Coming to those decisions is a science and an art, based on objective criteria such as market fundamentals (e.g., GDP, size of the middle class, size of the youth demographic, economic trends) as well as internal signs that a market is becoming more or less promising (e.g., increased/decreased competitor activity, high or low growth rates in various nationalities within the student body, approval rates, etc.)

Today, we’ll look at the objective side of the balance with a summary of economic and demographic trends across four major student sending markets in Asia: Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, and Vietnam. Going into 2026, all four countries feature strong demand for study abroad, and many students are widening their consideration set in terms of destinations.

Bangladesh

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has for economic growth in Bangladesh in 2026 to 4.9% (compared with it prediction of 6.4% growth in April 2025). The main reasons are inflation (8.7%–8.8% in 2025/26) and a challenging global trade environment that dampens opportunities for Bangladesh’s exports. President Trump’s tariff rate for Bangladeshi garments currently stands at 20%, which may reduce Bangladesh’s export earnings from the US market by 14%.

Fortunately, Bangladesh isn’t overly reliant on export earnings (about 10% of total GDP) compared to neighbours such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia (all over 60%). At the same time, Bangladesh’s economy lacks diversification, making it vulnerable to external shocks. There is high demand for study and work abroad, as remittances are a major component of Bangladesh’s GDP and fuel domestic consumption.

• GDP growth projection: 4.9% for 2026 ()
• Proportion of population in the middle class: 33%.
• Youth population: 49% of the country’s population of 172 million is under the age of 24.
• Currency performance: As of November 2025, the taka is trading at 121–122 per US dollar and has in less than three years.
• Youth unemployment: 11.5% of those aged 15–24 are out of work, rising to of those with tertiary education.
• Outbound mobility trends: 2022 OECD data count 52,800 Bangladeshi students abroad. Top destinations are the US, UK, Canada, Malaysia, Germany, and Australia.
• Key quote: “While the UK and the US remain favourites, an increasing number of students are turning to regional options like Malaysia, China, and even Japan, which offer affordable education and government-funded scholarships.”—

Indonesia

Indonesia’s economy has been softening in the past year but not to an alarming degree. The rate of inflation has come down, but this stimulus for consumer spending is offset by high borrowing costs. Indonesia boasts the world’s fourth largest population (286 million) and 41% of it is made up of youth aged 24 and under – a major reason it is such a compelling student source market.

Youth unemployment is a major issue, so focusing on career outcomes and post-study work opportunities will resonate in this market.

• GDP growth projection: 4.7–4.9% for 2025, with a gradual increase to 5.2% by 2026 (World Bank).
• Proportion of population in the middle class: 17%.
• Youth population: 41% under the age of 24.
• Currency performance: As of November 2025, the rupiah is trading around 16,700 per US dollar, marking a depreciation of about .
• Youth unemployment: 16% of those aged 15–24 are out of work (more than twice the proportion in Thailand and Vietnam), and a high proportion of the overall population resort to informal work (56%).
• Outbound trends: There are over 62,800 Indonesian students abroad for tertiary education (as per ) – up 29% over 2017. Top destinations are Australia, Malaysia, the US, Japan, the UK, and Germany.
• Key quote: “Graduates of secondary and tertiary education do not always match the needs of the labour market, and there is also a high proportion of informality. Indonesia has a very large number of young people, so the pressure on the labour market is much higher. We also have rapidly increasing levels of secondary and higher education. Many young college graduates avoid informal or low-paid jobs, so they choose to wait for suitable jobs, which leads to unemployment. There is a lack of effective vocational training and apprenticeship programmes compared with neighbours such as Vietnam or Malaysia. In Malaysia, for example, there are more industry-university linkage schemes and graduate employability programmes.”—Deniey Adi Purwanto, a lecturer at the Department of Economics at IPB University in Bogor, as quoted in .

Nepal

There is considerable debate about prospects for Nepal’s economy in 2026. For example, the IMF expects GDP to grow by 5.2% in 2026 if political tensions ease and tourism revenue and agricultural output are robust. But the World Bank has revised its 2026 forecast to only 2.1% for reasons including civil unrest, loss of investor confidence, a drop in tourism, and poor harvests.

The wildly different forecasts underline the extreme vulnerability of Nepal to climate change and to the vicissitudes of tourism trends. If the weather is good, agriculture drives economic growth – if it not, it can result in devastating losses for the many Nepalese who work in this sector. The same is true for tourism.

A mass youth uprising in September ousted the government and left 72 people dead and more than a thousand injured across the country. Youth are fed up with corruption and economic mismanagement, and the protests were sparked by social media posts by Nepal’s elite “nepo babies” flaunting purchases of luxury brands as well as a (this ended four days later after more than 20 protesters were killed). Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world, and one in three households receives remittances.

The ouster of the government has not yet returned the country to complete stability given profound political divisions and continuing frustration among youth about their lack of opportunities for upward economic mobility.

• GDP growth projection: 2.1% (World Bank) to 5.2% (IMF).
• Proportion of population in the middle class: 33%.
• Youth population: 47% below the age of 24.
• Currency performance: As of November 2025, the Nepalese rupee is trading at 141.7–142.3 per US dollar marking a over the last 12 months.
• Youth unemployment: , well above the global average of 15.7%.
• Outbound mobility trends: Over , going mainly to Australia, Japan, Canada, the US, the UK, and India.
• Key quote: “To save, or even live properly, someone from the family has to go out. It’s almost like an unsaid tradition.” —Tenzin Dolker, a college student in Kathmandu who studies computer science, speaking with the .

Vietnam

Vietnam is one of Asia’s star performers in terms of its economy. Committed to diversification, the government has set a growth target of 10% for 2026, though organisations such as the World Bank and the IMF are more conservative, forecasting anywhere from 6% to 8%.

The Vietnamese government has set its ambitious growth target based on planned investments in infrastructure, the Green Economy, semiconductors, and AI, and it is determined to attract more foreign investment and to expand trade with a widened range of countries. However, a volatile global trade environment and US/China tensions pose risks.

Part of the reason for Vietnam’s economic expansion is its growing middle class, which is boosting domestic consumption. The middle class is forecast to – which will be a remarkable achievement if it happens. In addition, Vietnam is a formidable manufacturing hub, especially in the areas of garments and electronics.

Vietnamese families have always been committed to study abroad if they can afford it, and the fact that so many more families can now afford it makes Vietnam one of the most promising outbound student markets today. About are currently abroad for education.

• GDP growth projection: 6-8% in 2026
• Size of middle class: 26%, .
• Youth population: 39% under the age of 24.
• Currency performance: The dong is currently trading at about 25,300 per US dollar, but it is expected to slide about , according to BMI.
• Youth unemployment: – and all-time high. This is still low compared to the global average, however.
• Outbound mobility trends: Nearly according to the Vietnamese government, with main destinations being South Korea, Japan, Australia, the US, Taiwan, China and Canada.
• Key quote: “As other large markets like India and Nigeria face more volatility due to shifting policy or affordability concerns, Vietnam offers institutions a high-potential and reliable pathway for diversification and long-term enrolment growth.”—Meti Basiri, CEO of ApplyBoard, speaking with

The post Drivers of study abroad in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, and Vietnam appeared first on șÚÁÏčÙÍű Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

Outbound mobility flows

The report shows that 132,000 Vietnamese students were abroad in 2021/22, representing 37% of the market. Malaysia and Indonesia each sent more than 50,000, while Thailand sent 32,000. 

English-speaking destinations remain popular among Southeast Asian families, but there is now also significant interest in regional alternatives.

According to UNESCO data, Australia hosts the highest number of outbound Indonesian students, followed quite closely by Malaysia; the US, Japan, and UK round out the top five destinations. Malaysian students remain most interested in the UK, Australia, and US but some are also choosing Japan and Jordan. Vietnamese students, meanwhile, are more likely to be studying in Asian destinations than Western ones, as illustrated in the charts below.

China is not captured in UNESCO data but, leading into the pandemic, it was also very competitive in Southeast Asia. The Chinese government has not released international enrolment data for the years 2020–23, but in 2019, China hosted 28,600 Thai students, 15,000 Indonesian students, 11,300 Vietnamese students, and 9,500 Malaysian students – making it the top destination for a very hefty proportion of Southeast Asian students.

The report notes that Western institutions face more competition than before in Southeast Asia given Japan’s drive to increase its foreign enrolment to 400,000, Korea’s target of 300,000 by 2027, and Taiwan’s goal of 320,000 by 2030. These competitors are increasingly tying post-study work opportunities into their offer – a huge selling point for international students.

Asian destinations offer students from the region not only cost savings (due to proximity), but also a robust set of top-ranked universities. For example, 33 Asian universities ranked within the 2024 Times Higher Education top 200, up from 28 in 2023. The US still has a higher number of institutions in that top rank (56), but it also has a very strong currency in 2024 that makes it more expensive to study there.

The allure of TNE

Along with intra-regional mobility, transnational education (TNE) is becoming more entrenched in Southeast Asia not least because it offers even more of a cost benefit (e.g., no travel, no accommodation expenses. The report notes:

“We are seeing significant and sustained interest from international institutions to engage in TNE partnerships in Vietnam, including increased interest from higher ranked universities, as well as from local universities for full in-country delivery of international degrees.”

Acumen’s experts consider Vietnam to be a market where there is solid room for expansion, saying it presents “considerable opportunities for institutions able to offer full in-country delivery, through branch campus, ‘campus within a campus’ models, franchise and other types of 4+0 arrangements.”

Australian providers are deepening their TNE presence in the region, notes the report, and becoming more invested in a niche market: professionals wanting to fast-track their careers through micro-credentials and shorter degrees. Overall, Acumen estimates there are now about 20,000 Vietnamese students enrolled in Australian TNE programmes, with RMIT, Swinburne, and Western Sydney University the market leaders.

Southeast Asian students are increasingly drawn both to both stand-alone programmes and to programmes that transition to a study abroad experience, says the Acumen team, and TNE (including progression agreements) are a highly important recruitment channel in the region, “particularly in Malaysia where financial constraints and post-pandemic travel hesitancy mean this option is becoming increasingly attractive.”

International schools’ popularity

Enrolments are trending upward in bilingual and international schools in the region: 600,000 students were enrolled across 1,905 international schools in 2022 – an increase of almost 25% compared with 2017. Acumen’s executives believe this demonstrates “the growing ability and willingness of families to pay for an international education, at an earlier age” and that higher enrolments will also serve to better prepare Southeast Asian students for study abroad.

There are variations across markets:

“In Vietnam for example, the fastest growing market segment has been premium bilingual schools (rather than full international schools.) In Malaysia, which has a mature international school segment, A-levels are becoming less popular due to a range of factors. This includes the emergence of alternative and more cost-competitive university pathways, as well as the academic rigour of A-levels, which is less attractive to some students seeking a less challenging route to tertiary education.”

Southeast Asian families’ growing interest in international and bilingual schools does present a competitive threat for some providers. The report warns that “foundation pathways are facing intense competition from this market segment,” and that Indonesian families , in particular, perceive “international school qualifications 
 as offering more flexibility and portability for students than foundation pathways, which are perceived as locking students into a particular institution.”

New directions for agents

Acumen’s experts note that Southeast Asian families’ common use of education agents fits into a larger context of using agents or intermediaries in general, for banking to real estate. Parents’ reliance on agents remains strong amid a prevalent post-pandemic legacy of increased concern about sending children abroad. Parents look for “individualised, humanised service which is difficult for education providers to deliver from a different country and time-zone and without a deep understanding of local cultural preferences.”

Agents may be called on for more specific advice and services, as noted in this passage from the report:

“As consumers sharpen their focus on ROI from international education, agents will become less focused on providing general information to families and will concentrate instead more on specialised advice, pastoral care and graduate outcomes, beyond what institutions may be able to offer directly.”

Shifting patterns in Malaysia

Malaysian demand for foreign education is changing in important ways. For example, Acumen research shows that while the UK remains the top market for Malaysian students, Australia is once again becoming more competitive. In contrast, undergraduate Malaysian enrolments are declining in the US, likely due to the Ringgit’s weakness relative to the US dollar.

The report also charts increasing (1) postgraduate demand among Malaysian students bound for the UK and Australia and (2) interest in TNE delivered in Malaysia. The following charts from the report show how the UK has been able to maintain its dominant position in Malaysia in no small part because of its TNE provision in the market. 

Getting it right in Southeast Asia is a must

Supply/demand dynamics in Southeast Asia make this region a crucial one for many student recruiters. As Acumen points out:

• Supply: “Some local education systems in Southeast Asia face both capacity and quality constraints, opening up further opportunities for international education providers. In 2021/2022 only 550,000 places were available for new enrolments at Vietnamese universities, for 795,000 applicants – a shortfall of almost 250,000 places.”

• Demand: “The region’s economic development has led to a rising middle class with the financial capacity to pursue higher education, including TNE programmes offered by foreign institutions. Southeast Asia is home to some of the fastest growing economies in the world, led by Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.”

Read the for Acumen’s comprehensive review of the region’s potential and advice for recruiting effectively in an ever-more competitive context.

For additional background, please see:

• “Recruiting in the massive – and unique – international student market of Indonesia”
• “Malaysia exceeds target for new international student applications in 2022”
• “South Korea aims to attract 300,000 international students by 2027”
• “Vietnam remains a key growth market in Southeast Asia”
• “UK: Transnational education expands at fastest rate ever”

The post Southeast Asian students increasingly considering “studying abroad” closer to home appeared first on șÚÁÏčÙÍű Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

Background

Indonesia is the world’s 14th largest country and has the world’s fourth largest population. What’s more, it is the world’s 10th largest economy by purchasing power parity (a measure used to compare the economic productivity and standards of living in different countries).

Indonesia has abundant potential for development and economic growth, but it faces the daunting challenge of being especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to its geography. As reports,

“The north coast of Java is sinking, and the sea is rising. In Jakarta, a city of more than 10 million, as much as 40 percent of the land is below sea level.”

As a result, while Indonesian students are – like so many of their peers in other countries – attracted to business studies and medicine programmes, the country increasingly needs climate adaptation and mitigation experts and specialists in land and water management.

The IDP report notes that producing more higher education graduates is central to Indonesia’s future: 50% of Indonesians are under the age of 30 and only 7% of its workforce hold degrees.

Study abroad trends

Roughly 60,000 Indonesian students studied abroad as of the last UNESCO count (2019). Preferred destination countries are Australia, Malaysia, the US, Japan, and the UK. Canada also considers Indonesia to be a key target market.

IDP summarises Western destinations’ top drawing cards like this:

“Indonesian students perceive the UK to have the highest quality of education, followed by the US and Australia. Australia fares best for the perception of the welfare of international students followed by the UK, while the UK is perceived as having the best post-study work visa policies closely followed by Australia and Canada.”

Previous research has also found that Indonesian families are highly interested in knowing there are Southeast Asian and Indonesian communities on campus and focused on the welfare and happiness of their children. Close family ties are one reason that Indonesians consider intra-regional options for study abroad. Affordability is another.

Australia has an edge in this regard over other Western destinations: flying from Jakarta to Sydney takes about 7 hours. By contrast, it takes approximately 17 hours for students to fly from Jakarta to London, 18 hours to Vancouver or LA – almost always with connections required.

Here’s a look at enrolment trends in major destinations according to IDP and other research:

• Australia enrolled 22,445 Indonesians in 2019, 22,130 in 2020, and 19,420 in 2021 (a year in which Australia’s borders were closed, massively limiting educators’ ability to keep Indonesian students interested in waiting for borders to open). However, other sources count over 13,000 Indonesian students studying in Australian higher education institutions.
• The US enrolled 8,300 in 2019/20, 7,489 in 2020/21, and 8,003 in 2021/22.
• Canada enrolled 1,285 in 2019, 775 in 2020, and 1,585 in 2021.
• The UK has enrolled more or less 3,000 Indonesian students for the past few years, and it is intent on enrolling more through transnational education delivered in Indonesia.

We have also reported on other countries claiming notable shares of Indonesian students over the past few years. In 2019, we shared the following data on Indonesian enrolments: Malaysia (10,400), Japan (3,615), Germany (2,395), Egypt (2,185), and Saudi Arabia (1,715). These numbers will have changed since then, but they give a sense of which countries are active in the market.

In terms of which regions of Indonesia’s complex and sprawling geography recruiters should target, IDP says its counsellors recommended the island of Java “with the highest number from Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bandung.”

Scholarships

The IDP report underlines the importance of scholarships not just for families who can only send their children abroad if they receive financial assistance, but also for families who do not need scholarships for this reason.

Jazi Jannati, an IDP Counsellor for the UK and Ireland based in Surabaya (East Java), commented:

“For some families where finances are not an issue, scholarships or partial scholarships are more than a financial consideration. They view it as a point of pride, and it often supports me as a counsellor to convert inquiries.”

The Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) is a major deal for both foreign and Indonesian educators. This year, it will distribute approximately IDR120 trillion (almost US$8 billion) in funding for scholarships for Indonesians to study abroad and domestically. About a third of LPDP recipients are pursuing university programmes overseas. highlights that easy interface of the endowment’s website boosts applications:

“For undergraduate or postgraduate students who are about to complete their studies, gone are the days of tiring efforts to find research funding. Students now go to the LPDP website, create an account and upload the information required. If all goes well, their research proposal will be approved and, after a while, they get the money required.”

Influenced by family values and desire to be together

There is definitely a segment of prospective Indonesian students who will be attracted by destinations’ post-study work rights and opportunities for immigration, but there are two equally important segments:

• Those who want to study abroad but also want to return home as quickly as possible;
• Those who want a foreign degree but do not want to leave home.

Speaking with , Putra Wangsa, CEO at Indonesian edtech platform Universitas123, said:

“Indonesia is not really a migration market. Small groups of students intend to stay on and continue working overseas, but most of the students, the self-funded students especially, they will come back.”

Mr Wangsta noted that institutions with TNE initiatives in Indonesia have a competitive advantage: “By having some sort of establishment here in the country, [universities] can actually get more market share 
 Because for some students, the parents don’t want to send the child so early. They like the model of one plus two or two plus one.”

Just this month, the Indonesian government welcomed a delegation of UK universities to discuss a collaborative programme with local universities set to launch in 2023. There are just under 1,000 Indonesian students enrolled in UK TNE, but the goal is to increase this dramatically. UK TNE providers are also setting their sights on .

The UK’s international education champion Steve Smith said:

“We’re not interested particularly in simply getting Indonesian students to come to the UK, we’re much more interested in building capacity here, in partnership with local institutions, so that we can bring the quality of the UK education at a price point that doesn’t require people to travel to the UK.”

The British Council, for its part, has published a list of “.”

The UK has another competitive advantage in the form of its one-year master’s programmes, which appeal to Indonesians interested in returning quickly to Indonesia after studies as well as those looking for affordability (i.e., one year’s tuition is much easier on the wallet than two). IDP notes that students are attracted to the “UK’s large South Asian diaspora in its big cities … and students feel safe thanks to the diversity on campus and public places in general.”

The following chart depicts IDP’s real-time data indicating demand for top destination countries among Indonesian students. As you can see, demand is rising for programmes in the UK and US.

Tips for recruitment success

The IDP report includes these insights:

• “Lower-income parents tend to want their children to study closer to home 
 destinations such as Australia, Singapore and Malaysia are therefore popular choices”;
• Having in-country representatives is important to Indonesian families who want a personal connection that they can trust to give them good advice in their own language;
• Engaging previous or current students to “reassure prospective students that they will be happy studying in the prospective student’s preferred destination and university” is a smart move;
• “Many international Indonesian students are given responsibility to inherit family businesses, which may be a contributing factor to the high demand for Business and Administrative studies.”

IDP concludes with this assessment: “To harness demand from Indonesia, institutions need to address what prospective Indonesian students value most: in-person engagement, showcasing a welcoming environment to international students (particularly those from South Asia), elevating alumni voices, and promoting high quality education, scholarship options and course granularity.”

For additional background, please see:

• “Recruiting in Indonesia in a context of heightened competition”
• “UK transnational education expands at fastest rate ever”

The post Recruiting in the massive – and unique – international student market of Indonesia appeared first on șÚÁÏčÙÍű Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

They are joined by Abby Guthrie, communications manager with , and Bharat Chawla, CEO of , for a discussion on how student decision-making for study abroad is changing this year.

The episode concludes with a closer look at another key growth market in international education: Indonesia.

You can listen right now in the player below, and we encourage you to subscribe via your favourite podcast app in order to receive future episodes automatically.

For additional background, please see:

• “șÚÁÏčÙÍű Podcast: Artificial Intelligence in international student recruitment“

The post șÚÁÏčÙÍű Podcast: Student decision making factors are changing – why and how? appeared first on șÚÁÏčÙÍű Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

At this early stage in the process, however, there are already some , keeping in mind that each of the included countries is at a different phase of the COVID-19 outbreak.

As of 22 April, the reports nearly 84,000 confirmed cases in China, and more than 4,600 deaths. In contrast, there are 20,471 cases in India, 11,512 in Japan, 10,694 in South Korea, and 7,418 in Indonesia. Where the number of new cases appears to have peaked in China and South Korea, the outbreak is at a relatively early stage and continues to grow more quickly in India, Indonesia, and Japan.

“Consumers across these markets demonstrate varying degrees of confidence in the prospects for economic recovery, with those in earlier or later stages of the outbreak significantly more optimistic,” notes the McKinsey analysis. “These sentiments are likely influenced both by their awareness of the disease, recently announced government contingency measures such as movement restrictions and business rescue plans, and other news events. In China, consumer confidence has stabilized, with optimism that the economy will rebound in two–three months rising to 47% of respondents in late March from 43% the previous month. For the remaining four countries, we will refresh responses on a regular basis to track how consumer sentiment evolves.”

The following chart highlights some of these variations with strengthening consumer confidence reflected for China (where the outbreak is more under control and the economy beginning to re-open) and higher degrees of uncertainty or pessimism in other markets, notably Japan, where the numbers of new cases are still rising quickly.

We see a similar pattern playing out with respect to respondents’ expectations for how the pandemic will impact their household finances. Most consumers believe their personal finances will be impacted over the next two to six months, the exception being Japan where nearly half say that the impact will last for more than seven months.

A related comment from McKinsey reinforces the point regarding shifting consumer sentiment at different phases of the outbreak in each country. “The COVID-19 pandemic is evolving rapidly, deepening the uncertainty for consumers and the economies they sustain. Consumer mindsets will continue to shift as governments and central banks introduce unprecedented countermeasures and stimulus packages to mitigate potential impacts.”

For additional background, please see:

• “Looking ahead: Scenario planning and recovery forecasts for international education”
• “WHO warning highlights continuing efforts to curb coronavirus in key Asian markets”
• “Coronavirus update: Economic and mobility impacts will depend on how long the outbreak persists”

The post Rolling survey tracks consumer sentiment across Asian markets appeared first on șÚÁÏčÙÍű Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

But those recent trends also suggest that Indonesians are considering a wider range of study abroad destinations, including Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, and China. Those regional options are now competing for a greater share of the Indonesian market alongside traditional favourites such as the United States and Australia.

Jony Liem is a Jakarta-based director with (Axel). In the following interview excerpts, he expands on some of the factors that influence destination choice for Indonesian students and sets out some of the other trends that are shaping this important Southeast Asian market.

In our second interview segment below, Mr Liem highlights the economic and political climate in the country as some of the important underlying factors that are driving demand for study abroad. Many Indonesian students, he explains, will prioritise destinations that offer opportunities for students to work during and after their studies.

Looking ahead to career concerns, he notes as well the growing influence of the Chinese economy and a corresponding increase in Chinese language studies – along with increasing scholarships for study in China – as important reasons for China’s growing popularity as a study destination.

“The most popular [programme of study for Indonesian students] actually is still in business,” says Mr Liem. “The second [most popular] is technology
everybody is now talking about artificial intelligence so [many students] want to study that too.”

In our next interview excerpt below, Mr Liem expands on the fields of study that are most in demand and some of the new programmes that are getting more attention among Indonesian students today.

Our final video segment sets out some recommended strategies for institutions and schools that are planning to begin or expand recruiting activities in Indonesia.

Keeping in mind that Indonesia is the world’s fourth most-populous country, and the largest island nation (with more than 17,000 islands all told), targeted recruitment efforts are especially key. Mr Liem recommends that educators concentrate their efforts, “Definitely in Jakarta, the second [city to target] would be Surabaya, and the third Medan. Those are the three cities that you can focus on.”

For additional background, please see:

• “Closer to home: Intra-regional mobility in Asia”
• “Recruiting from Indonesia in a context of increased competition”
• “Indonesian outbound continues to grow with emphasis on regional destinations”
• “Study finds that young Indonesians are highly motivated to study abroad”

The post Factors influencing destination choice for Indonesian students appeared first on șÚÁÏčÙÍű Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

For the past decade, the outflow of students from Asian countries to Western ones has been nothing short of staggering. Hundreds of thousands of students from Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Pakistan, Taiwan, Vietnam, and especially India and China travel overseas every year for degrees, contributing billions of dollars to host economies.

Western destinations have been popular because they offer so many highly ranked, high-quality universities. Asian students have traditionally chosen these schools because of the prestige attached to their degrees, a prestige that often translates into better earning potential for graduates.

But the idea that a Western degree is automatically better and more advantageous than one obtained in Asia is losing ground. Asian students now have an array of appealing options within their region for study. There are a number of reasons for this:

• A dozen of the world’s 100 top ranked universities are now in Asia – in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea.

• Asia is the world’s fastest-growing regional economy; China, India, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea are driving the most expansion. Students realise that Asian universities can help them to access industry internships and jobs in the region.

• China, the continent’s powerhouse, invests heavily in its massive, multifaceted soft-power initiative known as One Belt, One Road, which stretches through more than a hundred countries and through South and East Asia. China is creating thousands of scholarships to attract Asian as well as African students. It is increasing higher education capacity and tempting Asian students from within the region to choose China rather than go overseas.

• Students everywhere are gravitating towards programmes with strong and immediate employment outcomes. Asian universities are performing very well in this regard. QS’s 2019 Graduate Employability Rankings include four Asian universities – Tsinghua, Peking, Hong Kong and Tokyo – among the top 20 institutions. QS notes that “Asian universities are among the world’s best at enhancing their alumni’s job market prospects.” All told, 163 of the 500 universities in the rankings are in Asia – including 26 in China, 16 in Korea, 14 in Japan, and 13 in India.

• More than half a dozen Asian countries have national strategies aimed at making them major destinations, with several setting international student targets. China is now the world’s fourth most popular study destination after the US, Australia, and Canada.

• Many Asian institutions offer lower tuition fees than those in the West, and China in particular is drawing students through scholarships.

• Asian universities provide the benefit of being closer to home for students from the region who worry about homesickness and culture shock.

Measuring risk

The top English-speaking destinations – the US, the UK, Australia, and Canada – have historically relied on Asian countries for students. For example,

• China, India, and South Korea are the top sending markets for the US, with Vietnam, Taiwan, and Japan in sixth, seventh, and eighth place, respectively. China, India, and South Korea make up 71% of all international students in the US. When Vietnam, Taiwan, and Japan are added, the six Asian source countries contribute 80% of the total.

• India, China, and South Korea are also the top sending markets for Canada. Together the three countries composed almost 60% of international students in Canada in 2018.

• Eight of Australia’s top 10 sending markets are Asian: China, India, Nepal, Malaysia, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia. The first three make up 48% of all enrolments, while students from the eight countries together represent 64% of Australia’s international student population.

• A 33% increase in the number of Chinese students in the UK is the main reason that the number of non-EU students grew by 9% in the UK in 2018. China now accounts for one in five international students in the UK, and one in three non-EU students. India, Malaysia, and Hong Kong are also among the UK’s top 10 non-EU sending markets.

Altogether, there are more than a million Asian students studying in the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK.

If China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Malaysia reach their international student targets by 2025, they will enrol close to 1.5 million students – the bulk of them from neighbouring countries.

Competition increasing

In addition to the many Asian institutions scoring highly on world university rankings, still more Asian schools are competing on price, a strong position given that affordability remains an issue for many Asian families.

The following table provides a high-level summary of the relative competitive position of established and emerging study destinations within Asia.

More than ever, universities in Western destinations must provide a compelling offer to students in Asian markets (e.g., through reputation, student testimonials, internships, destination marketing, scholarships, or discounting) and ensure that once students are enrolled, they keep those promises and provide excellent student supports and graduate outcomes.

In addition, coordinated national strategies aimed at attracting international students are crucial. Well-designed visa, work, and immigration policies can make a huge difference and are the major reason that Australia and Canada continue to increase their market share, in contrast to the UK and the US.

Finally, choosing new markets to invest in is an absolute necessity to reduce the risk of exposure created by the heavy concentrations of Asian students in leading destinations.

For additional background, please see:

• “Up and down the table: Growth trends across major international study destinations”
• “Diversification and the next five markets”
• “Is Asia ready to be the next higher education superpower?”

The post Closer to home: Intra-regional mobility in Asia appeared first on șÚÁÏčÙÍű Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

Canada has been one beneficiary of the growth from this important source market, hosting 65% more Indonesians in 2018 than in 2014 and registering 40% more students in 2018 than in 2017. Still, there were only 1,970 Indonesian students in Canada in 2018 out of the tens of thousands abroad – and other leading English-speaking destinations that enrol larger numbers are seeing flat to declining growth from Indonesia.

For example:

• The number of Indonesians studying in Australia has held steady over the last few years, at roughly 16,500 per year.
• The US saw Indonesian student numbers fall from 8,775 to 8,650 from 2016/17 to 2017/18, a decrease of -1.4%.
• The number of Indonesians studying in the UK also fell – by 17% – from 3,630 in 2016/17 to 3,000 in 2017/18.

All this points to the fact that Indonesians are now considering a wider range of study abroad destinations, including Malaysia (10,400 in 2017), Japan (3,615), Germany (2,395), Egypt (2,185), and Saudi Arabia (1,715). Singapore and China are also actively recruiting Indonesians.

“China is welcoming these students with open arms,” says a 2018 report in the . “There are 14,000 Indonesians studying in China, according to government data. [In 2017], Beijing announced it had created 197 full scholarships for Indonesians who would like to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees. In 2015, there were only 15 full scholarships set aside for Indonesians.”

Taiwan’s Ministry of Education, meanwhile, reports that Indonesia is the fifth-largest sending market for Taiwan. There were in 2018, a total that has more than doubled over the last decade.

What does it take to establish a compelling presence in the fourth-most populous country on earth, a country whose market factors virtually guarantee that it will be one of the biggest senders of students abroad in the next decade? Ever more, the answer relies on understanding why Indonesians are increasingly considering destinations within Asia.

Market fundamentals are strong

More than 50% of Indonesians are under the age of 30, a huge youth demographic in this Muslim-majority country of 255 million people. Indonesia’s middle class is the largest in Southeast Asia and growing quickly, another key factor behind the trend of Indonesian students becoming more interested in – and able to – study abroad. The US Commercial Service estimates that 95% of Indonesian students abroad are self-funded.

Significant demand for quality education

There were approximately six million students in Indonesia’s higher education institutions in 2017, more than double the number in 2012. At the same time, gross enrolment in tertiary education in the country was only 36% in 2018, . By comparison, the most recent in this area shows that 42% of university-aged students are enrolled in tertiary education in Malaysia. Proportions rise further in Thailand (49%), China (51%), and especially South Korea (94%).

The Indonesian government is aware that it needs many more skilled workers and university graduates. observes that degree holders compose just 7% of the Indonesian workforce. The World Bank has noted that this proportion will need to triple in order for the Indonesian labour market to grow enough to propel the country from its current position of 16th largest economy in the world to the top 10 – a jump experts believe is possible by 2030.

Currently, Indonesia has too few quality higher education institutions to meet domestic demand, despite the fact that the country has approximately 5,000 universities – almost double the number in China. Only the University of Indonesia made it into the (2019), compared with much higher numbers of universities ranking this highly in China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and India. Singapore, meanwhile, has two universities in the Top 10 in Asia.

Expansion of vocational training

As in many emerging economies, vocational education providers (there are around 14,000 in total in the country) have gained newfound appeal given their focus on:

• Graduating students with practical skills that can quickly be applied to priority professions and sectors of the economy;
• Linkages with industry players in terms of shaping and delivering curriculum and providing internships and potential job opportunities.

There are opportunities for colleges and schools abroad to pursue partnerships and agreements with Indonesian vocational institutions and to promote their own vocational programmes in Indonesia.

The role of scholarships

The Indonesian government has recently more than doubled funding for the Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP), a scholarship programme supporting Indonesian students going abroad for master’s and doctoral degrees.

points to a webpage on the Duke University site as an example of good practice regarding making Indonesian students aware of LPDP scholarship opportunities.

The appeal of scholarships is strong among Indonesian students. While 95% of Indonesian students in foreign institutions may be self-funded, the number of Indonesians going abroad for studies could be much higher if more students were able to afford it. As we have noted previously,

“An AFS Intercultural Connections survey of Indonesian students aged 13–18 conducted in 2017 found that close to half (45%) would consider study abroad only if a full scholarship was available, and nearly a quarter (22%) said that once they had chosen a destination country, they would select the lowest tuition available for their studies. Some institutions recruiting in the Indonesian market are wisely setting up dedicated scholarship pages for Indonesian students.”

Community and affordability key

Indonesians are famous for the high value that they place on family and community – it’s one of the most important features of their culture. As a result, the relative closeness of major Asian destinations to Indonesia (i.e., home and family) and presence of some cultural similarities (e.g., Malaysia is also Muslim-majority) are expanding Indonesian students’ consideration sets (i.e., the group of school brands that they will consider applying to).

Proximity is not the only reason Indonesians are looking at Asian institutions. Affordability is a major draw. For example, the cost of studying for a year in China is US$1,700–3,100 for most programmes. In Taiwan it’s US$3,365–5,250 for most programmes. Fees in Japan and South Korea are slightly higher – US7,460–13,000 per year for undergraduate programmes in public universities – but they are still far lower than they are in leading English-speaking destinations. The average cost of studying for a degree programme for a year in Canada, the US, Australia, and the UK is at least US$20,000 and often much higher.

With Asian universities climbing fast into the top tiers of university world ranking systems, the cost discrepancies between Western and Eastern destinations are becoming a key reason that Indonesians – as well as other Asian students – are increasingly staying close to home.

Building the base

If your institution is considering increasing its Indonesian enrolments, it may want to consider a loss leader strategy to get the ball rolling, for example, a scholarship programme or price reduction for as many students as your budget will allow. If the budget simply won’t accommodate such a programme, a contest that centres on an opportunity to bring down the costs of studying can be another way of nudging enrolments along.

For example, Acadia University in Canada is relatively small (under 4,000 students, with a student to faculty ratio of 14:1). Its staff had done research showing that affordability was a major barrier for a sizeable proportion of prospective students, so they launched a “Win Your Room” campaign that gave entrants a chance at a free residence room for a year.

Beyond price discounting, it is absolutely essential to assure Indonesian students and parents that they will be welcome, find community, and be successful at your institution. Ideas include:

• Creating a webpage just for Indonesians: Create a dedicated webpage for Indonesian students and use it to customise essential information for them. How about having a video with a current Indonesian student explaining – in Bahasa Indonesia – how to apply for a visa? Or featuring a tour of the campus led by an Indonesian student? Profiles of successful Indonesian graduates are also great, especially if they highlight employment outcomes in a way that makes success feel attainable for Indonesian prospects.

Ideally, have a live chat function on your dedicated Indonesia webpage. A Facebook page is a definite must and an affordable way to show that your institution is serious about supporting its Indonesian student community. A nice bonus: the page will take on a life of its own, with students’ voices and comments often just as helpful (and authentic!) as anything your marketing team could say.

• Including parents in marketing communications: Parents need to be reassured that their children will be safe and happy at your institution. Include a “Parents’ Zone” on your dedicated Indonesia page, full of FAQs and testimonials.

The attention to parents should continue well after students are enrolled. A quarterly newsletter just for them is a great way to keep families involved.

• Committing seriously to student satisfaction: The best way to encourage more Indonesian prospects to enrol is to treat your current Indonesian students right. How are they doing with language and academic challenges? Are they making friends? Do they know how to get to a doctor, and do they feel confident enough in English to talk to that doctor about their symptoms? Do you have regular campus “mixer” events to help international and domestic students get to know each other?

If you provide a high quality of education and experience to your Indonesian students, these students will talk about it and take pictures and videos to send home. Give your satisfied crew every opportunity to share the fun they’re having – give them your school’s hashtags to attach to all the wonderful messages they’re sending home via Instagram and other social media platforms.

Competitive dynamics

As our focus on Indonesia demonstrates, we have entered a new era in terms of what it takes to recruit students from the most promising emerging markets. Knowing this, and adjusting strategies as a result, is the key to remaining relevant and attractive to students in these markets.

For additional background, please see:

• “Indonesian outbound continues to grow with emphasis on regional destinations”
• “Southeast Asia trading bloc continues to take shape”
• “Is Asia ready to be the next higher education superpower?”
• “Four megatrends that are changing the competitive landscape of international education”

The post Recruiting from Indonesia in a context of increased competition appeared first on șÚÁÏčÙÍű Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.