefit everyone.  

At Intead we need only look up from our own desks to see the positive impact of multinational teams (and to our case studies for bottom-line proof of results). We expect many of you are fortunate enough to work in similar environments. We are all better for it as individuals. Our work product is stronger as well.  

The Biden Administration offered a bit of good news for international students earlier this year when they issued guidance making it easier for foreign graduates of American academic institutions to get work authorization. But it’s a small gesture that will likely have minimal impact. Still, we welcome the forward motion. 

Read on for ways your institution can improve career connections for your students... 

Between NAFSA, GMAC, EdUSA Forum, and keeping up with our client deliverables, our Q3 dance cards were full. And we are grateful. Connecting with colleagues like you in person always gives us a boost. We had a lot of press coverage about our very cool market research as well.

Were you able to follow all that? 

If you were similarly occupied (maybe US election news had you distracted?), you may have missed a Recruiting Intelligence post or two. No problem. We’ve got you covered. In this quarterly wrap-up post, find quick links to our action-orient tips on: 

• How and when to use LinkedIn for student recruitment 
• Using English Language Programs’ enrollment indicators 
• Making the most of your international recruiting trips 
• Insights into Sub-Saharan Africa 
• Key takeaways from our conference presentations: NAFSA, GMAC, and EdUSA Forum 
• And more! 

Opportunities to Meet the Intead Team  
- NAFSA Region XI, Hartford, CT, Oct. 27-29, 2024
- PIE Live North America, Boston, MA, Nov. 19-20, 2024
- AIRC, Seattle-Bellevue, WA, Dec. 4-7 -- including our pre-conference global marketing workshop. A full day of Intead global intel (lunch included ; -). Details here. 

Bookmark this: Intead’s Resource Center 
Access 825+ articles, slide decks, reports with relevant content on any topic important to enrollment management and student recruiting.  Check it out.

Ready to catch up on Q3 news? Read on… 

English language programs (ELP) are a barometer for future enrollment trends. Canaries in the coal mine if you will. When participation is strong, your upcoming application season will likely also be strong. On the other hand, a drop in participation can foreshadow a similar fate for near-term enrollment. (source: see pandemic) 

Understanding the health of this academic niche makes a lot of sense, especially for those tasked with program development or international student recruitment, which is why we so appreciate the efforts of EnglishUSA and their partners BONARD and Pearson Test of English, for their work on the recently published Annual Report on English Language Programs in the USA 2023. The report offers insights helpful to edu institutions across the board. And in this, their second annual report, they offer good news: ELP enrollment is up.

A special thanks to Cheryl Delk-Le Good for bringing this report to our community.

The analysis of the canaries gives us the signposts we all want. The countries where ELP numbers are up give us perspective on where it might make sense to focus our international student recruitment investments.

Our next opportunity to meet!   
NAFSA Region XI, Hartford, CT, Oct 27-29. The Intead team will be there presenting on Admission Process Analysis, Marketing Data Analytics, and Marketing Study Abroad Programs with university partners from our New England region friends from Quinnipiac, Johnson and Wales, Clark, and Emerson. Practical strategies and creative tactics to hit your enrollment targets.  Hope to see you there! 

PIE Live North America, Boston, MA, Nov 19-20. We will be talking about our analysis of career success data and how institutions can use that data to improve recruitment initiatives around the world. Our powerhouse co-presenters: Kerry Salerno, Chief Marketing Officer, Babson College and Andrew Chen, CEO, F1 Hire.

Bookmark this: Intead’s Resource Center 
Take your challenge of the day and plop it into our search bar. With 800+ publications and our 15 years of weekly blogging, you will find relevant content on any topic important to enrollment management and student recruiting. Check it out.

According to the EnglishUSA report, the global English language teaching sector continues to recover and is now 77% of its 2019 student numbers, signaling a positive trend in overall postsecondary enrollment. In the US, the recovery rate was 69% – lower, but still positive.   

Compare this to US institutions as a whole. While all enrollment (domestic + international) is still down 800,000 students from 2019 numbers per the National Student Clearinghouse, solid gains have been made to rebuild enrollment. The latest IIE data on international students in the US (2022/23) indicates that numbers have reached 98% of the 2019/20 levels.  

On a global scale, the EnglishUSA report shows 1.1 million students in 2023 took an English language course in one of eight major destinations – Australia, Canada, Ireland, Malta, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK, and US.  Among these, the US was the third most popular country, hosting 13% of the students, falling in line behind the UK and Australia. And that 13% added up to over $1.7 billion in direct economic impact to the US economy. Education is a solid export for the US. 

These numbers just scratch the surface of the nuanced report, which offers perspective on preferred course types, recruitment channels, visa challenges, more on the economic impact of ELP students, and other valuable insights.  

With students back on campus, we know you’re busy. So, today a quick overview of the stats we found particularly interesting as global marketers. Read on… 

If you’re on the fence about WhatsApp, know this: Meta’s goal is to make WhatsApp a household name, whether it is to shop, chat, or stay on top of news and events. That from a recent New York Times article. In it, Will Cathcart, head of WhatsApp confirms what we are already seeing, that the conversation has moved from ‘WhatsApp is the app I use outside the US when I travel,’ to something much more mainstream in the US. Below, we get detailed and actionable about what this means to you.

Word from Apptopia confirms as much. Its numbers show WhatsApp’s daily active users grew by 9% in the US last year, with 50% of these users chatting daily on the app, 78% weekly. Aside from Meta’s interest in cementing this app as the singular messaging tool among consumers worldwide, pundits point to a variety of reasons for the uptick in the US – the preference for messaging versus emailing, the preference for closed-group messaging rather than social media blasts, the increase in post-pandemic international travel, and the app’s ease of use for business communication just to name a few. 

Events you won’t want to miss:

Let’s talk international student enrollment at the upcoming AIRC Spring Symposium on April 30. Intead will be presenting on student recruitment marketing budgets – we've got some great new insights to share. Register today!

The Intead team is gearing up for some amazing presentations at: 

• ICEF North America in Niagara, Canada, May 1-3, 2024
• NAFSA 2024 Annual Conference and Expo in New Orleans, May 28-31, 2024
  
• GMAC 2024 Annual Conference in New Orleans, June 19-21, 2024

Let us know if you’ll share a cup of coffee and a conversation about all things global and digital (info@intead.com)

Those who read last week’s post know how we feel. (Get to it!). It just makes so much sense for universities to have a Business WhatsApp account, especially those who work with international students. And now, we believe, for domestic markets, too. Check out our handy, quick-hit, 11-step check list.

Just like last week, this post is the kind of thing you might want to share with your enrollment team and prompt a discussion at the next team meeting. How would you adapt our recommendations to your particular situation (CRM, staff structure, enrollment pipeline, etc.)?

If you are going to be using WhatsApp, we strongly recommend you puppeteer these communications from a WhatsApp Business account. We got into the meat and potatoes of setting these accounts up last week. Now, let’s get to dessert, aka best use practices. Read on… 

What’s up with WhatsApp is a question we find ourselves answering a lot lately, especially when talking about student recruitment. And it is a bit more for international students than domestic, though this blog is useful intel for both. As a teaser, more than 100 billion messages are sent each day on WhatsApp. Yes, that was 100 billion per day! We have more eye popping stats below. 

An important messaging tool because it works across countries, many institutions have been using personal WhatsApp accounts that are attached to a single phone number. That works, but as far as standard operating procedures go, that’s a bit flimsy.  

WhatsApp, a Meta company for 10 years now, has an answer called WhatsApp Business. That too has been around awhile (WhatsApp Business launched in 2018), but it’s just been a bit cumbersome for many overly busy international offices to onboard. And many of their domestic student recruitment counterparts have taken a why-bother approach. 

Our take: it’s time to bite the bullet – it’s easier than you think – and set up a WhatsApp Business account that can be managed from a desktop (see our quick hit 11-step process). We concede that it can be time consuming, but there are just so many benefits to having a verified account on behalf of your institution that we think it’s worth your while.   

Events you won’t want to miss:

Let’s talk international student enrollment at the upcoming AIRC Spring Symposium on April 30. Intead will be presenting on student recruitment marketing budgets – we've got some great new insights to share. Register today!

The Intead team is gearing up for some amazing presentations at: 

• ICEF North America in Niagara, Canada, May 1-3, 2024
• NAFSA 2024 Annual Conference and Expo in New Orleans, May 28-31, 2024
  
• GMAC 2024 Annual Conference in New Orleans, June 19-21, 2024

Let us know if you’ll share a cup of coffee and a conversation about all things global and digital (info@intead.com) 

This is exactly the kind of stuff so many of you read our blog for, right? What is the time investment? What is the upside? How do I set my enrollment management systems up for success?   

So, let’s get right to it. Read on to learn why WhatsApp is proving to be a good tool for many student recruiters right now – international and domestic – and how to go about setting up your business account. We’ll make it easy for you, as always. And yes, this is one of those posts you’ll want to share with your team (link at bottom) and discuss in the next team meeting. 

As I headed to Phoenix for the AIRC 2023 conference, I wondered if the window had already closed for education institutions just now considering starting up with commission-based agents as an international student recruitment channel. Happy to tell you, that window has not closed at all.  

Yet, there is a lot to consider for those institutions just starting, and those having been at it for years. 

With the largest AIRC conference to-date (480 attendees), more than 200 first timers attended. Clearly there is demand to learn more about how effective university-agent partnerships work. And having been part of the AIRC community for 14 of their 15-year history, I can tell you that AIRC is one of the best places to learn about international student enrollment growth. 

From sample contracts to efficient agent engagement policies and practices, AIRC’s documentation and counsel are outstanding. This year, 7 members of the Intead team traveled to Phoenix to attend, in part because the learning opportunities and global connections at this conference are among the best in the industry. The other part was the opportunity to share our own expertise with the attendees at our full-day Global Marketing Workshop. That was a hoot. The Intead team just loves this stuff. 

We’ll be at AIEA in DC in about 6 weeks and participating in 3 great presentations: 

• AI for enrollment management  
• Entrepreneurial leadership in bureaucratic environments 
• A discussion around International Student Points of Entry and a new international student-focused publication to be released later in 2024 
  

And of course, we will be presenting at NAFSA in New Orleans in late May. If you’d like to schedule time to chat over coffee instead of over Zoom, please be in touch (info@intead.com). 

At AIRC 2023, we gave our full-day Global Marketing Workshop with half a day devoted to an interactive lecture on the fundamentals of the strategy that drives a university’s tactical execution. After lunch, we dove into 1:1 consulting with participants to address the group’s self-identified greatest needs.  

It was fascinating to see how our workshop attendees debated and decided amongst themselves what the second half topics should be. Here’s where we ended up: 

• I need a marketing budget, what do I do to get it approved? 
• I have a marketing budget. Now what? 
• Identifying and filling resource gaps 
• Processes for nurturing and converting leads 
• Creating authentic and powerful recruitment content 

Do these topics resonate for you? Be in touch and we can share what we know and how we have helped institutions like yours succeed.  

During the AIRC conference, Intead’s Sr. Digital Marketing Manager Iliana Joaquin joined Dr. David DiMaria, SIO at UMBC, for a practical discussion about how AI and ChatGPT are being used today in enrollment management and what we can realistically expect in the next year as AI-driven tools evolve. Short answer – it ain’t there yet, but it very likely will be in the next couple of years. So much more to talk about on this topic. There are definitely some gains that can be made in some areas, but the hype from the vendors is creating so much noise. Very frustrating.

Later at the conference, I ran a session with Vanessa Andrade about staffing challenges that so many institutions are facing today. The discussion about what skills and tasks to hire for and what to outsource was dynamic with so many additions from the folks in the room. This is what we absolutely love about the AIRC conference.

We are making these insightful presentations available to blog subscribers for free. Download them here.

Below we summarize 3 key take-aways from the conference. Please read on… 

From the annual CIEE conference in Paris to Pie Live in Boston then AIRC in Phoenix and a super quick turnaround to ICEF in Miami, Q4 literally flew by. You, too? We wouldn’t change a thing, of course. It’s hard to replace the simple act of togetherness. It’s how ideas come to life. Cliché? Fine. But it’s so true. 

Sharing our research and student recruitment campaign results with our community always feels great. We’re here to make you more effective (and have interesting insights to share at your team meetings).  

A few key Q4 takeaways we will absolutely be bringing into the new year: 

• The global competition for international students is stronger by the day, and institutions need to be increasingly smarter in their approach to international education, including recruitment. Can you be? (hint: it has to do with the skill sets you access to do the work) 
• China and India are hot topics as always, especially India’s dramatic rising numbers of incoming graduate (and undergraduate) students.  
• Enrollment departments are eager to leverage AI. The question is: how? And, is it ready for us? 
• More must be done to support student mental health. So much more. 
• And how about the new IIE Open Doors report?! Lagging data that points toward the future. 
  

Just a few notes we’re thinking about. Clearly there’s no lack of issues for our industry to address. So, if in the midst of this really busy few months you didn’t have time to read all of our posts, we understand. That’s why we’ve compiled this quarterly at-a-glance post. It covers all our news from how to navigate TikTok’s ad platform to what’s going on with higher ed in India and so much in between that you and your team won’t want to miss.Read on… 

Most inspiring feature of NACAC ‘23: Angel Perez, NACAC CEO, interviewing Maryland Governor Wes Moore and US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in the opening Plenary for 7,000+ attendees. Representation matters.  

This conversation, in the way it was introduced by a power team of NACAC leaders and the dialogue that followed, demonstrates so very much about what we can do to move forward in the face of strong opposition. Bring our unrelenting energy and talent, grounded in the forthright presentation of ideas and ideals. Meet the challenge, whatever it may be, with unwavering, appreciative inquiry. Communicate the vision in ways everyone can understand. 

The conference that followed with all the sessions, networking, and the many interactions showed that NACAC has still got it. And the Baltimore Convention Center people flow worked better than many other large venues we’ve been to. Below we offer additional 2023 Enrollment Trend Observations and the slides from our presentation on the current state of the international enrollment. The data we share offers you an outstanding opportunity to benchmark your own institution against nearly 200 others. 

Opportunities to meet in person:

The Intead team is gearing up for some amazing presentations and we hope you can join us. 

• CIEE 76th Annual Conference in Paris, Nov 8-10, 2023 
• PIE News Live in Boston, Nov 13-15, 2023 
• AIRC Annual Conference – we’ll be offering our full day digital marketing workshop here in Phoenix, Dec 6-9, 2023 
• ICEF North America Workshop in Miami, Dec 10-13, 2023 

Let us know if you’ll come share a cup of coffee and a conversation about all things global and digital (info@intead.com) 

Intead’s presentation at NACAC 2023 with Robert Summers from Middle Tennessee State University and Jennifer Wright from AIRC was, of course, in the furthest most possible session room, and the A/C in the Convention Center seemed to get stronger and stronger the further you got from the entrance. So, we cheered when we saw 70+ attendees actually show up on the distant shores of room 348 and suffer through our data display in near arctic conditions. We thank you all! 

I exaggerate, of course. But it was pretty darn cold. And the data we presented wasn’t exactly warm and fuzzy. It is here and available for download in the link at the end of this blog post. Read on… 

Chinese student numbers are sobering. With the latest IIE data showing a 26.1% decline in total U.S. incoming students from China in 2021/22, you and your peers are more than aware. It’s the kind of stat that leaves a mark and prompts questions. 

Has your leadership posed this to you: “Should we be in China at this point?” 

If you regularly follow our blog then you know times like these call for a hard look at market diversification. It is a winning strategy. Your admissions team as well as the campus community stand to gain so much by building a diverse student population. Beyond the diverse, cross-cultural learning that is part of your mission, diversifying where you draw students from offers more financial confidence and reslience to your institution.  

Markets fluctuate. Diverse revenue streams stabilize. 

Today we look at why giving up on Chinese students is not in your best interest, nor is it in theirs. Diversify your market reach, yes. But tamping down your work with prospective Chinese families will limit your opportunities and future success. Maybe especially now. 

This is a blog post we think you'll want to share with other leaders on campus. A question: have you looked at the current youth unemployment rate in China?  

Quick aside: Ben and Iliana will be at the NACAC conference presenting alongside our colleagues from AIRC  and Middle Tennessee State University on September 22 in Baltimore. Can we schedule a time to chat? Coffee's on us! We still have room on our schedules.

For over two decades China has solidly been the top sender of students to the U.S. In 2021 alone this singular cohort added $10.5 billion to the U.S. economy per the U.S. Department of Commerce. And that’s on a down year. Sure, India is expected to surpass China in the not-too-distant future (more on that in an upcoming post), but China will remain a strong market.  

Let’s be clear: giving up on Chinese students during this downturn would be a mistake.  

Here’s the thing, while the declining enrollment of Chinese students in America is so much about the pandemic and politics, it’s the day-to-day reality of this cohort that should get your attention. The volume of students and their interest in a foreign education will continue to produce significant enrollment opportunities. Important that your strategy adapts to the times employing the right programs and messaging.  

Why is there continuing demand for a foreign education among Chinese students and families? Consider these current truths: 

• High Youth Unemployment Rates: Unemployment in China within the young urban population is stagnating at an ugly 20%. A number so stubborn and bleak that the government recently stopped reporting it altogether. What’s more, 70% of these unemployed are college graduates, according to a recent article in The Economist. Even more troubling, reliable Chinese economists outside the government suggest that the current youth unemployment rate may be more than double the government's previously published figure.

• The Government’s Get-Tough Response: Xi Jinping’s response to the current sour economy? He tells the young to “eat bitterness” and “seek self-inflicted hardships.” A bitter pill indeed for a generation that has grown up with aspirations of social mobility. After all, China has been more agreeable to private enterprise and other aspects of an open society in recent decades. Significant middle-class growth in China has powered the growth in international education and set a generation of expectations for opportunity. That time appears to be changing, a lot. 
• Disillusioned and Disaffected: A pervasive sentiment among China’s youth is that, regardless of their efforts, achieving a better quality of life feels increasingly unattainable. Jobs are scarce. Cities are less and less affordable to live in. The once semi-open culture now feels less so. Even marriage is losing its appeal. This cohort is disillusioned and disaffected. The government has cracked down on social media posts that refer to "laying flat," (e.g. slowing down and basically giving up). The younger, unemployed/underemployed segment who are discouraged and laying flat become dependent on their parents (referred to as "bite old") as they feel they have very low or no revenue or career prospects.

Economic and political pressures over the next couple years look to be significant within China. Amid this undeniably challenging time for young Chinese citizens, they have eyes on the world through social media. They see opportunity out there.  

Read on for our take on how to reassess and adapt your strategies to better serve this vital demographic in the near term. And we want you to be prepared to adapt as the pressures within China change as they are surely going to.