It appears, however, that the tide is changing in recent months. In November, President Joko Widodo expressed his interest in having foreign institutions open new campuses in Indonesia in order to provide an important reference point for strengthening the country’s own universities. And following on from this, Research, Technology and Higher Education Minister Muhammad Nasir held a press conference in January at which he announced Indonesia would indeed welcome foreign providers later this year.

Minister Nasir told the press conference that, “At least five or ten foreign universities are targeted to operate in the middle of this year.” The Minister singled out the University of Cambridge, University of Melbourne, and CQUniversity Australia as institutions that had already expressed interest. The Minister also indicated science, technology, engineering, mathematics, business and management as priority subject areas.

Public pronouncements on this issue tend to be made cautiously in Indonesia, and any discussion of foreign unis setting up shop is always accompanied by two important qualifiers: the foreign institution will be expected to find a local private-sector partner and to prioritise the hiring of local faculty. All education institutions are also required to devote a portion of their curricula to teaching Indonesian culture, including religious and Islamic values.

In addition, the government is generally clear that any invitation to operate in Indonesia will only be extended to top-ranked institutions. “We give the chance for foreign higher learning institutions, especially world-class universities, to operate in Indonesia,” said the Minister.

Arguments for and against

But if Indonesia’s politicians have been cautious on this question, it has perhaps been with good reason as the prospect of opening up the country’s higher education system has provoked a lively debate.

Proponents of the move argue that allowing foreign institutions to operate in Indonesia will not only boost local higher education capacity, but also encourage greater numbers of Indonesian students to study at home. Those in favour anticipate as well that highly ranked foreign providers will be an important spark for strengthening Indonesian institutions.

Those opposed argue that local institutions, public and private, will struggle to compete with foreign providers and that the end result will be a hollowing out of the domestic system.

With these questions still very much in play it seems likely that the government has set an overly ambitious schedule for the country’s first partnerships with foreign providers. This is especially so as observers outside of Indonesia wonder over the details about such partnerships, including the need for top foreign institutions to form up with local private-sector partnerships, the legislated restrictions on for-profit operations in the country’s education sector, and the requirements around Islamic cultural content.

As of today, Minister Nasir has not yet followed up on his January press conference with a formal decree concerning foreign university operations in Indonesia. But the timing of any further announcements may also be influenced by the progress of ongoing Australia-Indonesia free trade negotiation, which are ongoing at the moment and in which foreign educator operations in Indonesia have figured to date.

For additional background, please see:

• “Study finds that young Indonesians are highly motivated to study abroad”
• “Southeast Asia trading and mobility bloc continues to take shape”
• “Indonesia’s growing middle class expected to drive outbound mobility”

The post Indonesia prepared to welcome foreign universities appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

In contrast, the latest research effort from AFS focuses again on Generation Z respondents, but this time entirely from Indonesia. An online survey fielded in March and April of this year gathered more than 5,500 responses from young Indonesian students, and it provides some interesting insights on one of the world’s most significant emerging markets.

Indonesia is the fourth most-populous country in the world, and half its citizens are under the age of 30. The middle class is expected to double in size (from 74 million to 141 million) by 2020. Currently among the world’s top 20 economies, Indonesia is trying to break into the top 10 by 2030. It is a member of ASEAN, a political and economic group of 10 Southeast Asian countries whose economic growth and large college-aged populations have them firmly on the radar of international educators the world over.

AFS found that just over eight in ten (81%) of the respondents had considered study abroad. Whereas the earlier global survey found that younger students are mainly motivated to study abroad by an interest in cultural exploration, the AFS survey for Indonesia observed a distinct orientation toward academic goals. As the following chart reflects, a majority of young Indonesians are drawn to study abroad out of an interest in pursuing a high quality education overseas and at a reputable institution. The longer-term goal of such students is to boost their academic profile with a study experience abroad, and, eventually, to open the door to better career prospects.

Segmenting the Indonesian survey respondents by their motivations for study abroad. Source: AFS

AFS also finds a distinct preference among Indonesians for prominent English-speaking destinations, such as the US, UK, and Australia. Current patterns of mobility, meanwhile, suggest that, while English-speaking hosts predominate, there is a place for high-quality regional destinations as well. Indeed, UNESCO reports that the top three destinations for Indonesian students are Australia, the US, and Malaysia. And the US Commercial Service adds, “Australia is the number one choice for Indonesians abroad, largely due to geographic proximity, perceived institutional quality, and English-medium instruction…The [majority of students are enrolled] in higher education and vocational education and training (VET) [and with] strong growth in hospitality (36%), science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (14%).”

Focus on security

Compared to the earlier global sample for AFS, Indonesian students demonstrated relatively few concerns about study abroad. However, personal safety and security issues rated as the top area of concern (cited by 47% of respondents), trailed slightly behind by a fear of homesickness (46%).

“The data sheds light on the acute awareness that Generation Z exhibits around the events affecting global security,” said Hristo Banov, the primary architect of the study. “As it is, the youth and student travel industry bolsters a variety of best practices to keep participants safe. It is of utmost importance that we continue to demonstrate strong understanding of risk management and safety along with an unwavering commitment to empowering global citizens ready to embrace the ideas of intercultural understanding and acceptance.”

This finding echoes earlier observations, including those from an ���Ϲ��� Monitor of Indonesian education agencies earlier this year, that point to the importance of family and community culture in Indonesia.

This means in part that, when considering study options abroad, parents will look for every assurance that their children will be well cared for and safe. Taking that one step further, Indonesian parents see themselves as stakeholders in their children’s education. At the least, this means that recruiters are well advised to emphasise student support services, security, and other community supports at their institutions. Some schools have gone so far as to set up special family services with Indonesian parents in mind, offering newsletters and invitations to school events in the home country to encourage a sense of participation and connection and, needless to say, positive word of mouth among parents. In this sense, support services can take an even broader cast within the Indonesian market, addressing not only the needs of the students but also of their families.

Price sensitivity

Beyond any such concerns around personal safety, affordability also comes through loud and clear as an important obstacle to study abroad for younger Indonesians. Nearly half (45%) indicated that they would not be able to pursue study abroad without scholarship support. And most respondents demonstrated some price sensitivity to the extent that issues around affordability would figure prominently in their selection of a study destination or institution abroad.

Not surprisingly, price also figures as well in the principal decision factors for students when planning for study abroad. The most important aspect for many students (84%, in fact) was the reputation of the host country. This was followed by price (80%), the opportunity of English-medium instruction (78%), and the reputation of the host institution (71%).

For additional background, please see:

• “Indonesia’s growing middle class expected to drive outbound mobility”
• “Southeast Asia trading and mobility bloc continues to take shape”
• “Cultural experience the big driver of study abroad for Generation Z”

The post Study finds that young Indonesians are highly motivated to study abroad appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

The survey was carried out in February 2017 and the resulting report, , offers some new insights on the extent to which parents are supporting their children’s study and the factors that influence their decision making.

The headline finding is that parents spend an average of just over US$44,000 on their children’s education, including everything from school fees to uniforms to tuition and accommodation at the primary, secondary, and undergraduate levels. Nearly nine in ten parents (87%) are helping to directly fund their children’s education to some extent. This average obscures a wide range of spending on education across the sample countries with respondents from Hong Kong leading the table with a reported average lifetime spend of US$132,000 per child. This compares to average spending of US$43,000 in China and US$18,500 in Indonesia.

Most parents (85%) with a child at university or college are helping to fund costs of study, and of parents considering postgraduate education for their child, 76% expect to contribute to that level of study as well.

The vast majority (82%) are prepared to make personal sacrifices in order to help their children succeed. Nearly a third (31%) report giving up personal time or hobbies in support of their child’s education, and 25% either “drastically reduced” or completely stopped leisure activities and holidays.

“In today’s highly competitive global job market, education for young people has never been more important,” said HSBC Group Head of Wealth Management Charlie Nunn. “Parents across the world appreciate this and are willing to invest time and money to help their children get the best start in life. Their unwavering support shows in the personal, lifestyle and financial sacrifices they are making. From forfeiting ‘me time’ to giving up hobbies or reducing leisure activities, parents are going the extra mile to help their child succeed.”

Driven by opportunity; cautious about cost

Most respondents (78%) see a university education as the key to better career opportunities and a brighter future for their children. More than four in ten (41%) would consider a university education abroad for their child, including 65% in the UAE, 60% in Indonesia, 55% in India, and 54% in China.

In contrast to current research indicating that most students do not have an institution in mind when they begin to plan for study abroad, the HSBC survey suggests that many parents do. Around two-fifths (39%) say they have specific universities in mind when they think about study abroad with quality of teaching (45%), prestige of the university (41%), and increased job prospects for their children (41%) the main criteria for choosing an institution overseas.

Indeed, the theme of cost carries through the report, with 40% citing the higher costs of study abroad as the primary barrier to overseas study for their child. Just over a third (34%) acknowledged that they did not know how much it would cost for their child to study at university abroad.

Main barriers to a university education abroad. Source: HSBC

Thinking about online

Cost factors again in a growing openness to online study among the parents in this year’s HSBC survey. Most parents (73%) are aware of the growing range of online university programmes, and 60% would consider a university programme for their child that is either completely or partially delivered online.

As always, lying behind these average response rates are wide variations from country to country, running from 82% or 76% for India and China to 45% and 29% for the UK and France.

When asked to comment on the benefits of online programmes, most cited cost savings for tuition, travel, and living costs as the main advantages. More specifically, three in ten said that they would consider an online degree if the costs were 50% less than that of a traditional, campus-based programme.

Parents’ perspective on the benefits and limitations of online programmes. Source: HSBC

Mr Nunn adds, “While parents recognise that educating a child can be expensive, it is easy to underestimate the full and long-term costs. Parents in China are the best prepared when it comes to financial planning, however internationally many parents are not planning ahead leaving them in danger of neglecting other priorities to help their child reach their full potential. In nine of the 15 countries surveyed, paying for their child’s education is most likely to be parents’ biggest financial commitment, above others such as mortgage/rent payments and household bills. To limit the strain that children’s education can have on family finances, it’s important to plan and save ahead.”

For additional background, please see:

• “Global parents’ survey: three quarters would consider university abroad”
• “Comparing the costs of study for leading city destinations”
• “Measuring the cost of living in major study cities”

The post Growing openness to online programmes among parents appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

Those ten countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam – have a total population of more than 600 million people. Their combined economies would currently rank as the seventh-largest economy in the world, an economic footprint that is projected to grow to become the fourth-largest in the world by 2050.

The ten member states of ASEAN

Education is a key arena for increasing collaboration across ASEAN, and there are significant efforts afoot now to harmonise curricula and qualifications and to expand intra-regional mobility initiatives.

For example, the ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework () Committee held its first meeting in Jakarta earlier this year and work is now underway on formalising and implementing the framework in collaboration with participating ASEAN members. The AQRF is designed to support expanded student and labour mobility within the region. It is accompanied by a number of related initiatives, including the ongoing development of the ASEAN Credit Transfer System (). Both efforts are meant to address a widely recognised challenge with respect to intra-regional mobility today: it is still too difficult for students to move from institution to institution within Southeast Asia and to bring credits earned abroad back to their home institutions.

Speaking at a second meeting of the AQRF committee earlier this month, Philippine Department of Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said, “This effort aims to harmonise our own qualifications framework to those of other ASEAN member countries, enable to promote lifelong learning and to make it possible for our learners and professionals to go from one country to another based on a harmonised framework.”

Mobility within the region was also in focus at The First ASEAN Student Mobility Forum, held 14–15 June 2017 in Manila. The Forum hosted 200 delegates from across ASEAN, and was an opportunity for students and educators to share their experiences of study abroad within the region (presentation decks, videos, and other programme details are now available online).

The Forum was co-organised by the Support to Higher Education in the ASEAN Region (SHARE), an EU-funded organisation with a mandate to “strengthen regional cooperation, enhance the quality, competitiveness and internationalisation of ASEAN higher education institutions and students.” The EU is a long-standing supporter and funder of regional collaboration initiatives in Southeast Asia and, in a mobility context, the EU’s Erasmus+ programme is widely referenced as a model and for best practices in support of greater movement of students within the region.

For the moment, the most prominent regional exchange initiative is the ASEAN International Mobility for Students () programme. AIMS links the government ministries of six participating ASEAN members – Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, and Philippines – along with South Korea and Japan. The programme extends to 68 universities in those countries and encompasses ten fields of study.

Through AIMS, students can participate in one-semester exchanges abroad with a participating institution. As the following chart illustrates, the programme is still modest in scale, with somewhere around 1,000 regionally mobile students each year.

Annual number of inbound and outbound students on AIMS exchanges, 2010–2016. Please note that the flag icons indicate the years in which the corresponding countries joined the programme. Source: SEAMEO RIHED

However, the numbers also reflect that AIMS is expanding quickly over the last two years.
Programme administrators intend to expand AIMS to all ASEAN countries, and, particularly as credit transfer and qualification frameworks continue to strengthen, we can expect continued strong growth in intra-regional mobility going forward.

A leading global economy

As we noted earlier, if ASEAN were a single country it would safely be counted among the world’s largest economies. Its combined (and youthful!) population of 600 million is larger than that of the European Union or North America, and surpassed only by China and India.

Similarly, real GDP growth over much of the last 15 years has been clipping along at more than 5% per year. Of all world economies, only China and India grew faster during this period.

��������:

“ASEAN has dramatically outpaced the rest of the world on growth in GDP per capita since the late 1970s. Income growth has remained strong since 2000, with average annual real gains of more than 5%. Some member nations have grown at a torrid pace: Vietnam, for example, took just 11 years (from 1995 to 2006) to double its per capita GDP from US$1,300 to US$2,600. Extreme poverty is rapidly receding. In 2000, 14% of the region’s population was below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day (calculated in purchasing-power-parity terms), but by 2013, that share had fallen to just 3%.

Already some 67 million households in ASEAN states are part of the ‘consuming class,’ with incomes exceeding the level at which they can begin to make significant discretionary purchases. That number could almost double to 125 million households by 2025, making ASEAN a pivotal consumer market of the future.”

From a recruitment point of view, these are all powerful indicators of a regional bloc with considerable potential for outbound mobility. Indeed, skills development and access to advanced education will increasingly be a key determinant of continued economic growth and social development in the decades ahead.

There are, however, considerable variations in market conditions across the region. Indonesia, for example, accounts for about 40% of total economic output among member states and is a G20 member. And Singapore’s highly developed economy is home to some of the top-ranked universities in the world. Myanmar, meanwhile, is really just emerging from a long period of political and economic isolation and so we can still observe significant gaps in educational attainment and income from country to country within the region.

Even so, the ASEAN states are an increasingly integrated global market that includes some of the key emerging markets in the world for outbound mobility, notably Vietnam and Indonesia. There will be considerable momentum in the next decade and more to mobility within the region, and also towards study in neighbouring countries that have also stepped up their own recruitment activity of late, such as China and Japan. But as income levels continue to rise, the region’s very large college-aged populations also represent a significant opportunity for recruiters from further afield – one that also offers the added efficiency of recruiting in a series of diverse markets in close proximity to one another.

For additional background, please see:

• “ASEAN poised to usher in new era of regional student mobility”
• “Indonesia’s growing middle class expected to drive outbound mobility”
• “Malaysian government cools on study abroad but outbound still growing”
• “Growing demand for vocational training in Vietnam”
• “Vietnam: Regulatory change expected to spur international school enrolment”
• “Singapore adopting a more cautious outlook on education hub ambitions”

The post Southeast Asia trading and mobility bloc continues to take shape appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

The population is young. The median age is just over 28 and nearly half of all Indonesians are under the age of 30. In fact, those aged 15-29 make up a third of Indonesia’s workforce; however, youth unemployment is high and two million people enter the Indonesian labour market every year.

Even so, Indonesia is also home to a growing middle class. The country’s affluent consumer classes are expected to double in size – from 74 million to 141 million – by 2020.

Currently the 16th-largest economy in the world, Indonesia aims to move up to become a top ten economy by 2030, and it is poised to do so as a member of The Association of Southeast Asian Nations. ASEAN is a political and economic group of ten Southeast Asian countries whose economic growth and large college-aged populations have them firmly on the radar of international educators the world over.

The represents a huge opportunity, but Indonesia’s workforce is currently at a disadvantage. University graduates compose only 7% of its total (compared to 21% in Malaysia, for example), and the World Bank recently found that that if the country is to meet its economic potential. The Indonesian government is investing heavily in vocational training and increasingly partnering with international schools to deliver it. But the higher education system is uneven in terms of quality and securing a place at one of Indonesia’s better universities is very competitive. Among Indonesia’s growing number of middle and upper class families, study abroad is widely considered to be the best way to secure a good job.

Trends in outbound mobility

UNESO reports that the number of Indonesian students pursuing higher education abroad is now nearly 42,000, and up 35% from a decade ago. But total outbound figures are higher still, especially when vocational training (VET) and language training enrolments are factored in.

The top three destinations for Indonesian students are Australia, the US, and Malaysia. The US Commercial Service notes, “Australia is the number one choice for Indonesians abroad, largely due to geographic proximity, perceived institutional quality, and English-medium instruction…The [majority of students are enrolled] in higher education and vocational education and training (VET) [and with] strong growth in hospitality (36%), science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (14%).”

The latest Australian statistics indicate that there were just under 20,000 Indonesian students enrolled in the country in 2016, with annual growth on the order of 6-7%. In the US, meanwhile, there are nearly 9,000 Indonesians enrolled in higher education alone, with year-over-year growth again between 6–7%.

Outbound growth is being driven in part by an expansion of scholarship opportunities for Indonesian students. The Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education supports students pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees in Indonesia and abroad. Its funding rose from US$105 million in 2016 to US$225 million in 2017. This reflects a growing field of scholarships for Indonesians in general – in part because of an increasing focus on the part of international recruiters. “Education in Indonesia is getting more expensive,” agrees Sugito Shia of the education agency Go Global Way. “Many overseas institutions are offering generous scholarships for Indonesian international students.”

Recruiting tips

We recently conducted a survey of experienced Indonesian agents. Their responses highlight that the following are trending toward greater popularity this year:

• Destinations: Australia, the US, the UK, Singapore, and Malaysia;
• Levels of study: undergraduate, post-graduate, and vocational training;
• Fields of study: business, hospitality, and STEM studies;
• Pathway programmes and English-language learning opportunities;
• Safety, high rankings/reputation of institution and programmes, proximity.

The same agent survey provides the following tips for overseas recruiters:

• Get on the ground. Indonesian culture varies greatly according to region and city.
• Make it real. Offer a one-day course or a workshop for students so they become engaged and get a sense of what you offer.
• Link education to concrete skills. Students will want information on internships and assurance that their degree directly relates to their employment goals.
• Work closely with agents. Trust, integrity, and word-of-mouth are enormously important to Indonesians. Students turn to agents for advice on destinations and institutions.
• Understand the strong family ties present in Indonesian culture. Many families look for destinations that are close to home. If they consider more far-flung options, they will want every guarantee possible that their children will be well cared for and safe.
• Keep in touch with students’ parents. Indonesian parents see themselves as stakeholders in their children’s education. Some schools set up Family Programmes with parents in mind, offering newsletters and invitations to school events in the home country to encourage a sense of participation … and positive word of mouth.
• Respect religious customs. Indonesia is a Muslim-majority country. Families will want to feel that students are safe and welcome regardless of religion and race and able to comfortably pray on campus.

For additional background, please see:

• “ASEAN poised to usher in new era of regional student mobility”
• “Indonesia looks to education to help drive growth”
• “Dramatic growth in Indonesia foreshadows greater demand for study abroad”

The post Indonesia’s growing middle class expected to drive outbound mobility appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

We say “slice” because the report essentially parses selected emerging market responses to the QS World Grad School Tour Applicant Survey gathered between June 2014 and June 2016. At 2,096 emerging market respondents, the sample size is small (especially on a per country basis) but nevertheless provides some interesting directional indicators for recruiters. All of those responding to the survey were in the process of applying for admission to postgraduate degree programmes abroad.

The survey zeroes in on four countries that are increasingly seen as significant emerging markets for international recruitment: Nigeria, Indonesia, Brazil, and Turkey. In most cases, QS has paired these priority targets with other promising markets from the same region: Brazil with Mexico and Colombia, Nigeria with Ghana and Kenya, and Indonesia with the Philippines.

Bangladesh and Pakistan round out an 11-country sample of markets that share some common characteristics: booming youth populations, significant issues with domestic higher education, and, in some cases, national scholarship schemes to support study abroad.

Why study abroad?

Consistent with other surveys in the field, QS finds that employability is a major driver of demand for postgraduate studies abroad.

Most emerging market respondents indicated more specifically that their primary motivation for study abroad was to progress in their current career path. Bangladesh and Pakistan were the exceptions here: most applicants from those countries said they wanted to pursue postgraduate degrees abroad in order to progress to higher-level academic qualifications (that is, doctoral studies).

Where to study?

Not surprisingly, the US and UK were the two most-preferred destinations among emerging market respondents, with Canada, Australia, and Germany rounding out the top five choices.

Some interesting regional variations were noted, with the US and Canada more prominent in the preferences of students in Nigeria and Ghana, for example, and Germany and Australia more strongly preferred by Bangladeshi and Pakistani students. In contrast, the US and UK were consistently the number one and number two choices (respectively) of emerging market respondents in Latin America.

The main factor behind destination preferences appears to be “international recognition of qualifications,” which QS interprets as the students’ interest in ensuring that their foreign degrees will be valued at home and abroad.

Broadly speaking, African and South Asian students gave even greater weight to the availability of scholarships or other financial aid. And respondents from Latin America, along with their interest in international recognition of qualifications earned abroad, put a high priority on cultural and lifestyle factors.

The importance of subject rankings

When it comes down to choosing an institution, most respondents (47% of master’s applicants, 49% of doctoral applicants) put the highest priority on the institution’s reputation or ranking with respect to their intended field of study.

For master’s applicants, and reflecting the overarching importance of recognition of qualifications earned abroad, this was closely followed by institutional reputation (45%), employment prospects (40%), and funding (34%). Funding was the second-ranked factor for PhD applicants (42%) followed by overall institutional reputation (36%).

QS concludes that framing postgraduate study as a stepping stone to career advancement is likely to have the widest appeal, except for students in Pakistan and Bangladesh who are more strongly inclined to see master’s-level study as a path to a more advanced degree.

The report authors also suggest highlighting both subject-specific and institutional reputation for prospective postgraduate students, with a greater emphasis on subject-specific strengths when recruiting in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Indonesia, and Turkey.

On the key question of post-study work, the report concludes, “While post-study work opportunities are considered by a significant proportion of applicants in all profiled markets, this appears to have a particularly strong impact on the destination choices of those in the Philippines, Brazil and Turkey, while carrying less weight for those in Bangladesh, Pakistan, or Indonesia.”

For additional background on the motivations and key decision factors for international postgraduate students, please see:

• “Survey says employment prospects the key for postgraduate applicants”
• “When it comes to rankings, students really want to know about employment”

The post Survey reveals motivations of postgraduate students in emerging markets appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

The overall picture from this year’s report is of continued growth for the US, albeit not at the record-breaking pace of 2015, and of some important underlying shifts in sending markets.

To call out just a few of the top-line findings:

• Year-over-year international enrolment grew by 7% – this is the tenth consecutive year of growth for the US although down slightly from 2014/15’s increase of 10%
• The number of foreign students in the US has surpassed the one million mark for the first time ever to reach 1,043,839
• China and India continue to drive enrolment growth, and together accounted for more than 80% of the overall increase in student numbers between 2014/15 and 2015/16
• The economic impact of international students in the US is now estimated at US$36 billion – “Students from around the world who study in the United States also contribute to America’s scientific and technical research and bring international perspectives into US classrooms,” the report adds. “[They help] prepare American students for global careers, and often lead to longer-term business relationships and economic benefits.”

Enrolment diversification remains a critical issue this year, with China accounting for more than three in ten foreign students in the US. The top three sending markets alone – China, India, and Saudi Arabia – represent more than half of all international enrolment in the country.

Top ten countries of origin for international students in the US, 2015/16. Source: IIE

Attentive readers will note that another traditional top three source market, South Korea, has fallen out of the group this year. South Korean enrolments declined again in 2015/16, registering a 4.2% decline from 2014/15 and marking the fifth straight year of decreasing student numbers from this key source market. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, has moved into the number three spot this year with enrolment growth fueled by the massive King Abdullah Scholarship Programme (KASP). Whether or not it will remain among the top three senders is something of an open question as the funding and stability of KASP has been called into question this year.

The key Chinese market was up 8% this year, with continued strong growth in undergraduate enrolment in particular (9% this year). But India led all growth markets with a 25% year-over-year increase for 2015/16, and with that burgeoning enrolment still heavily concentrated in graduate studies. Fueled in part by significant increases in Indian enrolments in recent years, IIE reports that, “More than a third of [all] international students [in the US study] engineering, math or computer science, and 14% engaged in Optional Practical Training (OPT), including many in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) professions.”

Other fast-growing markets for the US this year included Nepal (18%), Vietnam (14%), Nigeria (12%), and Colombia (9%). Close behind was a next tier of growth markets that all saw increases of 8% in 2015/16: Iran, Kuwait, Indonesia, Malaysia, Spain, and the UK.

On the other side of the ledger, and following significant funding cuts in its Science Without Borders programme, Brazil led the pack among declining markets with an 18% drop in student numbers in the US between 2014/15 and 2015/16. Leaving South Korea aside, the six other declining markets among the top 25 countries of origin for the US recorded only modest decreases of one or two percentage points each.

“The Open Doors findings show that international students value the quality, diversity and strong reputation of US institutions and recognise that these institutions will give them opportunities that can help them not only in their education but also in their careers,” said IIE President Allan Goodman.

“At the Institute of International Education, we believe American colleges and universities offer a premiere education and valuable training to students from around the globe and that students from other nations also teach us a lot about the world we share,” he added. “The more we can open doors to other cultures for our students, the better off our country and our world will be.”

For additional background and detailed data, please see the.

For additional context on the United States’ international market position, please see:

• “Trump victory spurs global reaction from educators and students”,
• “Exploring international student expectations of study in the US”,
• “Affordability a key factor for US-bound international students”, and
• “Four megatrends that are changing the competitive landscape of international education”.

The post More than one million international students in the US appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

The situation is similar in the UK where the top five non-European markets account for nearly 60% of all non-EU enrolment in British higher education. China again stands as the number one source market, and sends one of every three non-European students in Britain. Canada’s top four markets, meanwhile, send nearly six of every ten foreign students in the country. And the same pattern plays out in Australia where four markets again represented nearly half of all student commencements through April this year.

But 2016 has also been marked by some significant disruptions in emerging markets – notably Brazil and Russia – that international educators have seen as important pieces in a broader diversification strategy. As always, there are a number of moving pieces this year – including immigration policy, foreign exchange controls, and world commodity prices – that bear on near-term market conditions. The search for the next tier of promising sending markets, however, continues all the same and we take a closer look at five promising candidates below.

Vietnam

With an economic growth rate of 6.7% over 2015/16 – comparable with China’s – Vietnam is steadily pulling more of its citizens out of poverty and into the middle and upper classes. One-third of Vietnamese are expected to join the middle class by 2020, and as of 2016, Vietnam boasts the world’s fastest growing percentage of ultra-high net-worth individuals. As families secure more wealth, they are better able to send their children abroad – and there are a lot of children: the median age in Vietnam is just 28.5.

Already we are seeing more Vietnamese students in the rest of the world. Japan welcomed 38,882 in 2015 (up 47.7% from 2014), and the US enrolled 28,883 in the same year, a significant increase as well. Ninety percent of outbound Vietnamese students are self-funded.

For additional background, please see “America and Japan reporting big gains in Vietnamese enrolment ,”��“Challenges in Vietnamese higher education contributing to demand for study abroad,” and “From the field: Vietnam’s cash economy and study abroad.”

Colombia

Colombia is the third largest economy in Latin America, after Mexico and Brazil, and more growth is likely as the government progresses in peace negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The country’s middle class has steadily expanded despite the war,
growing from 16% of the population in 2002 to 27% in 2011.

President Juan Manuel Santos’s mission is that Colombia will be Latin America’s most educated country by 2025, and in keeping with this goal, he increased Colombia’s education budget by 5.75% to US$14.52 billion in 2015. In so doing, the president made 2015 the first year ever that the Colombian government spent more money on education than on the military.

Tertiary enrolment in Colombia more than doubled between 2003 and 2013 to reach 2.1 million, and the number of Colombian tertiary students abroad has increased by roughly 50% over the past decade to total more than 25,000 students in 2013.

For additional background, please see “From the field: Recruiting in Colombia” and “New study offers important insights on demand for English training in Colombia.”

Indonesia

In Indonesia – the world’s fourth-most populous country and one of its 20 largest economies – the middle and affluent consumer classes are expected to double in size by 2020 from 74 million to 141 million, according to Boston Consulting Group. On top of rising wealth, Indonesia also has a very young population – the median age is 28.2.

Indonesians aged 15-29 make up a third of Indonesia’s workforce; however, youth unemployment is high and two million people enter the Indonesian labour market every year. Career-focused education is naturally on the minds of many, and thus opportunities to study abroad will likely grow in popularity in the near term. The Jakarta Post recently noted that Indonesia will have one of the largest college-going populations in the world by 2020 but that it will be one “with limited access to market-oriented education opportunities within its borders.”

For additional background, please see “Indonesia looks to education to help drive growth” and “New report forecasts postgraduate mobility trends through 2024.”

Nigeria

One-fifth of Nigeria’s massive population of 181 million people is between the ages of 15 and 24 – creating significant demand for higher education that cannot be met domestically. Nearly 1.5 million Nigerians seek a place at a Nigerian university each year, but only about half a million are able to get in. This goes a long way to explaining why Nigeria is the leading African source of international students.

More than 50,000 Nigerians studied abroad in 2012, and their numbers have gone up substantially in certain markets since then: nearly 9,500 Nigerians studied in the United States in 2014/15 – a 20% increase over the year before – and 8,620 studied in Canada in 2014.

Even with recent disruptions related to the collapse in world oil prices, the fundamentals in the market, including student demand, remain strong. Those recruiting for post-graduate programmes in particular will want to keep an eye on Nigeria: The British Council recently projected that of the 23 source markets it studied, Nigeria will contribute the strongest average annual growth in post-graduate student mobility through 2024 (+8.3%).

For additional background, please see “Nigeria tightens foreign exchange controls to limit use for study abroad,” “Falling oil prices put Nigerian scholarship funding in doubt,” and “Nigeria projected to be one of the world’s fastest-growing markets for postgraduate studies.”

Iran

In the wake of a historic nuclear deal earlier this year, Iranian universities are working to quickly build collaborative links with universities across Europe. The country has always been interested in international education, however: Iran has been the second fastest growing outbound market for postgraduate studies in recent years (behind only Saudi Arabia), and the British Council projects continued growth through 2024.

Driving this projected growth in part is the fact that domestic capacity for post-graduate students is insufficient to meet demand: 900,000 Iranian students applied for a master’s programme in 2011 but only 60,000 were accepted (6.6%). Meanwhile, only 4% of those seeking acceptance to a doctoral programme were successful.

Add to this the striking fact that roughly 60% of Iranians are 30 years of age or younger and this is definitely a sending market to explore.

For additional background, please see “Keys to the market: Iran,”��“Iran moving quickly to expand higher education links,” and “Iran’s university enrolment is booming. Now what?.”

The post Five emerging markets to watch appeared first on ���Ϲ��� Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.