Thursday, March 30, 2017

Partnerships and opportunity key to attracting international students

As higher education around the world seeks to maintain or increase international student numbers, partnerships and opportunity may tip the scale.

In a paid ad for the Chronicle of Higher Education, former ambassador Asif Chaudhry and now Vice President for International Programs at Washington State University indicated that visa processing is already very thorough, despite the Trump administration's Executive Order assertion. He also said that, "it is very much in our national security interest to have students from other countries come to the United States and interact with our students. These students come to understand who we are as Americans. They take that message and positive experience back to their countries." In order to counter the potential decline of international student numbers, Washington State University turned to INTO to help them gain greater visibility among international student applicants.

Canada and Australia have turned to policy changes that relax visa processing, work rules, and pathways to citizenship in order to continue to increase international student numbers. Taking advantage of strong student evaluations (89% approval in an international student survey) and growing visibility among higher education institutions around the globe, Australia has now topped 550,000 international students. It recently published a "10-year plan for expanding Australia's global role in education, research, and training" which offers employability as one of its benefits.

Beyond these strategies, many universities have used agents to recruit larger numbers of international students. This practice has been frequently criticized as serving the institutions that pay fees to agents rather than acting in the best interest of applicants. Because of this potential negative impact, the U.S. Middle States accrediting body is exploring the possibility of prohibiting use of agents among institutions it accredits.

International students often use web sites to help them determine what institutions they want to attend. Taking an audit of how the material on a web site would be seen by a prospective international student will increase the likelihood of applicants and admits. Instagram may also be a technology platform that should be included in institutional recruitment strategies.

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