BUILA 2024: Six things to be certain about in an uncertain international student recruitment landscape

Peter Thompson, INTO University Partnerships’ Vice President of Data Analytics, Market Research & Insights, recently presented at the BUILA Annual Conference in Birmingham, UK. In his presentation, he spoke about some of the key market trends impacting the global landscape for student recruitment, with a focus on where we can find certainty during a period of significant change. Here, he shares some of the notable insights from the presentation and other topical discussions from the Conference. 

What can we be certain about the future of student mobility, in this period of flux and uncertainty?    

This year’s BUILA conference hosted many informative discussions around themes that underpin this interesting question.  Delegates were generally hopeful the change in government will usher in a period of greater support for the sector, following on the heels of the Migration Advisory Committee's  positive recommendation to retain the Graduate Route. Furthermore, the tightening policy landscape in competitor study abroad destinations, such as Australia and Canada, also provided optimism about the UK’s opportunity to capture greater market share.   

However, there was recognition that the UK’s attractiveness has been weakened by restrictions to international students’ ability to bring family members with them, and regular negative public sentiment towards immigration, questions over equality of access to higher education versus domestic students, and concerns over the quality of those enrolling are not facilitating a welcoming environment.  In his keynote speech, Sir David Willets warned that the new Government will be led by the evidence and that the sector as a whole had a key role to play in providing evidence and guidance to many new Members of Parliament on these issues.    

INTO University Partnership’s contribution to this debate included a presentation about where we believe there remains certainty for universities to act, drawing on our own research.

We identified six factors that we’re certain will be critical pillars of success for universities in this competitive global market for talent over the coming years.  While other crucial factors such as immigration policy and institutional funding will be determined in the corridors of Westminster, these are things within the control of international offices to action.  

1. Ensure university proposition is clearly articulated, and attractive in a global context  
2. Simplicity and timeliness of process with recruitment partners  
3. Targeted market presence and engagement  
4. Emerging growth markets require strategic approach to pricing  
5. Evidence employment-related opportunity and outcomes – the return on investment  
6. Partnerships that facilitate new pathways between national education systems  

Here is a brief synopsis of each of these six key takeaways for those leading the internationalization efforts of universities. The slides from my presentation are provided here, alongside a link to our latest Global Agent Survey for those who would like to explore our work in more detail.  

1. Ensure university proposition is clearly articulated, and attractive in a global context  

The rise of interest for ‘alternative destinations’ to the ‘big 4’ study destinations (USA, UK, Australia, and Canada) has been reported for some time and continues at pace. This is being driven by the increasing attractiveness of options in many countries due to affordability, cultural and geographic proximity, and the enhanced quality of local or regional provision, notably evidenced by Asian universities rising in the global rankings. Uncertainty surrounding the ‘big 4’ is also creating incentives for students to consider backup options, should their primary plan become unviable (e.g., due to visa rejection, or worsening of employment options). Various presentations, including ours, showcased how this is encouraging students to ‘hedge their bets’, by applying to an increasing number of options – both destination markets and number of institutions.   

 Reflecting this demand trend is the highly global nature of student counseling, a pattern outlined in INTO’s 2024 Global Agent Survey of more than 1240 recruitment partners. The vast majority of surveyed agents are counseling students towards a diverse range of options. Almost 80% of our partner agents indicated they place students in multiple destination countries and 1 in 10 submitted applications to over 100 universities last year. In this highly competitive and increasingly crowded landscape, it is essential that universities and colleges can find ways to clearly communicate their proposition in order to stand out and be positioned effectively, relative to a global range of options.   

 For example, consider the language and terminology being used – is this broadly understood outside the domestic market?  Key determinants of choice, such as entry requirements, translation of exam scores from domestic systems, post-study work rights and cost profile need to be understood and positioned relative to a broad range of options being considered.    

2. Simplicity and timeliness of process with recruitment partners  

With students making applications to more universities across more destinations, there is ‘noise in system’.  INTO believes this will create conversion challenges, especially with many students likely to delay final decisions until options become clearer.    

 If there is one theme and frustration which has consistently dominated our agent survey satisfaction metrics for more than a decade, it is the importance attached to speed of response to applications and enquiries. Across every region of the world, it is institutions’ ability to deliver on response times to enquiries and applications which tops the most important factors for agents supporting international recruitment efforts.  

 There are many areas beyond the control of institutional international offices – migration policy, rankings, location, and more. But service standards are not. Service response times stand out from the crowd in terms of importance to agents. It seems reasonable to conclude that delivering on these will enable institutions to stand out also. That does not mean that outcomes, student experience, employability don’t count. They do. But, if there is one area to focus limited resource, service standards feel like a great place to start.  

One of our agents summarized this nicely, saying: “We will strongly promote any university where agent support and customer service is amazing. Successful schools develop a relationship with the agent and maintain this relationship through training, Fam[ilariasation] trips, and having one main point of contact.” 

It is therefore essential that institutions consider how best to streamline processes and offer timely feedback, advice and guidance, and consider how pre-enrolment student journeys are being impacted by the current market flux.  

3. Targeted market presence and engagement  

 Given the funding challenges facing many higher education institutions globally, effective allocation of resources will be a hugely important ongoing challenge. Internationalization efforts will need to be highly targeted which requires careful consideration of working with quality recruitment partners, and considering the most impactful timing and nature of market presence and visits.  

 Universities across the major English-speaking destinations have become heavily reliant on specific source countries. China accounts for around 50% of all international students enrolling in top-ranked institutions (globally ranked in top 200) across the USA, UK, and Australia.  While South Asia, particularly India, has been the key driver of volume for many other universities and colleges across the sector.  As universities globally grapple with the challenge of diversifying their international student recruitment, there will be pressure from across the sector to explore new growth markets and develop partnerships to facilitate this.  

 INTO has fully endorsed the implementation of the Agent Quality Framework (launched by BUILA) and is already working to further deepen and enhance our best-in-class approach to managing and supporting our global network of partners. It is essential that the reputation of the sector is not harmed by the activities of a small number of ‘bad actors’ and our ongoing investment in robust quality assurance processes and training programs are at the heart of our approach.  Our team will be happy to discuss learnings from our own work in this area.  

 4. Strategic approach to pricing  

 Cost of living challenges are impacting families across the globe, with higher prices and inflation squeezing disposable income and savings. Many currencies have lost purchasing   power in the last year and coupled with increasing tuition prices and accommodation, the cost of studying abroad has become considerably more expensive for many.  Affordability and critical assessment of the return on investment will play a significant role in choices over the coming years.  

 Our 2023 survey of incoming students identified that understanding complete cost of studying abroad is seen as one of the major pain points for individuals. Clarity over the cost of studying abroad needs to be simply presented, with agents making specific reference to better information about access to scholarships, affordable accommodation, and general cost of living.  At INTO, we have responded to this through significant investments in technology and process improvement, to simplify and enhance availability of information about price and scholarships (we award about £10m of scholarships annually) alongside real-time tracking of cost of acquisition.  We have also supported various partner universities in considering the associated strategic issues, particularly as many growth potential markets generally have higher needs for student discounting. 

5. Evidence ROI - employment-related opportunities and outcomes  

Labor market needs are going to shape the landscape for international study opportunity.  And given the global race for talent, competition will be fierce.  Australia and Canada have already started to alter their study visa regime with a view to creating greater alignment to labor market needs.  With talent acquisition, particularly in STEM fields, a key strategic priority for many governments worldwide, the interplay between economic growth and attracting talent into domestic university systems will be key.  There are many examples internationally where scholarship programs are being implemented to attract talent offering new pathways into employment via education.    

 Whilst protection of post-study rights via the Graduate Route represents a boost for UK higher education, the conference heard on multiple occasions how very limited data exists to evidence the employment outcomes of international students on completion of their degrees.  This presents a notable gap in the ability of the UK higher education system to tell a compelling story about return on investment.  

By contrast, the US higher education system, by virtue of the way that institutions sponsor students throughout their time in the country (including post-study work arrangements) benefits from a data collection regime that clearly evidences employment outcomes of students.  It is possible to showcase not just where each student is working, but in what job role, for which employer and where.    

Furthermore, the enhanced post-study work options available to those studying STEM-designated degrees in the USA has created a significantly different enrolment profile (around 70% of international students are studying STEM-designated degrees) versus the UK and Australia, where the number of students on STEM courses is just over a third. 

While universities cannot be expected to address the lack of a national system for tracking like this, it highlights the urgent need for institutions to try and put in place mechanisms for better evidencing of their own student outcomes, to ensure that compelling stories can be communicated back to the market about the opportunities and outcomes afforded.  

The importance of connecting international students with employment opportunities is also an issue that requires genuinely global solutions too.  Return and Connect represents INTO’s response to this.  Working in collaboration with leading universities from the UK, US, and Australia, this groundbreaking initiative gives employers (in China and Southeast Asia)  a new way to identify, attract, recruit, and retain overseas educated talent and offers a new solution for careers counseling.  

6. Partnerships that facilitate new pathways between national education systems  

The increasing interest for study abroad outside the ‘big 4’ English-speaking destinations is going to create new opportunities for transnational education arrangements.  INTO’s Global Agent Survey showcases that regional pivots are characterizing demand for alternative destinations.  

Europe was most frequently cited as an emerging study destination by agents from South Asia and Middle East & Africa regions, with destinations such as Germany and Ireland mentioned the most frequently, and cost and access to post-study work opportunities key influencing factors.   

Chinese agents noted significantly more interest in other Asian destinations (particularly in Southeast Asia), with rising interest in international schooling options, more localized   

pathway provision and a heightened sense of priority given to geographic and cultural proximity. East Asian agents also emphasized increasing interest in study abroad options within their region, as well as China. 

 This should be indicative of which competitor options should become of increasing interest to your teams, but the findings suggest that there will also be significant opportunities for future growth in transnational educational arrangements within these parts of the world. 

In summary, while the landscape of study abroad options evolves for students, many primary drivers of demand remain broadly the same. Families and individuals are ultimately seeking access to quality education to enhance the opportunities for successful transitions into careers, alongside the broader cultural benefits of an international education.

Whilst the ‘why?’ remains relatively constant, what is changing more rapidly is the question of ‘where?’ students will pursue their journey, and which universities and colleges will play a role in that.

Hopefully these reflections provide reassurance that we can find some certainty amidst the shifting tides of student mobility, and assist your plans for international student growth.