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Expanding your student recruitment efforts: exploring upcoming markets

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Webinar Recruiting students from India and Sri Lanka StudyPortals

Universities searching for the most talented international students often look to Asia as a possible source of students. Together with Neil Kemp, we took a closer look at two emerging countries experiencing fast-growing student demand for international education: India and Sri Lanka.

Motivations for Indian and Sri Lankan students

Some features that contribute to the fast growth of these markets:

  • Both countries have stable economies, with recently elected presidents. Besides, a good GDP growth provides a solid base to expand a high and continuing demand for higher education.
  • Students from both countries have a strong interest to study abroad, and the fact that they both use English as their main language of instruction might play into this. With a high level of English, students are easily able to explore options abroad.
  • For India specifically, there is a big bulge in ‘university-aged students’. One-third of the whole population is under 16, and this demand from students is expected to last at least another 10 years, so up to 2025. Therefore this can be considered a very viable market to explore.
  • Both Indians and Sri Lankans are very communicative on mobile. In India, on a population of 1.2 billion, there are over 950 million mobile phones and over 250 million internet users. In Sri Lanka, nearly a quarter of the population uses the internet and uses 23 million mobile phone connections. As students are very much connected worldwide, they will more easily search for programmes abroad, and also they are easier to be reached by university recruitment efforts.

India’s ambitions are to become an international higher education provider able to compete with European universities. Many Indian universities are seeking to develop global partnerships. For students, employability is a crucial factor both during and after studying. Students want to stay in the host country for a little after graduation in order to gain some international experience before they go back to India after 1-2 years. Universities can play into this by offering such opportunities, like internships or work placements.

In Sri Lanka, there is a huge unsatisfied demand of young Sri Lankans that want to study but can’t find a good university in Sri Lanka. Therefore, going abroad is a very viable option for them, and it makes Sri Lankan students a suitable target for your recruitment efforts.

Where do Indian & Sri Lankan students enrol? (UNESCO, 2013)

Sri Lanka

India

Total 16,030  Total 181,870
Australia 3,950 United States 92,597
United Kingdom 2,933 United Kingdom 22,155
United States 2,915 Australia 16,150
Malaysia 1,218 Canada 9,582
India 991 UAE 9,273
Japan 665 New Zealand 6,845
New Zealand 612 Germany 5,645
Canada 333 Ukraine 3,587
Saudi Arabia 299 France 1,828
UAE 239 Saudi Arabia 1,817
Italy 204 Kyrgyzstan 1,137
Georgia 198 Malaysia 1,126
France 117 Sweden 1,069

Both Indian and Sri Lankan students prefer the United States, United Kingdom and Australia as their study destinations. Whereas the UK is still in the top 3, enrolment numbers almost halved in 2013 when changes in Visa laws made it more difficult for Indian students to come to the UK, to the benefit of Germany and Sweden at the time. After Brexit, a similar pattern seems to repeat, as is stated in The Guardian’s article. The Guardian describes that the UK is planning to nearly halve student visa’s, as well as the difficulties foreign students experience when trying to receive a visa. The effects seem detrimental for foreign students as well as British universities.

Since the Brexit referendum, British Prime Minister Theresa May and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have discussed measures for continuing welcoming international students to the UK, but many students are worried about the toughening visa regulations and the implications they hold for their employability.

How to enter a new market?

Recruiting students from either India or Sri Lanka, though appealing for many universities, is not an easy feat. Before making this decision, there are a few factors that any university marketing plan should take into account:

  • Product: Is the programme you offer appropriate, relevant and attractive to Indian and Sri Lankan prospective students?
  • Place: Will you place your programmes in the right location? If you offer a business degree, you will likely have the most success in Mumbai, whilst a computing degree will be more popular in South India. India is a large country, and you need to know your audience in order to target specific geographical placed markets.
  • Price: Are you pricing your programmes at the right level? Affordability is crucial for students looking to study abroad, and even when tuition fees are high, universities can still support students with scholarships for bright students needing financial assistance.
  • Promotion: How to tell the world about your programmes and university? Use the most appropriate means to promote your programmes and spread brand awareness.

In addition, every university looking to recruit international students should also create a unique selling proposition. How?

  • Differentiate yourself by promoting a specific programme you offer.
  • Create local partnerships with transfer agreements, this ensures your presence in the country.
  • Offer work placements and internships; as said before, students highly value employability and this might draw student attention.
  • Award scholarships to certain groups of students you wish to attract.
  • Create a more efficient and speedy application process.
  • Have more effective promotion (promote in the country through an agent for example).

You can enter a new market in several ways, through agents, electronic media, targeted scholarships, alumni events, partnerships with local HE institutions. However, what will remain key is having a great university website. Students will come back to your website to find most important information. You can adjust and personalize the website for certain target groups, and ensure that prospective international students find content that is personally relevant to them (visa information, housing information, finances, employment possibilities).

Decision process

Word of mouth is crucial for both Indian and Sri Lankan students deciding to study abroad. Positive messages about your institution passed on by family/friends are priceless. Therefore, in addition to having a good university website, being active on social media should be a key part of your recruitment strategy. Social media also signals that a university is accessible and approachable and gives students insights into the university life beyond glossy brochures. Other electronic media can be effective as well to approach international students, such as online platforms like Studyportals, especially during the study search phase.

Offline, local newspapers and advertising outlets are also a good source of brand awareness, but they require working closely with local advertising or media agencies for an optimal distribution planning. Lastly, if possible, try to attend as many events as possible to generate visibility and brand awareness within the country. Events do have the advantage of meeting prospective students in person but can be very time and energy consuming for international offices.

Recruiting international students is not an easy task, but a diverse classroom is a crucial element in today’s universities. India and Sri Lanka will be sending more students abroad in the coming years, and it is up to universities to find the right students and encourage them to join their cohorts.

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