Economic and political uncertainty continues to simmer globally, with both explicit policies and implicit sentiment seeming to indicate an overall environment in destination countries that can be perceived as unfriendly towards international students. For those of us in the field of promoting the pursuit of degrees abroad, both agents and institutions alike, what can be done? Now more than ever, focus and an intentional approach to international recruitment are critical for driving near term enrollments as well as long term success.
Back to basics
Business history clearly shows how innovation leads to growth. However, there’s also an argument to be made for a sharp focus on executing core capabilities really well to protect an organisation from further declines in times of uncertainty. At Leap, we see this translating to international recruitment in three primary ways:
Quality applications: When institutions face limited resources, they rely on agent partners to not only drive application volume but also ensure that the time spent on those applications are worthwhile. This means extra attention on required documents, quickly addressing student issues, and proactively encouraging students to take next steps. Similarly, we look to institutional partners to be clear about what they are looking for in students and to provide feedback when applicants fall short, so that we can adjust our quality controls and approach as needed.
Process: One of our guiding principles at Leap draws from the philosophies of the American football coach Bill Walsh: focus on process improvement and the results will come. For agents and institutions alike, this means evaluating existing operations to identify points of friction for improvement. In particular, we look to existing data to reveal the greatest areas of opportunity – where do students tend to get stuck? Where do the most drop offs in conversion tend to occur? What are the most frequently asked questions? By addressing specific, tangible roadblocks, both agents and institutions can yield stronger results through improvements to fundamental processes.
Timely feedback: Today’s students are accustomed to a 24 hour news cycle, 15 second Tik Tok clips, and instantaneous feedback. Reinforcing the strong business habit of timely and clear communication is critical for agents and institutions alike, both with students and with each other. Even a quick reply of “I don’t know but I’m looking into it” is better than waiting to have a full response before replying at all (assuming, of course, that the follow up actually happens!).
Intentional engagement
In times of uncertainty, organisations often default to the reduction of resources, and we recognise the reality that revenue must be taken in for expenses to be paid. Whether an institution must tighten its belt today or has the budget to invest now for results longer in the future, our guidance to partners on strategic, intentional engagement remains the same:
Maximise travel budgets by complementing traditional events with strategic engagement sessions. Use fairs and tours as anchors for your recruitment travel, but fill in the gaps with targeted visits to key recruitment cities. More importantly, do more than just office visits with your agent partners; we recommend hosting student-facing profile reviews or even spot offer events that serve the dual purpose of recruitment and conversion.
Leverage your institution’s foreign relations department as allies in promoting your university with government officials. This timely article from NAFSA provides thoughtful advice – written with a US lens but relevant to all institutions – on taking a strategic approach to influencing policy that impacts international education.
Strategically plan engagement sessions to attract a wider audience. Oftentimes, we see partners default to hosting information sessions simply on their institution. Instead, consider broader topics that will draw a larger audience while still indirectly promoting your university as a subject matter expert. For example, we recently had a partner present on overall healthcare programs and related careers in their country, drawing a significantly larger crowd than they could have done with an information session on their institution alone.
Like any industry, international education goes through cycles of growth as well as those of challenges. Together, we can achieve long term, sustainable success regardless of the environment by staying focused, driving operational excellence, and being thoughtful about the most effective use of time and resources.
Interested in chatting more about these ideas and other ways to maximise your recruitment efforts? Reach out to us to learn how Leap can help you achieve your international enrolment management goals.
About the author: Simona Campbell leads Leap’s university relations team, focusing on strengthening institutional partnerships across our portfolio of offerings. She brings over 15 years of experience blending strategy, operations, and relationship management in higher education and edtech, having previously served as Assistant Dean of the MBA Program Office at Georgetown University and Vice President, General Manager at 2U, a global leader in education technology and parent company of edX. She currently resides with her family in Arlington, Virginia, USA.
