• directly contributed to 632,000 additional international first-year enrolments;
• provided a net economic contribution of £62.6 billion to the UK economy over the duration of students’ programmes.

The analysis was based on “the most recently available HESA data for the academic year 2021-22, the London Economics analysis of the benefits and costs of international students, and Home Office visa data for the year ending September 2023.”

An injection of over £60 billion to the country’s economy should be front-page news, yet Universities UK notes that a new survey from Censuswide found that only 3% of 2,000 British adults surveyed “realise[d] the scale of the economic contribution made by international students, or the size of the contribution to the NHS via the Immigration Health Surcharge.”

The following two charts illustrate the difference between a baseline scenario stripped of the effects of the Graduate Route and IES (Scenario 1) and what actually happened in terms of enrolments and revenue thanks to those policy instruments (Scenario 2).

New policies are affecting demand – and quickly

The impact of government policy is made crystal-clear by the London Economics analysis linking the Graduate Route to the huge injection of revenue to the UK economy. The influence of policy is being underlined again – this time unfortunately – by the removal of most international students’ right to bring dependants with them to the UK. That policy took effect in January 2024.

Enroly – an application platform used by about 60 UK universities – has since recorded significant drops in demand for study in the UK, especially from two of the largest non-EU source markets, India and Nigeria. UK government data confirms the trend reflected in the Enroly data, as shown in the following chart:

Further concerning news comes in the form of a survey of more than 70 universities reporting on postgraduate taught enrolments: those enrolments fell by more than 40% in January 2024, a drop coinciding with the dependants ban. Only international students in research-oriented (as opposed to taught) postgraduate programmes are exempted from the ban. 

notes:

“More than 320,000 international students account for nearly half of enrolments on taught courses at UK universities, paying tuition fees averaging about £17,000 a year. A sudden fall in enrolments would make a wide range of courses uneconomic and cause severe financial dislocation at many institutions.”

Separate data from 60 universities show that study visa grants were down 33% this year compared with the same time last year.

Review of Graduate Route adds more uncertainty

The government has also announced that its Migration Observatory Committee is reviewing the Graduate Route this year. An IDP survey conducted in January 2024 found that more than a third of surveyed students (37%) – out of a total sample of 2,500 – said this review has prompted them to either rethink their study abroad plans or to choose another country to study in.

The chief executive of Universities UK (UUK), Vivienne Stern, commented:

“The UK is extremely fortunate to be a popular destination for international students. The whole country benefits from their decision to spend a few formative years with us. I regret the fact the government appears to want to diminish our success in this area. Our new data shows that if they wanted to see a reduction in numbers, they have already achieved that through policy changes introduced earlier this year. If they go further, they will damage the economies of towns and cities throughout the UK, as well as many universities. Given we should be doing everything we can to promote economic growth, this seems to be getting the priorities wrong.

The number of international students coming to the UK is already falling, but there is now a real danger of an over-correction.

We call on all political parties in the run up to a general election to reassure prospective international students that the UK remains open, and the Graduate visa here to stay. Any further knee-jerk reforms could have serious consequences for jobs across the country, economic growth, and UK higher education institutions.”

John Foster, chief policy and campaigns officer for the (CBI), the UK’s premier business organisation, pointed out that even the prospect of more restricted work rights is already having an impact on demand: “Uncertainty surrounding whether the Government will change or withdraw the graduate visa [is] already damaging UK universities’ competitiveness.”

For additional background, please see:

• “Demand for study abroad already affected by new international education policies”
• “Notable government policy shifts affecting international students going into 2024”
• “New analysis highlights UK universities reliance on international enrolments”
• “UK to block dependants from accompanying international students as of January 2024“

The post UK: Post-study work rights worth billions but current policies leading to weaker enrolments this year appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

As we draw to the end of another fast-paced and dynamic year in international education, we find ourselves looking back over the events and stories that have shaped our sector in 2023.

The following ten articles, all published on ���Ϲ��� Monitor during the year, are some of our most-read items from the past 12 months. They also reflect many of the key themes and issues that we expect will continue to loom large for international educators in the year ahead.

With all that in mind, we are especially pleased to recommend them for your reading list, and we hope they will inspire your thinking and planning for 2024.

1 | “Australia: New Migration Strategy ushers in tougher requirements for international students“

2 | “Notable government policy shifts affecting international students going into 2024“

3 | “Five student research insights to keep in mind going into 2024“

4 | “Are geopolitical shifts contributing to a more diverse foreign enrolment?“

5 | “Sustainability factors in the study abroad research for nearly half of prospective students“

6 | “Germany announces new labour force integration initiatives for foreign students and graduates“

7 | “US: New survey shows international student recruitment shifting to India in 2023“

8 | “Special report: Chinese students are turning to Asian destinations in greater numbers“

9 | “Canada: Immigration ministry tightens student visa rules and raises minimum funds requirements“

10 | “A big picture view of student mobility through 2050“

The post Most-read and must reads for 2023 appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

Australian institutions enrolled 619,370 foreign students in 2022. This is up 8% over 2021 but is down 18% since 2019.

Commencements (first-time enrolments in Australian programmes) grew by 39% y-o-y but were 23% lower than in 2019. Fewer new Chinese students depressed commencement volumes: there were 39% fewer Chinese students in 2022 than in 2019. In 2022, India displaced China as the largest source of commencements.

Total course enrolments (as distinct from total international students) nudged upwards by 4% to 746,390 in 2022, but this is 22% lower than in 2019. (Australia provides data on both international students and international enrolments – the second is always a higher number as an international student may enrol in more than one course while on their study visa.)

Austrade notes the effect of Australia’s long 2020/21 border closure on enrolments, explaining that even more than 200,000 new students in 2022 couldn’t offset pandemic losses:

“Across 2022 there were 201,145 new students who began their studies with Australian educational institutions. This was 3 times the number from the previous year (66,023) and the highest intake of new students since 2019. However, the reduction in new students in 2020 and 2021, coupled with others completing their studies over the same period, saw the number of continuing students drop to a low of 418,226.”

Austrade also makes an astute observation about the forces that will affect the recovery of the country’s international education sector going forward:

“The pace at which total student numbers recover to pre-pandemic levels will be determined by how quickly the pool of new and continuing students rebound to outstrip those completing studies in the period ahead.”

The English-language sector (ELICOS), which made some strong year-over-year gains in 2022, is singled out as well in terms of how its fortunes will affect the overall industry’s recovery:

“Continued recovery and renewal in ELICOS enrolments are critical to the overall sustainability of international education. This is due to the sector playing a pivotal role in providing a pathway to further study. Students who complete ELICOS courses are more likely to pursue subsequent study in another international education sector.”

Which markets are the strongest for Australia?

Offsetting a decline in Chinese enrolments (177,470 in 2022, down 11% y-o-y) and zero momentum from India (128,980, up .03%) were notable enrolment increases from:

• Thailand, the 6th largest market, up 61% to 25,792
• Nepal, the 3rd largest market, up 21% to 71,805
• Colombia, the 4th largest market, up 21% to 28,435
• Pakistan, the 9th largest market, up 21% to 20,935

Combined, China and India still contributed half of all international enrolments in Australian institutions in 2022.

Foreshadowing the shape of the sector’s recovery in the years to come are commencement trends. Chinese commencements fell by 8% in 2022 compared with 2021, while Indian commencements increased by 45%, boosting India to the top market for Australia in terms of first-time enrolments in courses. Otherwise, the biggest stories in terms of commencements come from:

• Thailand, up 145%
• Nepal, up 94%
• Pakistan, up 71%
• Philippines, up 61%

In 2022, India and China each accounted for roughly 18% of commencements, with Nepal next at 11%.

How are the sectors faring?

Higher education: Enrolments up 1% over 2021 but down 18% on 2019; commencements up 38% over 2021 with the largest increases concentrated in postgraduate courses (up 51%).

VET: Enrolments down 3% compared with 2021 and 2019; commencements up 10% over 2021.

ELICOS: Enrolments up 90% compared with 2021 but still only half of their level before the pandemic; commencements up 155% over 2021.

Offshore versus onshore

Offshore enrolments were crucial to Australian educators’ ability to keep afloat during the pandemic when borders were closed. Now that borders have been open for more than a year, they remain important but are declining relative to onshore enrolments. In March 2023 compared with March 2022:

“The number of primary student visa holders studying in Australia increased by 57 per cent or 188,174 while those studying offshore dropped 43 per cent or -50,269. This saw the share of student visa holders studying in Australia lift from 74 per cent to 89 per cent between 14 March 2022 and 13 March 2023.”

For additional background, please see:

• “Surge in new students has ELICOS sector leading Australian growth for 2022”
• “Australia: Latin markets boosting ELICOS recovery this year”
• “Outbound mobility trends for key Latin markets: Brazil, Colombia, Mexico”
• “Outbound mobility trends for five key sending markets in Asia”

The post International students are returning to Australia but not yet at pre-pandemic levels appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

We use as our baseline, then factor in more recent data from government sources where available to determine mobility volumes in 2022. That means our outbound count is a combination of the most recent UNESCO data and more updated statistics from various government sources (Australia, Canada, UK, and United States – and sometimes other destinations). Please note: Australian, Canadian, and US data includes enrolments in other sectors as well as higher education.

In brief, outbound mobility from the five countries is up significantly since 2020 – sometimes nearly doubling. When we note increases, these represent year-over-year growth unless otherwise indicated.

Bangladesh

The most recent UNESCO data (2020) counts 49,150 Bangladeshi students abroad in higher education. In 2022, numbers grew to more than 70,000 Bangladeshi students abroad (including other sectors). Canada, the UK, and US are clearly recruiting more intensely in Bangladesh given growth over the past couple of years.

The UK, Canada, and UAE are the top three destinations at the moment for Bangladeshi students.

• UK: 12,700 in 2021/2022 (+90% y-o-y)
• Canada: 12,295 in 2022 (+24.5%)
• UAE: 11,150 in 2020 according to UNESCO
• US: 10,600 in 2021/22 (+23%) according to IIE Open Doors data
• Australia: 7,250 in 2022 (+17%)
• Malaysia: 6,600 in 2021
• Germany: 3,930 in 2020 according to UNESCO
• Japan: 2,800 in 2020
• India: 2,750 in 2020
• South Korea and Saudi Arabia: Roughly 2,500 in 2020 (combined)

Plus smaller volumes in other countries.

Nepal

The most recent UNESCO data (2020) counts 95,270 Nepalese students abroad in higher education. In 2022, Nepal was sending out at least 125,500 students (including enrolments in other sectors). A student survey conducted by Indian think tank IC3 revealed strong demand for study abroad among Nepalese high school students, and this finding seems to have been very much on point.

The top three hosts of Nepalese students are Australia, Japan, and India.

• Australia: 57,190 in 2022 (+25% y-o-y)
• Japan: 24,260 in 2022 according to JASSO (+29%)
• India: 13,575 according to UNESCO and Statista
• US: 11,780 in 2021/22 (+5.5%) according to IIE’s Open Doors data
• Canada: 7,745 in 2022 (+258%)
• UK: 4,920 in 2021/22 according to HESA
• Cyprus, South Korea, Germany: Collectively, over 6,000 in 2020 according to UNESCO

Plus smaller volumes in other countries.

Pakistan

The most recent UNESCO data (2020) counts 64,065 Pakistani students abroad in higher education. Outbound mobility from Pakistan was over 103,190 in 2022 when we consult more recent statistics published by government sources in various destinations. There have been large increases in Pakistani students recorded recently in the UK, Australia, US, Canada, and Germany.

The top three destinations for Pakistani students currently are UAE, UK, and Australia.

• UAE: 24,865 in 2020 according to UNESCO
• UK: 23,075 in 2021/22 (+62% y-o-y)
• Australia: 15,875 in 2022 (+15%)
• US: 8,770 in 2021/22 (+17%)
• Germany: 7,115 in 2021/22 (+22%)
• Canada: 6,405 in 2022 (+38%)
• Kyrgyzstan: 6,000 in 2020 according to UNESCO
• Malaysia: 4,700 in 2021
• Turkey: 2,385 in 2020 according to UNESCO
• Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sweden, Qatar: At least 4,000 in 2020 according to UNESCO

Plus smaller volumes in other countries.

Philippines

The most recent UNESCO data (2020) counts 26,162 Filipino students abroad in higher education. If we look at total enrolments – very important for this market because of its demand for shorter courses and vocational or college programmes – there are roughly 62,000 Filipino students abroad in 2022, particularly because of a huge flow of Filipino students to Canada.

The top three destinations for Filipino students currently are Canada, Australia, and the US.

• Canada: 32,455 in 2022 (+112%)
• Australia: 17,975 in 2022 (+25%)
• US: 3,270 in 2021/22 (+13%)
• UAE: 2,250 in 2020 according to UNESCO
• UK: 2,000 in 2020 according to UNESCO
• Japan, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Jordan: Close to 4,000 collectively according to UNESCO

Plus smaller volumes in other countries

Thailand

The most recent UNESCO data (2020) counts 32,066 Thai students abroad in higher education. The number of Thai students abroad in all sectors has grown moderately to about 40,720 in 2022.

The top three destinations for Thai students currently are Australia, UK, and US.

• Australia: 19,360 in 2022 (+78%)
• UK: 5,405 in 2022 (+21%)
• US: 5,010 in 2021/22 according to IIE’s Open Doors report
• Canada: 2,755 in 2022 (+78%)
• Egypt: 2,955 in 2020 according to UNESCO
• Japan: 2,735 in 2022 (+15% but down from a high of 3,415 in 2020)
• Germany, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand: Collectively over 2,500 in 2020

Notes on China

China’s borders were mostly closed to international students till 2023. As a result, China’s foreign enrolment dropped significantly from the start of the pandemic (2020) to 2023. Still, we will note 2018 figures given that Chinese borders are now open again and China has resumed active recruitment in its top markets – many of which are in Asia.

, there were 10,735 Bangladeshi students, 28,600 Thai students, and 28,025 Pakistani students.

Data Sources

Much of the data for this article comes from the following sources:

• Canadian immigration data (IRCC)
• US immigration data

For additional background, please see:

• “Canada’s foreign enrolment grew by more than 30% in 2022”
• “Foreign enrolment in US rebounded in 2021/22 and is approaching pre-pandemic levels”
• “UK foreign enrolment takes another leap driven by students from China, India, and Nigeria”
• “Surge in new students has ELICOS sector leading Australian growth for 2022”
• “Agent survey tracks key factors for study abroad planning in China and South Asia”

The post Outbound mobility trends for five key sending markets in Asia appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

• Access to undergraduate education in Iran has expanded massively over the past decade, but graduates have few opportunities for further studies in the country;
• Youth unemployment is a real problem.

Millions of Iranians with undergraduate degrees cannot find employment. So many Iranian youth have degrees from Iranian higher education institutions that the degrees aren’t providing them a competitive advantage to leverage with employers. Studying abroad for an additional degree – a master’s, a second master’s, or a PhD especially – is a better proposition for most than remaining in the country to find a job.

Public protests decrying the punishment of women who do not adhere to the Iranian Islamic clergy’s strict dress requirements have spiralled into a generalised demonstration of anger at the way the country is being run. In 2023, demand may be higher than ever in Iran for study abroad, but there are challenges to recruiting in this iron-clad theocratic regime, not the least because the government is clamping down so tightly on social media and websites in general.

Working with trusted agents and building relationships with key Iranian officials and school contacts is crucial. The Iranian government has been aware of a “brain drain” problem for years, and despite tensions with the West, is attempting to address the issue by striking partnerships with international institutions in the delivery of doctoral degrees. In these scenarios, studies are balanced between Iranian and foreign universities. WENR has noted, “Schools who can establish these sorts of links may find it easier to gain access to the market.”

Fast facts

Geography: Iran is located on the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz and is a strategic geographical meeting point joining Central Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East. It is bordered by Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan (east), Iraq (west), and Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Azerbaijan-Nakhichevan exclave (north).

Official language: Persian (Farsi). Turkish, or Turkish dialects are also spoken by about 18% of the population, and many Iranians are fluent in English and French.

Language of instruction: In addition to Farsi, students learn Arabic as the language of the Koran in grades 7-12, as well as one foreign language (usually English or French).

Governing bodies for education: At the secondary level, the overseeing body is the Ministry of Education. For non-medical higher education, it is the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology. For medical institutions, universities, and teaching hospitals, it is the Ministry of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education.

Religion: Islam. The government of Iran regards all Iranians as Shi’a Muslims and declares Iran to be officially Shi’ite.

Main student cities: Ahvaz, Tehran, Isfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz, Arak.

Population: 86.8 million. By 2060 the number of Iranian citizens is expected to peak at 105 million. Currently, more than 60% of the population is under 30 years old. In 2021, 27% of 15-24-year-olds were unemployed in Iran.

Economy: Iran ranks second in the world for natural gas reserves and fourth for oil reserves, but the World Bank considers it “relatively diversified” for an oil exporting country. However, one of the country’s key sectors – agriculture – has been underperforming because of the worsening effects of climate change (high temperatures and drought).

The mass public protests sparked by the death in detention of Mahsa Amini led to the Iranian currency – the rial – falling to its lowest level ever against the US dollar in December 2022. The protests also reflect widespread anger at the government (which is deeply influenced by its Islamic clergy) for skyrocketing prices of consumer items – especially food and medicine – and inflation. reports that people have recently been trading personal items online for food:

“‘My shirt for a few kilograms of rice,’” read one personal ad, as people who were considered middle class just four years ago, now cannot afford the most basic food items.'”

The economic chaos suggests that many Iranian families will be more price-sensitive than usual in 2023 when considering study abroad. Iranian students in Italy are reportedly having trouble paying tuition and are buying euros on the black market.

Students have been very active in the protests – a development that experts tell contrasts with “a decade of a politically dormant student movement in Iran.” Tehran University and Sharif University have been major sites of demonstrations.

Iranian students abroad who have supported the protests are concerned about having to return to Iran. One told Italy’s that:

“The Iranian regime’s choices affect many of our lives. To give an example: if Iranian boys do not receive the scholarship and are forced to return to Iran, they are forced to join the army because they left the country with an educational exemption. Also people who participated in anti-regime demonstrations face major political problems if they return to Iran, risking even prison or worse. For this we expect the Italian government and the international community to support us in the same way it has supported the Ukrainian and Afghan students in the past years, because, at the moment, we Iranian students have not received any support and we continue to be under pressure both of the Iranian government and of the laws that are here.”

Outbound mobility

Iran is a major sender of students to destinations including the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, Italy, Turkey, and Malaysia. The Iranian government says that in 2022, more than 95,000 Iranians studied abroad. Despite sending fewer students since former President Trump abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran is still the 15th largest source market for American higher education institutions (9,295 students in 2021/22). It is a top 10 sender for Canada (16,900 students in 2021, up 21% year-over-year), Turkey (12,000 in 2022), Germany (10,560 in 2022), and Italy (4,580 in 2019).

Iran also has aspirations to attract more inbound students to its universities. In the summer of 2022, Mohammad Javad Salmanpour, the deputy head of the Organization for Student Affairs, stated, “Iran has the ability and capacity to have more than 250,000 foreign students by 2026.”

Push factors

��������’s reports that, “In recent years, the unemployment rate for new graduates in Iran has topped 50%.”

The market is saturated with degree-holding students, many of whom will have credentials from subpar private colleges. WENR reports:

“As economists Djavad Salehi-Isfahani and Daniel Egel have noted, ��������’s education system more ‘resembles … a giant diploma mill than a dynamic sector, training workers in skills needed by the global economy. … [P]roper teaching of English and computer skills is an extra-curricular activity for most students and available only to those whose parents can afford to pay for evening and summer courses in private institutions.’”

As they struggle to figure out ways to parlay their education into meaningful jobs in Iran, young Iranians are aware that there is much more opportunity elsewhere. MigrationPolicy.org reports:

“Iranians abroad tend to be well educated and earn high incomes. Nearly 60 percent of Iranian immigrants in the United States had at least a bachelor’s degree as of 2019, with more than 30 percent holding a graduate or professional degree. Iranian immigrants’ median household income was nearly $79,000 in 2019, significantly more than U.S.-born residents ($66,000) and immigrants overall (nearly $64,000). Likewise, more than 47 percent of Iranian asylum seekers living in Germany in 2018 had a university degree, the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees said in a recent report.”

Challenges and opportunities

Because of the protests, the Iranian government has increased its censorship of expression and foreign content and the press even more than it already did … and that is saying a lot. In July 2022, according to the 20th World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Iran was ranked lower than all countries other than Eritrea and North Korea.

The list of banned websites and apps is now longer than ever, and Iranians are even having trouble accessing international websites with sections translated into Farsi.

Iranians are currently not permitted to access:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• TikTok
• Discord
• Instagram (a recent ban)
• WhatsApp (also a recent ban)

The banning of Instagram and WhatsApp is particularly troublesome given Iranian students’ fondness for these apps. The state-run Iranian Students Polling Agency (ISPA) conducted a survey in 2021 that found that 74% of Iranians aged 18+ use social media, with WhatsApp (64%), Instagram (45%), and Telegram (36%) the most popular. Iranian social platforms are far less popular, with only 5% reporting use of these platforms.

Despite the government’s increasing censorship of the Internet and apps, it is still important to develop customised web content for Iranian students. Iran International reports that “Nearly every Iranian with a smartphone has installed anti-filtering software that allows access to filtered applications and websites.” Those Iranian students who are determined to study abroad will be doing their best to find a way to check out foreign institutions’ websites.

Still, the highly controlled digital environment in Iran means that engaging with trusted agents is an absolute must – agents can help with building relationships with key partners in Iran, from government officials to good schools and universities. Two important things to note:

1. To be eligible to recruit Iranian students, a foreign college or university must be accredited by the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology.
2. Agencies can recruit students for a maximum of 3 countries and are regulated by the Iranian Society of Student Recruitment Initiatives (SSRI).

Girls and women have as much access to secondary and tertiary education in Iran as men do, and the Iranian government reports that women make up more than 60% of the student population in the country’s universities.

Key dates

��������’s secondary school and university calendar runs from September to June, with the first semester running September-January and the second semester taking place from February–June. Secondary school students can only gain entrance to teritary studies by passing the national university entrance exam, the “Konkur.”

Students begin exploring study abroad options two years prior to their intended start date, according to Intead, and therefore campaigns and other efforts to attract them should begin at this time. Outreach should gear up when students begin applying to schools – from September to December prior to their start date.

Where the students are

At least 50% of university students are enrolled in the mega-institutions Islamic Azad University (a private institution with 400 campuses across the country enrolling close to 2 million students) and Payam Nur University (providing distance education to over 800,000 students).

In addition, more than 50 public universities and institutes are overseen by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, and there are more than 300 private institutions. A list of universities .

Another very useful link is the – which uses the following criteria:

• The university must be chartered, licensed or accredited by the appropriate Iranian higher education-related organisation;
• It must offer at least four-year undergraduate degrees (bachelor degrees) or postgraduate degrees (master or doctoral degrees);
• It must deliver courses predominantly in a traditional, face-to-face, non-distance education format.

In terms of degree equivalency, the Iranian government provides the following details:

• Kardani: 2-year programme equivalent to the associate degree;
• Karshenasi: 4-year programme equivalent to the bachelor’s degree;
• Karshenasi Arshad: 2-year programme beyond the Karshenasi equivalent to the master’s degree;
• Doctora: 3-year programme equivalent to the PhD degree;
• Specialised Doctorates: Degrees in dentistry, medicine, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, etc.

More detailed information on these programmes .

As for grading, the government explains:

“In Iran, the grading system is based on a 0-20 scale. At the elementary, secondary, and undergraduate levels, an average grade of 10 is a minimum required passing grade. The minimum average grade at the graduate level is 12, and in doctoral programs, the cut-off score stands at 14.”

At the secondary level, students considering study abroad will be studying at the “upper secondary” level (Grades 10-12) and will be aged 15–17/18. They will have chosen either the “theoretical (academic) branch” which prepares students for university, and includes focuses in mathematics/physics, biology/experimental sciences, and humanities, or the “vocational branch” (which the government says “prepares students to go into the business market as semi-skilled and skilled workers”).

The literacy rate for Iranians aged 15 and up is 86%.

A final note

Recruiting in Iran is more complicated than in many other countries, especially in the current context of widespread protests and a regime struggling to control them. A careful approach is necessary, especially given that government approval is required for foreign institutions to recruit in the country. With high demand among Iranian students for study abroad, however, many institutions are betting that the extra time and consideration needed to enter this market are well worth it.

The post Recruiting in Iran: Demand remains high in this challenging market appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

Now, university students are among the crowds protesting the Chinese government’s approach to managing COVID, frustrated and angered about being forced to confine themselves for weeks or months in small spaces when officials impose a lockdown to stem an outbreak. Many have suffered from mental health issues due to prolonged isolation. Many more are incensed by events such as in the city of Urumqi in November; people linked the death toll from this disaster to firefighters allegedly being blocked by pandemic control barriers or cars left behind by people forced into quarantine.

Those who are protesting across the country are risking arrest or worse, but they feel they can no longer tolerate the extreme curbs on their freedoms.

Where things stand

Currently, the situation is dynamic. On the one hand, the government has eased restrictions in at least eight mainland cities and Hong Kong in response to the protests. On the other, Chinese top security officials stress the need for a “crackdown” on what they call “.” The Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the main law enforcement body in China, says the government must “resolutely crack down on illegal criminal acts that disrupt social order in accordance with the law and earnestly safeguard overall social stability.”

In effect, protesters can see that their risk is paying off given some relaxation of restrictions, but they also know that a violent crackdown is possible in the coming days and weeks if the protests continue. There is the memory of Tiananmen Square, of course, and last week, . Multiple photos and videos showing protesters being shoved, dragged, and pushed into cars on their way to detention.

However, media reports say that so far, excessive police force appears to be happening as secretly as possible to avoid adding more fuel to the protests and anger of Chinese citizens. More visible is a major increase in police surveillance, including officers stopping pedestrians to check their phones for any evidence of support for the protests.

Student protesters at universities – including Tsingua and Peking, ranked #16 and #17, respectively, on the Times Higher Education 2023 World University Rankings – have been active. Not coincidentally, students enrolled in at least 10 universities have been sent home – though the official reason is that this is necessary to protect them from COVID outbreaks. The Associated Press reports:

“Beijing’s Tsinghua University, where students protested over the weekend, and other schools in the capital and the southern province of Guangdong, sent students home. The schools said [students] were being protected from COVID-19, but dispersing them to far-flung hometowns also reduces the likelihood of more demonstrations. Chinese leaders are wary of universities, which have been hotbeds of activism including the Tiananmen protests.”

CNN reports that at Peking University, student protesters painted a red message on the steps of a campus building reading:

“Say no to lockdown, yes to freedom. No to COVID test, yes to food. Open your eyes and look at the world, dynamic zero-COVID is a lie.”

Photos of the message – and of a security guard holding a jacket over the words, aware the scene was being photographed – .

that at the University of Hong Kong, student protesters chanted, “We’re not foreign forces but your classmates,” referring to the government’s assertion that the protest movement is being organised by those outside China.

How will it end?

It is unclear yet how the government will resolve the challenge of the protests and the increasingly frustrated Chinese population. “Zero-COVID” policies are clearly no longer working; COVID cases are rising in many parts of the country. But relaxing policies further also comes with a great risk given that (1) more COVID cases, including variants of the virus, could spread throughout China’s massive population, (2) the protests could become more widespread and generalised (there have already been calls for ).

Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, told NPR News:

“This is the typical policy dilemma that the Chinese leaders face. When you relax and open up, it will lead to chaos, and when you tighten policy, it will be too rigid to allow any flexibility.”

As reported by , William Hurst, the Chong Hua professor of Chinese development at the University of Cambridge, expressed his sense of how the protests might end through a series of tweets. He believes that it is most likely that the protests will “fizzle out” rather than result in any “concessions or systemic change,” but that the outcome is uncertain:

“If things fizzle – or even if the strands [and] repertoires become disentangled – all will return to the somewhat uneasy quotidian of a few weeks ago. If not, this could prove a critical juncture. But not one that will be easy to read in real time or with a happy ending.”

For additional background, please see:

• “Gradual reopening of Chinese border underway”

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Digital lessons

In reflecting on lessons learned during the pandemic, the panel put the focus squarely on adapting to digital delivery and online recruiting challenges.

“We accelerated all sorts of things that probably would have happened anyway, but perhaps more slowly,” said Mr Bannerman. “Very quickly, our new student body coming in is a digital body. Even our [domestic] students are spending some of their time in the virtual world. [The future] is not going to be so much about moving bodies around as it has been throughout my long career in international education.”

Mr Canellas agreed, adding, “The virtual world is here to stay. We learned that we can deliver the same experience to students whether they are doing face-to-face, hybrid, or online.”

“Not only did we have to find and attract students in different ways, using webinars, one-on-one meetings, and working all hours,” said Ms Braswell. “But we needed our faculty and our leadership to be ready to adapt [to online delivery] if students were not able to get there in person.”

The new response time

We have been hearing it for some time, but more loudly than ever this year: students want fast and effective responses to inquiries and applications. In the most recent QS International Student Survey, 84% of prospective students said they expect to receive a complete and personal response to an enquiry within a week, while nearly one in five (18%) expect it within 24 hours. Similarly, nearly half of respondents (45%) want to know whether their application has been accepted within a week. It is clear as well that students expect more frequent and relevant contacts with institutions both before and after they are admitted.

Mr Bannerman concurs: “Student expectations have changed enormously. It used to be that we would get an email, and maybe send an offer to a student and there would be long periods of time where there wouldn’t necessarily be much contact. But now through all of the communications platforms we have, you’re now looking at 30, 40, or even 50 contacts with students before they arrive. The whole experience from a student point of view is much fuller than they would have had before. Their expectations are so high and we’re all having to do more and more.”

Face-to-face or virtual?

“The virtual life came to stay,” said Mr Canellas. “There will always be travel and conferences that we do face-to-face. But we are going to continue to do hundreds of [agent] meetings online. We can’t always be in the same place at the same time. We used to travel a lot because we used to think that meetings agents face-to-face was the only effective way and now we realize that that is not the case.”

Ms Braswell explained how some marketing practices, initially adopted out of necessity during the pandemic, continue to prove their worth today. “We put in place a lot of joint webinars with our agents. That’s still going and I don’t see that ending. One of the benefits of this is that we are meeting and building opportunities in countries where we hadn’t been able to travel before.”

But she noted as well that her university’s approach is more nuanced this year, with a balance of online events alongside in-person marketing efforts. “Students have a lot more capacity and a lot more comfort to come online and attend a webinar. Three, four, five years ago that didn’t exist. But we also face a challenge of ‘Zoom fatigue’ where there are some markets, India is a good example, where students are just [not as enthusiastic about meeting online]. If I have ten competitors going in person and doing events and willing to meet with families in person, and I’m not there, I’m just online, then [I can’t compete].”

Mr Bannerman saw the issue through a different lens, where digital channels could play a greater role in maintaining or expanding existing partnerships but where in-person contacts were still key to building relationships and new partnerships in particular.

“How much new business was generated through the virtual stuff and how much of that was maintenance?” he said. “I can’t think of any new stuff that we have done virtually. We are launching five new partnerships this year but all of them were established through some kind of face-to-face contact at some point.”

A sharper focus

All of the panelists agreed that data, and marketing analytics in particular, is key to international recruiting this year. A greater reliance on digital marketing channels along with better analytical tools means that recruiters can measure and track results more effectively. They can also be more responsive to market demand, to the point of targeting specific regions or communities where there are hot spots of interest for specific destinations and/or fields of study.

Partly informed by Brexit, this has translated in part into a shift away from EU markets and to greater focus on South Asia and Central Asia for London South Bank University.

“We’re really working a lot harder in Africa, and are seeing a lot more interest in Southern Africa and Western Africa market,” explained Ms Braswell. “South Asia has been consistently important but I don’t see more growth there. We expect to see more growth from Mexico and Brazil as well as other Latin markets.”

“It’s all about diversification,” she added. “There was a time when a high percentage of the students we were getting internationally were coming from China and Saudi Arabia, and that day is gone. We need to work with partners and work independently in countries that maybe we didn’t consider before.”

What’s next?

There were a number of important themes in the panel discussion in terms of how the industry would continue to develop this decade. Some felt that institutions would come to rely on a smaller number of recruitment partners or channels for the bulk of their international enrolment. Others saw diversification as a key area of focus going forward.

Perhaps the area of greatest agreement in this respect was the need to continue to be adaptable and to be ready to change quickly in response to shifts in demand or other external factors.

“We need to keep innovating and keep reinventing ourselves,” concluded Mr Canellas. “Late last year, we launched our own virtual events platform. We create events such as student fairs, and we just held an entrepreneurship forum where we invited alumni who are successful entrepreneurs to hold master classes. This has been working very well for generating leads, converting leads, and retaining current students at [the institution].”

“We’re all aware that we live in a very delicate world. We have to be ready for what comes next.”

For additional background, please see:

• “Affordability a rising factor in international students’ choice of destination“
• “What role can agents play in diversifying foreign enrolment across a wider range of fields of study?“
• “Survey finds international students more focused on the future, and careers in particular“

The post Planning for international student recruitment in the ‘new normal’ appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

A couple of years ago, we reported that “the number of Chinese institutions in the 2021 Times Higher Education (THE) Top 100 universities doubled, from three last year to six this year.” At that time, seven Chinese universities had made it into the Top 200.

Fast forward to now, and the 2022 THE global rankings include two Chinese universities in the Top 20 (Tsinghua and Peking). That puts China alongside Canada and Switzerland (which each have one university in the Top 20) as the only countries outside of the US and UK with universities in this highest tier.

China also places highly in the Top 100 (with six universities in this level), compared with 38 in the US and 11 in the UK. More broadly, ten Chinese institutions are in the Top 200 THE rankings for 2022, a remarkable achievement that keeps China very much in the consideration set of ambitious international students who are motivated by rankings.

International students also have high ranking options elsewhere in Asia: four Hong Kong universities, two Japanese universities, two South Korean universities, and two Singaporean universities are in THE’s Top 100 for 2022.

In Europe, outside of the UK, students can choose from 20 universities in THE’s Top 100 located in such countries as the Netherlands (7), France (3), Germany (7), Belgium (2), Sweden (1), and Denmark (1).

Six Australian universities and five Canadian universities made the Top 100 in 2022.

Two other countries stand out

Times Higher Education rankings editor Ellie Bothwell says,

“If I asked you to name the fastest-rising higher education system in the world, the chances are you would say ‘China’ … but when looking at the full list of more than 1,600 institutions in this year’s table, and comparing this alongside data from four years ago, you might be pushed to give a different response, On that basis, Saudi Arabia and Egypt would both be valid answers, suggesting that these nations might be most likely to emulate China’s success at the top of the ranking in future years.”

QS 2023 rankings

Meanwhile, another much-consulted ranking – QS – has published its and its Top 20 is more varied than THE’s. It puts 11 US universities, three UK universities, and two Australian universities in its top tier, also including a university each for China, Singapore, Hong Kong, and France.

In the QS Top 100 are 32 European universities, 31 North American universities, 26 Asian universities, and nine Australian universities.

Just as watched as QS’s global rankings are its important Graduate Employability Rankings: these are . To summarise, the Top 100 includes:

• 27 for the US
• 14 UK
• 9 Australia
• 7 Japan
• 5 China
• 5 Canada
• 5 South Korea
• 3 Hong Kong
• 1 Singapore

These rankings are very relevant, with editors including such considerations as “alumni outcomes,” “employer reputation,” “employer/student connections,” “partnerships with employers,” and “graduate employment rate.”

Those factors are especially important to students in emerging markets.

A 2021 survey by detected a trend of international students evaluating institutions on factors other than rankings:

“The majority of Gen Z – 72% – places greater importance on the ability of a university to give them the skills they need for their future than a university’s ranking. Only 17% of Gen Z believe it is important to go to an elite, highly ranked university, even if doing so is more expensive.”

The INTO survey found that Nigerian and Kenyan students “are the most focused on degree outcomes, with 81% and 86% reporting that degree outcomes are more important to them than ranking, respectively.” By comparison, 42% of Chinese students considered a university’s rankings more important than degree outcomes and 43% said degree outcomes are more important.

INTO’s survey was conducted with 1,200 prospective students under the age of 25 in 93 countries including China, India, Nigeria, Kenya, Japan, Australia, and Brazil.

For additional background, please see:

• “Surveys show that career outcomes outweigh rankings for many prospective international students”
• “What rankings are most important to students?”
• “China continues to show its strength in global rankings”

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