Recruiting Intelligence

Love this photo: a last-minute session prep discussion as we reviewed the slides for our AIRC 2022 session all about the student journey. The student path to enrollment is really no path at all. That, despite even our best efforts to pave a smooth walk to first-year orientation.

Experience tells us time and again that the actual route to enrollment is filled with intersections, stop signs, potholes, and wrong ways. And influence comes from all directions. It is a multi-factor decision for students. And the path itself is not linear.

In December, Intead had the great pleasure of sharing the stage with Vanessa Andrade and Sean Cochran at the AIRC conference in Los Angeles. Vanessa is the SIO and director of international partnerships at California State University, Northridge, and Sean is the international enrollment management director at California State University, Long Beach. It was a lot of fun. Our session prompted a great discussion with attendees – a hallmark of AIRC Conference sessions.

If you couldn’t sit in, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered by making our slides available to you for a limited time.

And Hey! If you are at AIEA next week in DC, look us up. Join us for a great session on how trend data informs international student recruitment planning. Co-presenting with Karin Fischer from Chronicle of Higher Ed and Dr. Ahmad Ezzeddine from Wayne State University.  Always happy to talk through this student journey perspective to help you hone your approach.

 In the AIRC session back in December 2022, we had a few important learning objectives:

• Learn to re-envision the many and varied touchpoints of the student journey
• Gain perspective on which touchpoints can be controlled and emphasized to help students select a “best fit” institution
• Understand, from the student's point of view, just how influential some of the nontraditional touchpoints are to university selection

 Sound worthwhile? It is. Read on to access this valuable content.

What we know: On a macro level, stalwart student recruitment sources are in flux with China declining a lot and India rising a lot. Other source countries are similarly difficult to predict as the repercussions of the pandemic and other global factors continue to play out.

Statistically speaking, US institutions hosted 8.4% fewer international students this past fall compared to fall 2020 (and that year wasn’t so hot either). Public 4-year institutions saw the largest decline (17.2.%). This is all per the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

While macro stats offer perspective, they are not what drive recruitment strategy. Your goals and differentiators drive strategic enrollment decisions.

On the topic of high-level institutional internationalization: We will be in San Diego presenting at the AGB conference in April. Honored to join Brad Farnsworth from Fox Hollow Advisory (former ACE VP) and Dr. Gretchen Bataille from GMB Consulting (former president of the U of North Texas among other amazing higher ed roles). We will be talking all about insights university presidents and trustees need to guide internationalization efforts. Reach outif you'll be there.

And in less than 2 weeks we will be in DC for the AIEA Conference presenting alongside Karin Fischer from Chronicle of Higher Ed and Dr. Ahmad Ezzeddine from Wayne State University. If you will be in DC for the event, we are talking about how trend data informs international student recruitment planning on Monday, Feb. 20. Hope to see you there. (Email us if you'd like to find coffee together).

Recruitment strategy derives from the number of students you need to meet enrollment targets tied to what your institution excels at (your market differentiators) - that, along with an evaluation of where in the world (domestically and internationally) market opportunities exist. Our blog post on new market entrycontinues to be a popular one.

Most institutions across the country still believe that international markets work to their advantage. The latest “Mapping Internationalization on US Campuses” report by the American Council on Education (ACE) concurs. 66% of its survey’s 900+ responding institutions anticipate their overall level of internationalization will increase in the coming years. (Our recent blog post on the ACE report provides more perspective).

With traditional source countries in flux (China, India, Vietnam, South Korea, Brazil), we have been pointing to opportunities in developing markets (Africa part 1, part 2) and Latin America (part 1, part 2). Today we offer insights on the Middle East.

The value of reaching a broader swath of prospects gets to the very heart of why most institutions say they are for internationalization in the first place:

• To improve student preparedness for a global era
• To diversity students, faculty, and staff
• To become more attractive to prospective students
• To generate revenue

In evaluating new markets, we look to countries with rising incomes, a growing youth population, and real employment opportunities for returning graduates. The Middle East is a region with a rising youth population, plentiful job opportunities, and only a handful of competitive higher education institutions.

Many students in this region are looking to study abroad due to changes in political climate or the fact that many of their local universities are newer or understaffed. Though let’s not discount the entire system. Two Saudi universities are ranked in the top 200 of global 2023 QS World University Rankings: #106 King Abdulaziz University In Jeddah and #160 King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals in Dhahran.

In this week’s post we offer you insights on student market opportunities in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, and Jordan.

Read on.

In what month do students in Brazil graduate high school? How about China? Are they the same? Germany and France must be on the same schedule though, right?

Out of the top 29 countries sending international students out into the world, 11 of them have academic years starting in September and ending in June. Eighteen others don’t. And, no, German and French school calendars are not aligned.

Knowing when to reach prospective students is as important as knowing where to reach them. And when your audience is spread across the globe, school admissions and matriculation timing is anything but consistent.

This is important information to your student recruitment team if they are going to reach those students with the right information at the right time. Handy to have a cheatsheet with that information at your fingertips, right?

That’s why we’ve created the Global School Start Calendar featuring 29 top-sending countries. Knowing what drives your international students' planning plays into your recruitment and admissions messaging and timing.

This cheat sheet gives you at-a-glance dates and other relevant reference points for:

• Secondary academic calendars
• University academic calendars
• Major academic exam dates
• Perspective on student recruitment campaign launch dates

An important side note: Because dates change all the time, as do undergrad exam requirements, we will be updating this resource as appropriate. And, since you are part of the global student recruitment community, we more than welcome your input and updates to this reference tool.

If you see any information that has recently changed or want additional details added, please let us know. We want this tool to be really useful and can use our crowdsourced community’s help to keep it current.

This cheat sheet will be available for free to blog subscribers for a limited time. Or, join Intead Plus and your team can access this and all our other Intead Index student recruitment essentials any time the need arises.

Ready to download your free copy of our Global School Start cheat sheet? Read on…

As our industry reckons with the decline in Chinese student enrollment, we offer insights on regions that may fill the void. But, it’s so much more than that. Broadening our international recruitment reach will serve our bottom line, yes, but it also enriches and enlivens our campuses and deepens the student experience. You know all this already. It’s why so many of us do what we do. Cultural understanding matters.

REGISTRATION CLOSES TOMORROW (Dec. 8, 2022). So, before we dive into part 2 of our review of LATAM recruitment opportunities, how confident are you with your selection of international student recruitment markets right now? And do you want to tap some of the brightest, experienced minds in our industry?

The Intead/San Diego State University One-Day Workshop will be a hands-on opportunity to learn from an awe-inspiring international student recruitment faculty. Colleagues from Syracuse University, Tennessee State University, Cal State Northridge, San Diego State, English USA, and edX, Rutgers Prep and Idlywild (for our high school colleagues), simply SO much talent in one room.

• Come with questions, leave with a plan.
• Two luminary keynotes
  • Luncheon on Social Justice with Dr. Jewell Winn and Dr. Adrienne Fusek
  • Dinner on Chinese Student Influencers with Dr. Yingyi Ma and Brad Farnsworth

• At $350 for the day (inclusive of all meals), this learning opportunity is a steal.

Last week we looked at Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. (And before that Africa, see part 1 and part 2.) This week our eyes are on Venezuela, Peru, and Argentina. These top sending countries from Latin America are worth your team’s consideration.

And if you need a partner to help you refine your recruitment focus, be in touch. We’ll help you find new recruitment opportunities that make sense for your specific, culturally relevant programs and campus.

Read on for our regional insights.

The decline in enrollment continues in two really important student segments for so many US universities: domestic US and Chinese students.

So, what are you doing about it? Plenty, we are sure. 

As campus pressures continue to mount, institutions are diversifying enrollment targets and considering options that were only peripherally on their radars in the past. Today's discussion: Part 1 in a 2-part series on LATAM.

A word to the wise: while China as an enrollment target has shifted for many institutions, the Chinese student audience is not one any of us should ignore. The volume of students from China to the US, UK, Australia, and Canada, among other nations, continues to be significant as compared to the flow from other countries. Strategies, messaging, and expectations should adjust.

As far as domestic recruiting in the US, we don’t see US institutions bailing on domestic student recruitment any time soon ; -) Again, strategies, messaging, and expectations.

Registration is about to close. Join us in San Diego on Dec. 13 to evaluate how your institution can adapt to the new international student recruitment landscape. The Intead/San Diego State University One-Day Workshop will be a hands-on opportunity to learn from an awe-inspiring international student recruitment faculty.

• Come with questions, leave with a plan.
• Two luminary keynotes
  • Luncheon on Social Justice with Dr. Jewell Winn and Dr. Adrienne Fusek
  • Dinner on Chinese Student Influencers with Dr. Yingyi Ma and Brad Farnsworth
• A full day of international student recruitment strategy and execution discussion. 
• At $350 for the day (inclusive of all meals), this learning opportunity is a steal.

What we are seeing: more institutions are (finally!) taking global diversification seriously and are reconsidering how and where to spend student recruitment marketing dollars. Recruiting beyond China is the right move, right now. And no, this doesn’t mean going all in on India either.

It’s time to add a few new eggs to your basket (or make your current basket of eggs larger). Look for markets ripe for recruitment -- those with a growing youth population, rising incomes, and real employment opportunities for returning grads. Oh, and some institution-specific data that supports your institution’s connection to that source country.

It’s a drum we’ve beat before (see our recent two-part series on recruiting students from Africa: part 1, part 2). Today, Latin America is a region with a rising youth population, a range of strengthening economies, and only a handful of in-country competitive higher ed institutions.

In fact, this year only one Latin American university made it into the top 100 global 2023 QS World University Rankings. Two more made it into the top 200. (#67 Universidad de Buenos Aires, #104 Universidad Autonoma de Mexico, #115 Universidad de Sao Paulo). In other words, enterprising youth have very few top-tier research-intensive universities from which to choose within their region. 

Thankfully, we know, it is not all about rankings. And yes, just like you, we have all the same misgivings and cranky commentary about the ranking systems and what they perpetuate. There are many reasons, beyond rankings, that students from Latin America seek study opportunities abroad. Our market research (pre-COVID) continues to provide valuable insights into the motivations of students from emerging markets. Download that report HERE.

All this to say, Latin American students represent an opportunity worth exploring right now (have been for a while).

So, we’re giving you our latest analysis to get you going in the right direction. In this week’s post we offer a review of Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. Next week, Venezuela, Peru, and Argentina. We think you’ll find our insights useful as a starting point for the work you’re doing this recruitment cycle as well as the next. Read on.

If career outcomes truly drive prospective student decision-making (they do), then a critical question arises for most institutions: Are you effectively utilizing your alumni to recruit new and retain current students? (We know what your answer will be).

Last week’s blog post laid out the benefits of building a strong global network of alumni and three cost-effective ways to get it off the ground:

• Modernize data management
• Start small and build out
• Key into senior class leadership

Now, let’s talk about getting that network to engage, recruit, and help retain students.

But first, come learn with us. Your key international student markets are not what they used to be. Among our colleagues in this field, we see a tremendous thirst for gathering and evaluating recruitment options. Now is the time to pause and think this through. Join us at the Intead/San Diego State University One-Day Workshop, it’s a hands-on opportunity to learn from awe-inspiring international student recruitment faculty. You won’t want to miss it.

• A full-day hands on workshop on strategy & execution. Come with questions, leave with a plan.
• Two luminary keynotes
  • Luncheon on Social Justice with Dr. Jewell Winn and Adrienne Fusek
  • Dinner on Chinese Student Influencers with Dr. Yingyi Ma and Brad Farnsworth

• At $200 for the day (inclusive of all meals), this full-day learning opportunity is a steal. (Pricing goes up to $350 on October 24, 2022).

Ok, back to the power of your alumni!

The Michigan State University Alumni Association has had a strong program with clear goals for its Alumni Student Recruitment program:

• Increase the number of highly competitive and qualified students considering Michigan State at the undergraduate level and increase the percentage of admitted students who enroll
• Provide a local information source for inquiring students, applicants, admitted and enrolled students, and their families
• Provide regional assistance to the Michigan State admissions staff

Back in 2018, we were fortunate enough to co-present with Daniel Spadafore when he built and led this program at Michigan State in his role with the International Advancement Office. Also part of the presentation, Dr. Gretchen Dobson who has provided strong, consistent advocacy for the importance of alumni engagement that universities typically overlook.

Michigan State's goals can be adapted to other institutions based on their leadership, resources, and of course, the alumni network they have tracked to date. The process of implementing such a program is not as complicated as you may think.

Read on to learn more about how to develop an action plan for your alumni network that can yield positive returns on your investment.

Going to university remains a search for direction and a process of maturation. And yet, there is a culture shift that has been growing over the past few decades. That culture shift is around the value of degrees vs. short-term certificates. It is around the value of a traditional 4-year university education vs. acquiring the skills to quickly land a valuable job. Cybersecurity and data analytics anyone?

Before we dive in, how confident are you with your selection of international student recruitment markets right now? You, our blog subscribers, have first shot at this limited seating workshop.

Among our colleagues in this field, we see a tremendous thirst for gathering and evaluating our options, with time to really talk it through. The Intead/San Diego State University One-Day Workshop will be a hands-on opportunity to learn from an awe-inspiring international student recruitment faculty.

• Come with questions, leave with a plan.
• Two luminary keynotes
  • Luncheon on Social Justice with Dr. Jewell Winn and Adrienne Fusek
  • Dinner on Chinese Student Influencers with Dr. Yingyi Ma and Brad Farnsworth
  • A full day of international student recruitment strategy and execution discussion
• At $200 for the day (inclusive of all meals), this learning opportunity is a steal. (Pricing goes up to $350 on October 24, 2022).

For most undergraduates, studying at a university is now the first opportunity to interact with and cultivate the network connections that are so vital to getting a job and building a successful career in the 21st-century global economy.

In their recently published book, The Real World of College: What Higher Education is and What It Can Be, authors Wendy Fischman and Howard Gardner note the shift in attitude and expectations among students from ‘we’ to ‘I’.

“The prevalence of ‘I’ over ‘we’ gives insight into what we believe is a troubling problem for the sector of higher education—students’ preoccupation with ‘self,’” Fischman notes.

Now we can debate if this shift is troublesome. Maybe. Maybe not. But we can’t deny the shift in attitudes toward it and how this new mindset should influence your recruitment strategies.

Read on to learn how a shift in strategy can help you secure stronger enrollment among the so-called ‘I’ generation…

Does your institution work hard to develop employer connections?

Due to the pandemic, Intead paused its international student internship program. We are so glad to have it back as we return to the office.

As a rising Junior from Germany studying at UMass Amherst, Klara Lehmann thinks a lot about her future. She jumped at the chance to intern at Intead over the summer break. We were lucky to have her thoughtful and thorough approach to our work.

The level of effort most institutions put into developing career-shaping opportunities for their students typically underwhelms. Students, like Klara, who push for opportunities are far more likely to succeed than those who do not. So many students require additional motivation and support from their institutions to develop skills through internships.

Yet, skills development may not be the most valuable aspect of internships. From what we have seen, the real value is in how students develop an understanding, outside the classroom, of what they would like to develop into, what they would like their future to be. It is all about learning in a different environment. The networking and resume content doesn't hurt, though.

Learn with us:

• Recruiting from Bangladesh: The Intead team will be presenting an AIRC Webinar on Wednesday, October 12, 2022. The process and results of our recent digital campaign recruiting international students for Truman State University will be on full display. Register HERE.
• Global Marketing Strategy & Campaign Analytics: Ben and Iliana will be presenting on a range of marketing strategy and analytics sessions with colleagues from Northeastern University, Clark University, Central Connecticut State University, and University of New Hampshire at the NAFSA Region XI Conference in Manchester, NH, Nov 18-20, 2022. Click HERE to schedule a time to meet us.

Read on for a firsthand look at Klara’s reflections on her internship experience. Consider who, on your team, from career services on up, needs to hear this message. Internship experiences and the student stories you can share with your prospective students will go a long way toward differentiating your institution in a competitive market. Klara’s story makes the case for your institutional investment very clear.

All eyes on China is not a winning international student recruitment strategy today. Not that it ever was. The stronger approach: diversifying the pool of countries your institution pulls from. We’ve been saying this for more than a decade. Institutional budget allocations have not always heeded the advice.

We get it. Student volume and confidence in achieving enrollment targets have driven academic CFOs and others who manage risk to take the more conservative path. Over the past decade+, our clients are typically those interested in pushing beyond the conservative global recruitment path. They are the institutions that recognize the value of building a broad range of relationships to feed their student enrollment.

This diversification, both domestic and international, provides for more long-term stability. That strategy is becoming far more attractive to many more institutions today. And that strategy takes time and investment to execute well, to build a reliable and diverse supply chain as it were.

Last week we wrote about the three key things to look for in markets ripe for international student recruitment: a growing youth population, rising incomes, and employment opportunities for returning graduates. And a growing list of countries in Africa is meeting the short(er) list for institutions seeking international students. It may be time you take a closer look at this region.

Here’s the link to Part 1 in this 2-part series (in case you missed it). Today we offer student recruitment insights for Ethiopia, South Africa, Morocco, and Tanzania.

And for more African student recruitment insights from our pre-Covid research (still highly relevant as you develop your recruitment plans), check out:

• Out of Africa, Part 2: African Students Studying Abroad
• Out of Africa, Part 3: International Study Across Africa & Foreign Investment

With a nod to last week’s post (with many useful links for the careful planner that we know you are), important to note that there is competition for these students from attractive and less expensive institutions in Russia (before the Ukrainian crisis), France, Germany, China, and some Middle Eastern countries.

In our discussion of 7 African nations, we cite a variety of useful sources to demonstrate how varied information sources will add to your country and cultural perspectives. Hopefully through this post and the next, you will find some new research sites to support your planning. (We love participating in that broader teaching mission as well).

Read on for tips on recruiting students from Ethiopia, South Africa, Morocco, and Tanzania

The best markets for international student recruitment have three key things going for them:

• a growing youth population, 
• rising incomes, and
• employment opportunities for returning graduates.

The African continent has a number of under-utilized recruitment hubs that boast all three.

The three bullet points above are useful generic perspective applicable to pretty much any institution – higher ed and private high schools. But what about your specific institution?

How do you make headway in the new(ish) student recruitment markets that African countries represent? Will your differentiators resonate there? Which channels will reach your ideal student segments?

Perhaps start with some of our analysis with helpful, still valid insights compiled prior to Covid. You’ll appreciate the discussion of recruiting agents, creative partnerships, and other valuable recruiting channels:

• Africa's Tech Hubs: Your New Student Source?
• International Student Recruiting in Africa Part I: Africa’s Competitive Edge (3-part series)

To be clear, African countries, as sources of international students will not replace the flow of students coming out of China. So, if your enrollment goals are all about achieving target numbers and not about diversifying your campus, you may hesitate to invest here.

And yet, the thing about hitting your enrollment goals is that you win by building strong relationships and pipelines. Clearly, China and India have the volume and the larger accessible market size, but your institution needs student recruitment opportunities where you can be truly competitive. And diversifying your campus has rewards that speak directly to your institution’s broader teaching mission. Seeking less common sources of international students is one way you do all that.

An increasing number of institutions are approaching the Intead team to explore further afield. A welcome and important mindset. While regular readers of our blog know we continue to share perspectives on, and implement recruitment strategies for, traditional student sources (China, India, Vietnam, Brazil, S. Korea). With more institutions seeking new markets, it is a good time to revisit the approach to Africa as a valuable source.

Obviously, the pandemic slowed the inflow of international students from all parts of the globe, and Africa is no exception. But now, as pandemic restrictions ebb and economies recover, smart institutions are bringing Africa back into their awareness as a prime source of engaged, qualified students.

In fact, more than a few African countries have achieved the World Bank’s “middle economy” status and are expanding their leadership in sectors such as agriculture, oil and gas, and tech. These industries offer promising careers but tend to demand higher education degrees. Foreign degrees draw attention to job candidate resumes. Many US institutions offer long-established degrees and certifications that African higher education institutions are still developing.

Important to note that there is competition for these students. While the US has a strong draw (the US brand and all that), Russia (before the Ukrainian crisis), France, Germany, China, and some Middle Eastern countries have been courting students from African countries for a while with less expensive degrees than are typically found in the US.

Also interesting to note that over the past 5 years, both the US and China have each invested in the African continent at around $40B annually. Much of the investment has gone toward construction (roads/transportation) and mining.

According to The Brookings Institute, “China’s influence goes beyond the trade relationship: It is also the top investor in infrastructure, and now is the first destination of English-speaking African students, outperforming the U.S. and the U.K.” (source cited below).

In our 2-part blog post about 7 African nations, we cite a variety of useful sources to demonstrate how varied information sources will add to your country and cultural perspectives. Hopefully, through this post and the next, you will find some new research sites to support your planning. (We love participating in that broader teaching mission as well).

Read on to evaluate some of the strategies that we have found effective for recruiting students from the African continent.