Welcome to Dale's Digest, a curated newsletter from Foreign Credentials Service of America (FCSA). Below are a collection of articles from reliable sources regarding news and trends in international enrollment.
US universities are coming under pressure to cut costs and achieve more with less, as peak enrollment of high school students is predicted as soon as 2025 and set to drop by 576,000 between 2025 and 2029 (McKinsey & Company).
Couple this with a growing mistrust and questioning of the value of higher education from incoming cohorts and a strong employment market, and many US institutions have a critical need to adapt their international recruitment efforts to recruit smarter, more deliberately and with a higher return on investment.
Understanding prospective international student perceptions, motivations and expectations is central to a successful recruitment strategy, and according to the QS International Student Survey 2024:
Over 60% want a complete and personal response to their enquiry within three days.
46% say that scholarships are most important when choosing a university and 48% say the biggest worry is the availability of scholarships.
58% say that a high graduate employability rate is most important when assessing a university's teaching quality.
58% of prospective students interested in studying in the US state that environmental sustainability is very/extremely important.
