International student recruitment challenges

Inside Higher Education sponsored a meeting on current trends in international student recruitment that illuminated what most U.S. institutions already knew - recruiting international students is getting harder. About half of U.S. institutions have seen modest declines while the other half report either stable or slight increases in international enrollment. Those that have experienced increases are research intensive and with high namebrand visibility around the world. The big winner in comparison to U.S. losses appears to be Canada where international student enrollment is increasing across the board.

For those institutions seeking to increase international enrollment, even when there are headwinds such as cost, climate, and visa restrictions, education leaders often use the idea of preparation for global work as a rationale. "The notion of cultural agility, the notion of global ease and global proficiency are important," said Joseph Aoun, President of Northeastern University. Another strategy used to stabilize or increase international enrollment is partnership, a concept advocated by Ahmad Hasnah, President of Hamad bin Khalifa University in Doha, Qatar. Hasnah advocated that partnerships should include outreach to local communities and should reinforce that "your research is really able to impact them. I think they need to feel that impact."