Social Media News

Believe it or not a lot can go wrong when choosing images for social media campaigns in international education. Check out this webinar from Webcertain this coming Thursday for the do’s and don't’s you need to know.
When it comes to recruiting students from China these days, if you don’t have an actual digital strategy, you’re already behind. Sinorbis provides an excellent approach to getting noticed behind the Great Wall.
Let’s face it, virtual event have become very much the standard these last 14 months. Inside Higher Ed has put together a webinar for this Thursday on best practices for online events.
Would your college president record personalized videos for every admitted student? Interesting, committed approach from this Texas university leader requiring over 200 hours of his time. But that’s just the beginning.
If you’re looking for country level detail of social media trends in key markets for international students, check out the Webcertain search and social report for 2021.
Converting your inquiries into enrollments takes often months of work. According to the team at Uniquest, prompt support, proactive encouragement, and personalized communication are the keys to the kingdom.
Looking for ways to get the audio word out on social, but aren’t willing to go niche like Clubhouse? Twitter Spaces may be worth a look. Solid recommendations from Social Media Examiner.
Facebook ads have become ubiquitous in our social lives as well as in intl education. But to make it work, you need an ad strategy. With new FB tools, it’s easier to get a sense of what may work best.
What are some costly mistakes in intl ed decision-making? Putting inexperience in charge and scattershot marketing investments are what Intead see many institutions struggling with in what amounts to short-sightedness.

International Education News

Big Picture Issues

Indian students are struggling. Will the US help? “While the UK, New Zealand and Australia have temporarily shut their borders to students from India due to the Covid scare, the United States has exempted those with an F1 or a student visa from the travel ban.”
Visas for Chinese students are beginning to flow again, but this result, a student denied a visa because her father is a policeman, points to some lingering sore spots on US-China relations.
Private US colleges’ pricing v aid models are absolutely bonkers. With the average discount rate nearly 54% these days, you cannot help but wonder what’s the point other than to sew confusion among families.
I’m curious if this Navitas agent survey were done again at the end of May, as opposed to March, would still have the same results. Importantly, the sentiment that students should keep their options open should resonate.
While it’s a big hard to wrap your head around these individual English proficiency testing trends, from a 30,000 ft. view, the fall is looking up for the US.

Solutions Central

While this article references current thoughts for British higher education, the lessons learned in the past couple of years make this an important time for US colleges to pause and have a rethink on global engagement.
An important lesson any international admissions and intl advisers learn, hopefully day one on the job, is that overseas students are deserving of our respect and resources to make their stay in the US and on campus satisfying.
As far as long-term solutions go, this one, to expand OPT and H1B access to international students and entrepreneurs looking to build a future here for more than just themselves, is a winner deserving of our support.
Many colleges like Washington State are planning to maintain remote learning options for international students into the next academic year, as we’ve got miles to go before this pandemic’s impact is over.

On-Campus Happenings

Are we deluding ourselves into thinking we’ll have a normal on-campus experience this fall? The silver lining is that at least this administration has planned far enough ahead to allow institutions the flexibility to continue hybrid/online.
If you don’t think AI has an increasingly important role in intl admissions, check out this partnership between Washington State and Cialfo to extend that Pacific Northwest’s international reach.
While the UC system is a bit late to the party on this one, good to see all campuses rallying to urge State and DHS to take all steps necessary to speed visa issuance and entry requirements for incoming students.

Testing Debates

At St. Mary’s University in Texas, the decision to go test-free is a welcome one for international students.
The University of California system which had previously agreed to phase out ACT/SAT in 5 years, has confirmed that effective immediately they will be test-blind moving forward.
English language testing has been changing the last two years. Some are built for this new online/hybrid world of education in which we’ve found ourselves. Interesting webinar coming up on Thursday this week.
Interesting to see TOEFL’s new Essentials test (starting this fall) is set to be an online version of the iBT (but not the same) that can be taken at home. Initial survey indicates 95% of institutions would accept Essential scores.

Global Roundup

Australian institutions are under threat of having 13 Confucius Institutes closed in light of veto laws targeting suspect international agreements (including those with China, Syria, and Iran)
Re-entry plans for intl students to Australian states are with the national government, but “It is not safe to take those next steps right now. There is a sliding sort of scale here, and we’re working on the next steps.” Ouch.
Frankly, I’m shocked that the new intl student numbers to Australia through March are not worse - down only 31%. Of course, this number includes students studying remotely.
Of course, being an intl student studying from home at Australian institutions does not come without incredibly worrying challenges, with 93% of those students experiences mental health challenges.
New South Wales in Australia is setting up a 600-bed quarantine facility to start in August for possible intl student returns. A trial to see if this system will work (for the national government’s liking).
Curious to see how these new regulations in China (three years in the making) will impact the major tutoring and university prep after school services in this country.
As they should. British higher education sees British-style intl schools (450+ worldwide) as an important asset in their intl education plans.
One sector that has suffered globally in the wake of Covid-19 have been English language program schools. Even in the UK, there was a nearly 84% drop in students in the last year.
The UK has certainly won the early Covid-19 battles for intl students. 216,000 Chinese now attend British unis. Why? “UK's attempts to maintain normal cultural exchanges.”
British universities have learned some valuable lessons during Covid-19. The new normal there is likely to include solid hybrid learning “to save the international student population.”

SMIE Consulting Midweek Roundup

May 24, 2021 edition

On-Campus Happenings

Testing Debates

SMIE Consulting Midweek Roundup