Competition Grows but Opportunities Abound in
International Higher Education Market
By: Josh Mitchell, MPA
For many years now the U.S. has been an attractive target country for international students seeking degrees in another country. Recent reports, however, have pointed to data that indicate the United States’ place in the international market for postsecondary students is both looking up and looking bleak. Some say that the U.S. position as the first choice destination among college bound students who want to study abroad may be in jeopardy. Others point to a reversal in the trend of falling international enrollments in the U.S. and say that good things are yet to come. Both may in fact be right, but the bottom line is this: the global higher education marketplace is becoming increasingly competitive, and U.S. colleges and universities will have to work harder to recruit the worlds best and brightest to study at their institutions.
A recent study by JWT Education, a UK-based marketing-consulting firm, found that the vast majority of Asian students studying in the UK or Australia no longer listed the U.S. as their first choice destination for higher education. By contrast, three times as many Asian students studying in Australia in 2000 would have preferred to study in the U.S., according to a previously completed JWT Education study. Although the JWT study only included students currently studying in the UK or Australia, thus containing an inherent bias, the shift since 2000 is nevertheless alarming.
Newly released data from the Institute of International Education paints a slightly different picture. While the U.S. position as the preeminent destination for higher education in the world may in fact be slipping, it remains the largest host country for international students worldwide. Nearly 565,000 foreign students were studying in the U.S. in 2005-2006, far more than the next closest host country, the UK, with approximately 318,000 students. While the number of foreign students studying in the U.S. has fallen each year since a peak of over 586,000 in 2002-2003, the trend appears to be slowing as this year’s decline was very slight at just .05%. Couple this leveling off of international enrollments with an eight percent increase in the number of new international students and it seems that enrollments may again start to climb.
While the data are somewhat inconsistent, one thing is clear: the market for foreign students is increasingly competitive. As the number of students studying in the U.S. has fallen so too has the U.S. market share: from 27.5% in 1998-1999 to 23.2% in 2003-2004. The UK meanwhile, which has seen growth in international enrollments each year since 2000-2001, announced in April that the government wants to recruit an additional 100,000 students to study in the UK over the next five years. Even countries in Southeast Asia, which traditionally send thousands of students to study in the U.S., UK, Australia and elsewhere, are beginning to actively recruit foreign students to their own institutions.
What does all of this mean for U.S. colleges and universities? It means that they must do more to aggressively pursue international students. Particularly at institutions where the traditional pools of potential students are beginning to decline, foreign students can be a stabilizing influence on enrollments as well as sources of additional revenue. Below are five tips to consider as you think about ways to enroll more foreign students at your institution.
- Develop a plan. If your institution is serious about recruiting international students, a casual approach just won’t do. Attracting international students should be a stated goal in the institution’s strategic plan and specific strategies should be developed for going to market.
- Know your markets. Integral to success in any new market, domestic or international, is a solid understanding of that market. How large is your potential market? What does the target population look like? What types of programs are they demanding? You must also understand your competition and find ways to differentiate your institution in a crowded marketplace.
- Understand your capacity. If your institution is to recruit international students successfully, it must also have the capacity in place to support the unique needs of those students. You must also be able to deliver a high quality educational experience. Student support services are critical for all students, but particularly foreign students.
- Consider multiple approaches. There are many ways in which a foreign student can study at or with your institution. The most basic way is for them to come to the United States to study for the duration of their degree, but also consider twinning arrangements with foreign institutions, offering fully online programs or hybrid programs with an in-country partner.
- Build relationships and your brand. Beyond the upper tier of US colleges and universities, foreign students will not know the names of most institutions. To compete, you must successfully market your brand and build relationships with key individuals in the markets you are recruiting.
Sources:
Bollag, Burton. “Enrollment of Foreign Students Holds Steady.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. 17 November 2006. http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i13/13a04401.htm.
J. Walter Thompson Education. “The Asian International Student of 2005/2006.” Presentation at the Australian International Education Conference 2006. http://www.idp.edu.au/aiec/pastpapers/Doorbar%20Wed%201630%20Aud.pdf.
Labi, Aisha. “Britain Expands Foreign-Student Recruitment.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. 28 April 2006. http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i34/34a05501.htm.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. “International Flows of Mobile Students at the Tertiary Level.” UNESCO Institute for Statistics. September 2006. http://stats.uis.unesco.org/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=218.