In order to get a sense of what the most significant social media tools that folks in the international admissions arena are using currently, please answer the following poll (please select the most prominent in your strategy). I will use the results of this poll to move forward with our goal to better connect and inform US institutions of possibilities to reach international students through the EducationUSA advising center network in over 170 countries.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Impact of Social Media on US Higher Education
The title for this blog makes it sound a bit too heavy and academic if you ask me, but really is reflective of a critical lesson for institutions on how to operate particularly in relation to international student admissions flows. In this first installment, let's look at what has changed over the last 15 years in the way colleges and universities recruit students, specifically international students.
Back in the early 90's most admissions offices were buying lists of thousands of students who took SAT tests and other exams and mailing them information in the hope that a certain number of those prospects, after reviewing the glossy brochures and smiling faces of students on campus, would eventually apply, and from that group, a smaller subset would be admitted, and then an even smaller number would eventually enroll. This Admissions Funnel was the industry-standard for recruitment for US institutions.
With the rise of the internet and Tom Friedman's increasingly flat world, control over information is now in the hands of the individual. In the arena of international admissions, students in any country now have access to details and critiques about any institution in the US they would ever want to get their hands on. As a result, what universities and colleges now face are students who are first presenting themselves equipped with all the information they might need (other than whether they will get a scholarship). The admissions funnel has narrowed quite dramatically since the early 90s. In some cases upwards of 75-80% of first time international inquiries to institutions in 2008 were applications!
These "stealth" applicants are students who have done their homework and found out enough from institutional websites and other resources to really feel confident enough about whether that institution can meet their needs. Development of EducationUSA's "How to make your website internationally friendly" resource has helped institutions get a sense for what the do's and don't's are regarding what international audiences will understand. But are institutions now using their sites as springboards or portal to more interactive, student-friendly, web 2.0 tools, programs?
Back in the early 90's most admissions offices were buying lists of thousands of students who took SAT tests and other exams and mailing them information in the hope that a certain number of those prospects, after reviewing the glossy brochures and smiling faces of students on campus, would eventually apply, and from that group, a smaller subset would be admitted, and then an even smaller number would eventually enroll. This Admissions Funnel was the industry-standard for recruitment for US institutions.
With the rise of the internet and Tom Friedman's increasingly flat world, control over information is now in the hands of the individual. In the arena of international admissions, students in any country now have access to details and critiques about any institution in the US they would ever want to get their hands on. As a result, what universities and colleges now face are students who are first presenting themselves equipped with all the information they might need (other than whether they will get a scholarship). The admissions funnel has narrowed quite dramatically since the early 90s. In some cases upwards of 75-80% of first time international inquiries to institutions in 2008 were applications!
These "stealth" applicants are students who have done their homework and found out enough from institutional websites and other resources to really feel confident enough about whether that institution can meet their needs. Development of EducationUSA's "How to make your website internationally friendly" resource has helped institutions get a sense for what the do's and don't's are regarding what international audiences will understand. But are institutions now using their sites as springboards or portal to more interactive, student-friendly, web 2.0 tools, programs?
A combination of improved interactivity of institutional websites combined with vast array of new tools that allow prospective students to get perhaps an insider perspective. In the past only the few international students that are able to make campus visits, and perhaps stay overnight on a "shadow" experience in the residence halls could get the level of clarity and reality of what life on a particular college campus is like.
Over the next few weeks, we'll look at a few of these technologies/tools and the impact they have have on international admissions. First up next week, Facebook.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
We're So Glad You Are Here: What Do You Do Exactly?
Whenever someone takes a new position in an organization, generally one of two things can happen. Either the expectations for the new job are set very high (which is fine if you like a challenge) because there has been a great need for someone in that position, or that no one is really quite sure what this person is actually supposed to do. That's normal--but what happens when you come into a new job and you have both high expectations and no one is really sure what you do?
The good news is I love the people I'm going to be working for and I am more than happy to explain what I'll be doing. After 15 years working in international education, especially over the last 10 years with my contacts with the EducationUSA community, I really see the need for the US to have a more comprehensive, unified approach to marketing higher education options to international students. While the US has lost its share of the pie of the student market abroad -- from perhaps 35% in the 90's to about 23-24% today, coupled with down years post-9/11--the good news is that as of the 2007-08 academic year, there are more students studying in the US from overseas than at any point in US history. This positive also demonstrates that the pie of possible students studying outside their home countries continues to grow. The most recent Atlas of Student Mobility, published by the Institute of International Education, suggested that by 2025, there would be over 20 million students studying outside their country of origin (currently there are approximiately 2.5 million).
While these are certainly some positive developments, the US has lost some of its luster internationally, and competitors for these students have been backed financially by their governements to increase overseas students on their campuses. In part our competitors have an advantage in terms of funding for promotion, but more significantly they are representing a much smaller number of institutions (less than 200) which are in, by nature, much easier to organize & market. Of course, in the US one of our greatest strengths--our diversity--is also one of our curses. With the EducationUSA network, these 450 advising centers must represent 4500 accredited institutions in the US, no small task.
As I move into this job, my first task will really be establishing a baseline of knowledge of our two main constituencies: advisers & regional educational advising coordinators and the students they serve on one side, and the US higher education community. First, we need to know of the accredited institutions in the US, which universities are aware of what EducationUSA is and does, and if so, what services do they access that are provided by the centers worldwide. Second, we need to see what media prospective students around the world are using not only for university searches, but in terms of social networks, blogs, e-communities, and other technologies. With this data as a base, we can begin to develop appropriate strategies and tools necessary to reach out to institutions and students to bring them in closer cooperation with the EducationUSA network.
Obviously, there will be new marketing materials created and technologies implemented to broaden the reach of the network. We will focus on significant big picture issues, and help individual centers and institutions raise their games. As you can imagine there is much to do and a short time to do it in, relatively speaking. All I ask is your patience & support as we move the ship that is EducationUSA into the proper channels.
That's at least a quick overview of what I'll be doing and hopefully can address questions about expectations at least for the short term.
More soon--stay tuned.
The good news is I love the people I'm going to be working for and I am more than happy to explain what I'll be doing. After 15 years working in international education, especially over the last 10 years with my contacts with the EducationUSA community, I really see the need for the US to have a more comprehensive, unified approach to marketing higher education options to international students. While the US has lost its share of the pie of the student market abroad -- from perhaps 35% in the 90's to about 23-24% today, coupled with down years post-9/11--the good news is that as of the 2007-08 academic year, there are more students studying in the US from overseas than at any point in US history. This positive also demonstrates that the pie of possible students studying outside their home countries continues to grow. The most recent Atlas of Student Mobility, published by the Institute of International Education, suggested that by 2025, there would be over 20 million students studying outside their country of origin (currently there are approximiately 2.5 million).
While these are certainly some positive developments, the US has lost some of its luster internationally, and competitors for these students have been backed financially by their governements to increase overseas students on their campuses. In part our competitors have an advantage in terms of funding for promotion, but more significantly they are representing a much smaller number of institutions (less than 200) which are in, by nature, much easier to organize & market. Of course, in the US one of our greatest strengths--our diversity--is also one of our curses. With the EducationUSA network, these 450 advising centers must represent 4500 accredited institutions in the US, no small task.
As I move into this job, my first task will really be establishing a baseline of knowledge of our two main constituencies: advisers & regional educational advising coordinators and the students they serve on one side, and the US higher education community. First, we need to know of the accredited institutions in the US, which universities are aware of what EducationUSA is and does, and if so, what services do they access that are provided by the centers worldwide. Second, we need to see what media prospective students around the world are using not only for university searches, but in terms of social networks, blogs, e-communities, and other technologies. With this data as a base, we can begin to develop appropriate strategies and tools necessary to reach out to institutions and students to bring them in closer cooperation with the EducationUSA network.
Obviously, there will be new marketing materials created and technologies implemented to broaden the reach of the network. We will focus on significant big picture issues, and help individual centers and institutions raise their games. As you can imagine there is much to do and a short time to do it in, relatively speaking. All I ask is your patience & support as we move the ship that is EducationUSA into the proper channels.
That's at least a quick overview of what I'll be doing and hopefully can address questions about expectations at least for the short term.
More soon--stay tuned.
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