International Student Recruitment: Trick, or Treat?

Let’s face it – international student recruitment can be a scary prospect. Institutions can make strategic
partnerships and create a well-developed recruitment plan, but literally anything unexpected in the world can negatively (or positively!) affect your recruitment efforts. As higher ed institutions continue to look towards international student recruitment to help stave off or balance a potential enrollment cliff in the near future, forging a meaningful path forward to maximize international student recruitment numbers is becoming more and more important. Couple that with the “FAFSA Fiasco” that occurred for 24FA domestic recruitment (and general uncertainty of the lasting damage it might have done to the perceived value and need for a college degree as students postponed or made alternate decisions) and international student recruitment becomes even more essential.

While international numbers have been on the rise again since COVID, this has not been without a share of “tricks.” Many institutions have relied on Indian student recruitment due to global trends, but F-1 student visa denials from India (and other countries) unexpectedly increased for 24FA, causing many institutions to miss their international student recruitment numbers. Combined with other country trends for initial transfer out students from key countries, uncertainty around the upcoming election and how that can affect international student recruitment (internally for visa issuance and externally for student/family desire to obtain an F-1 visa for the US), and existing financial difficulties for many international students, and it would appear that international student recruitment could be a risky proposition. However, careful data review, reflection, and strategic planning can help you have the best path forward for your own institution’s international student recruitment.

The “treat” from the data? Despite the high amount of visa denials data shows international student recruitment numbers are up! The following data is from Study in the States, SEVIS by the Numbers Report (Read the 2023 SEVIS by the Numbers Report. Study in the States. (2024, May 22).
https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/2024/05/read-the-2023-sevis-by-the-numbers-report):

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• All four regions in the United States saw an increase in international student records from 2022 to 2023, with respective increases ranging from 5.7 to 13.4 percent.
• In calendar year 2023, 7,417 SEVP-certified schools were eligible to enroll international students, a decrease of 266 schools from 2022 (7,683 schools).
• The number of international students enrolled at kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) schools increased 1.9 percent from 2022 to 2023 (+1,041).
• The number of students from India and China made Asia the most popular continent oforigin. India sent 27.1 percent more students compared to 2022 (+80,469). Reversingthe trend from 2021 and 2022, China sent 1.9 percent more students in 2023 (+6,169).
• There were 160,627 pre- and post-completion optional practical training (OPT) students with both an employment authorization document (EAD) and who reported working for an employer in calendar year 2023, compared to 117,301 in calendar year 2022 —a 36.9 percent increase.
• In 2023, California hosted 237,594 international students, the largest percentage of international students (15.8%) of any U.S. state.
• There were a total of 122,101 international students participating in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) OPT in 2023. Most students participating in STEM OPT were from India (39.1%) or China (23.7%).

And the following data, which tracks with Study in the States, is from IIE Open Doors, “Enrollment
Trends” (Enrollment Trends. IIE Open Doors. (2023, November 13).
https://opendoorsdata.org/data/international-students/enrollment-trends/)

Past international student recruitment numbers being up on the whole, reviewing the data suggests a
few opportunities schools can and should look into:

1. Less SEVP-certified schools

• It’s hard to that reason for this without closer inspection – are more schools losing their SEVP-certification, schools shutting down, or less schools seeking SEVP-certification? The answer certainly holds other implications for another article. However, for the purpose of this article this means more international students to go around to less SEVP-certified schools. On its face, this would suggest a potential for higher recruitment, whether through initial admits or transfer students, for the remaining SEVP-certified schools. The key is to find the best strategies to tap into this.

2. Recruitment from US high schools

• This seems to be an overlooked option in recruitment plans. International student recruitment from US high schools tends to be happenstance rather than intentional, which is perhaps due to the uncertainty of where the students are and how to reach them. However, with an increase of international students in US high schools this is definitely something to look into, whether it’s through private school outreach, tabling with your Admission teams, or providing more international student recruitment materials to local high schools, it could only benefit your institution to seek ways to tap into this population.

3. Diversification of recruitment

• This isn’t necessarily something extrapolated from the data, but with uncertainty around visa issuance, initial transfers, financial ability, and world events it should be best practice to diversify your recruitment efforts. Don’t rely on student recruitment from one country; look into beefing up both all academic levels for recruitment numbers; consider new academic programs to seek certification and availability to international students. Diversifying your recruitment efforts will provide you with sustainable recruitment and the ability to seize on opportunities.

4. STEM programs

• This is nothing new for international student recruitment, but a reminder – STEM programs carry more market value for all recruitment. Key countries are primarily interested in STEM programs thanks to the STEM OPT extension students can benefit from, and all the possibilities that presents. How can you redevelop existing programs (MBA?) or new programs to be STEM?

5. Retention efforts

• With the fluctuation of enrollment due to all sorts of pre-discussed external factors (and some internal), retention must be a focus of your institution. How are you supporting your international students? What services are you offering or collaborations are you engaging in to provide a more holistic experience and network of support towards success? Past that, are you recruiting students and populations that can be retained, or when there are known issues how are you being proactive to create support systems and processes to aid in retention of those students and populations? Simply put – you must be retention agents of your institution and part of retention efforts to survive.

International student recruitment, and recruitment in general, is an ever-changing, fluctuating landscape with many factors that an institution cannot control. However, data and trends suggest a continued increase in international student interest and recruitment numbers, so staying on top of trends and strategic planning for the future can help your institution recruit and retain the maximum number of students, helping you weather any recruitment storm. If you haven’t already, start these discussions on your campus, make the necessary partnerships, and seize on collaboration opportunities to best position your office and your institution for international student recruitment now and into the future. With the right planning and actions, you can truly navigate any “tricks” in the recruitment landscape to continue to produce “treats” for your campus.

Tony Marotta

Tony Marotta, Director of Global Engagement/PDSO @ Elmhurst University & Vice President of
International Educator of Illinois