International Education Marketing and Recruitment: Sharing the UK Experience

1
International Education Marketing and
Recruitment Sharing the UK Experience

• Suzanne AlexanderDirector, International Office
• Conference for International Administration of
  Finnish Universities and PolytechnicsJyväskylä,
  11 May 2005

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Outline

• Context the UK higher education sector
  characteristics and funding
• The UKs approach to international student
  marketing and recruitment- Incentives- A
  marketing culture?- Strategy issues,
  opportunities, options- Organisational and
  structural issues- Financial issues and
  investment decisions
• The international environment
• Global trends in student mobility
• Understanding student decision-making

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UK Higher Education (HE)

• 111 UK Universities 60 Higher Education
  Colleges
• Ancient Cambridge, Oxford (12th/13th centuries)
  in Scotland St Andrew, Aberdeen, Glasgow (15th
  century)
• Redbrick/Civic (19th Century) Birmingham,
  Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester
• Campus (pre-1960s) Nottingham,
  Exeter (1960s) Sussex, Warwick, York, Kent
• New (1990s) Coventry, Oxford Brookes,
  Westminster
• Federal universities London, Wales
• Only one private university Buckingham

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Characteristics of UK Universities

• Diversity size mission subject mix history
• Independent, self-governing institutions
• Empowered (by Royal Charter or Act of Parliament)
  to create programmes of study and award degrees
• Academic standards maintained by external
  examiner system and Quality Assurance Agency for
  Higher Education (QAA)

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Funding of UK HE

• Allocation of state funding to universities is
  determined by the Funding Councils in England,
  Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
• State funding through the Funding Councils since
  early 1980s this accounts for a diminishing
  proportion of total funding
• Universities must seek other income- Research
  grants and contracts- Fee-paying
  students- Fee-earning courses- Commercial
  activities- Fund-raising

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The UKs approach to international student
marketing and recruitment

• The importance of incentives
• A marketing culture?
• Marketing strategy and strategic choices
• Organisational and structural issues
• Financial issues and investment decisions

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Incentives for international student recruitment

• The policies of the Thatcher government- reduced
  government funding for Higher Education from
  1981 onwards- introduction of full-cost fees
  for international students (no subsidies from UK
  taxpayers)
• The value of an international profile and
  reputation
• Enrichment of the UK academic community
• Adding an international perspective
• Potential friends and future ambassadors for the
  UK
• Economic value to HE - and to the UK

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A marketing culture?

• Competition between universities for the best
  students
• The increasing importance of league tables and
  rankings
• A proactive approach to student recruitment for
  domestic students (schools liaison service Open
  Days)
• Higher Education and careers fairs throughout the
  UK
• Increased awareness of the need for customer
  focus

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International marketing strategy issues,
opportunities and options

• What do you want from your international
  marketing strategy?- International
  students- International profile- International
  collaboration, exchange and links
• What is your institutional capacity and
  capability?- Study programmes offered- Resources
  /services/facilities

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Strategic choices

• Student recruitment- Domestic (on-campus)
  programmes- Twinning/franchising/validation- Loc
  al (offshore) delivery- Distance learning
• Marketing strategies- direct recruitment- partn
  ers/agents/representatives
• New initiatives and programme development

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Organisational and structural issues

• Roles and responsibilities- Senior
  management- Academic staff- Administrative
  staff- Professional international marketing
  staff - Service support staff
• Central or devolved?- University-led- Academic
  departments
• Integration- Stand-alone international
  marketing - Combined admissions, marketing,
  recruitment, welfare and support
  services, international collaboration, etc

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What does an International Office do?

• International student marketing and recruitment
• First point of contact for individuals and
  outside organisations interested in international
  education
• Close monitoring of application processing,
  advising on qualifications and equivalence
• Negotiation/monitoring of university-wide
  institutional links
• Information on the university's international
  activities
• Marketing and support for student exchange
  programmes
• International student welfare and support
• Market intelligence/research for international
  opportunities
• Liaison with providers of pre-university studies
  (language preparation, academic bridging
  courses).
• Management of international projects
• International alumni support

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Financial considerations

• Public funds may not be used for international
  student marketing and support activities
• Universities are free to determine the fees
  charged to international students (these differ
  widely according to universities, subject studied
  and degree level)
• No Government limits on international student
  numbers NB domestic (UK/EU) student numbers are
  Government controlled at undergraduate level
• The Government cannot take into account income
  generated from international students when
  allocating public funding to universities
• Universities have considerable freedom in the use
  of income generated from internationalstudent
  fees

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Investing in International Education Marketing

• Internal resources staffing, infrastructure,
  support services, facilitiesAdvantages
  developing and building internal
  capacityDisadvantages significant investment
  required experience/knowledge needs to be
  developed results can take time
• Outsourcing agents, representatives, external
  agencies
• Advantages lower level of up-front investment
  required payment by resultsDisadvantages
  does not develop in-house expertise managing
  relationships can take up large amounts of
  staff time
• Partnerships consortium arrangements with other
  institutions, British Council Education UK
  Partnership membership organisation
• Advantages sharing experience/learning from
  others sharing costsDisadvantages less focus
  on needs of individual university

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Choices

• Many higher education institutions will invest in
  all of these (internal resources, outsourcing and
  partnerships)
• They may choose different strategies and
  approaches for different markets
• They will review their strategies over time

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The international environmentcontext and
implications

• Growing global demand for study opportunities
• A climate of uncertainty economic, political,
  etc
• Increasingly competitive environment
• The power and influence of information and
  communications technologies (ICT)
• So much choice!

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Growth in global demand

• Global demand set to grow enormously forecast to
  grow from 1.8m international students in HE in
  2000 to 7.2 million in 2025
• Asia will dominate (estimated 70 of global
  demand, with China and India generating more than
  50)
• Significant growth in offshore delivery
  predicted
• Consequences and implications?
• Source IDP Education Australia, September
  2002

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Global higher education student mobility host
and source countries

• Host countries
• USA 547092
• UK 222576
• Germany 185179
• France 134783
• Australia 69668
• Japan 59656
• Spain 40506
• Belgium 37789
• Canada 34536
• Austria 30064
• Finland 6616
• Data relates to 2000-01
• Source Atlas of Student Mobility, IIE, 2003
• Data relates to 2003 Source CIMO

• Source countries
• China 120486 (2.9)
• Korea 76790 (4.3)
• India 66587 (1.2)
• Japan 61637 (2.2)
• Greece 52845 (26.2)
• Germany 52472 (2.5)
• France 50896 (2.9)
• Turkey 42690 (5.0)
• Morocco 41296 (14.4)
• USA 31542 (0.2)
• UK 21966 (1.7)
• Finland 9238 (5.4)

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Top source countries for international HE
students 2003

• UK US Finland
• China 35740 India 74605 Germany 1081
• Greece 26465 China 64755 France 784
• USA 18940 Korea 51520 Spain 552
• Germany 15245 Japan 45960 Italy 386
• France 14850 Taiwan 28015 Poland 340
• Ireland 13790 Canada 26515 Netherlands 289
• India 12775 Mexico 12800 UK 277
• Malaysia 11970 Turkey 11600 Russia 265
• Hong Kong 10280 Indonesia 10430 Hungary 243
• Spain 8880 Thailand 9980 USA 137
• Italy 7065 Germany 9300 China 89
• Japan 6875 Brazil 8390 Canada 79
• Taiwan 5555 UK 8325 Japan 62
• Nigeria 4680 Pakistan 8125 Mexico 56

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Education as a global businessthe competitive
environment

• The MESDCs US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand
• The Europeans Germany, France, Netherlands ..
• The Asians Singapore, Malaysia, Japan ...
• Staying at home domestic options
• The virtual campus

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International student trends
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In Americas InterestWelcoming International
Students

• The US position as the leading destination for
  international students has been eroding for years
  in the absence of a comprehensive national
  strategy for promoting international student
  access to US higher education.
• Four barriers identified- Comprehensive
  recruitment strategy (co-ordination of
  national agencies)- Removing burdensome visa
  and student-tracking regulations- Addressing
  cost issues- Addressing complexity with a
  marketing plan
• The problem lies not in the internationally
  popular product, nor in the highly motivated
  customer, but rather in market imperfections that
  keep the two from finding each other.
• Report of the Strategic Task Force on
  International Student Access
• (January 2003)

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Australia Engaging the world through Education

• Ministerial statement (October 2003)
  announcesAUS113million investment to support
  the international education sector over the next
  four years
• Growing and diversifying engagement including
  better information on access/admission modifying
  visa processes more offshore delivery
  scholarships exchanges
• Ensuring quality and integrity quality assurance
  to be strengthened, both for offshore and onshore
  delivery accreditation and benchmarking
• Raising Australias profile a concerted
  national effort will lift Australias profile -
  the Study in Australia brand
• Working together partnership between
  co-ordinated government and the education sector

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Australia
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Germany
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Singapore
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International approaches shared characteristics
and objectives

• Recognition of the importance of international
  students for economic, trade, cultural and
  political reasons
• Increasing international student numbers
• A co-ordinated, national approach
• Investment to attract international students
  from branded marketing campaigns and exhibitions
  to scholarships, quality assurance and
  accessibility eg visa processes

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International student decision-making reasons
for studying overseas
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International student decision-making reasons
for choosing the UK
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What about the UK?

• Wherever I travel, I meet international leaders
  who have studied in Britain. Dynamic, intelligent
  people who chose Britain because we offer high
  quality further and higher education. This is
  good news for the UK.
• People who are educated here have a lasting tie
  to our country. They promote Britain around the
  world, helping our trade and our diplomacy ...
  Today we are launching a long-term strategy to
  reinforce the United Kingdom as a first choice
  for the quality of study and the quality of our
  welcome to international students.
• Tony Blair, January 1999

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The Prime Ministers Initiative (PMI)
initiatives and targets

• We will offer to international students a new
  welcomeand more open doors
• An increase in international student numbers from
  1996-97 to 2004-05 of- 50,000 in Higher
  Education- 25,000 in Further Education
• Improvements in visa processing (efficiency
  anduser-friendliness)
• Increase in Chevening scholarships
• Relaxation of employment legislation students
  right to work

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Impact and benefits

• Greater awareness and improved perceptions of UK
  education among 20 million young professionals in
  30 countries
• Improved market intelligence and knowledge
  resource
• Diversification of products and markets
• Significant increases in the number of
  international students
• Generating 10 billion to the UK economy

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Beyond 2004/05 learning from the PMI

• Investment and resources
• Appropriate objectives and targets
• Maintaining momentum and drive
• Collaborative, joined-up approach
• Professional updating and development
• Importance of the student experience
• NB no successor strategy to the PMI has yet been
  agreed

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For discussion key issues forFinnish Higher
Education

• A national approach to international education
  marketing?
• Objectives and targets?
• Funding and resources?
• And??

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Some useful references

• HERO Higher Education and Research Opportunities
  in the UK (www.hero.ac.uk)
• Universities UK (www.universitiesuk.ac.uk)
• HEFCE Higher Education Funding Council for
  England (www.hefce.ac.uk)
• HESA Higher Education Statistics Agency
  (www.hesa.ac.uk)
• UCAS Universities and Colleges Admissions
  Service (www.ucas.ac.uk)
• Postgraduate study/careers (www.prospects.ac.uk)
• Education UK Partnership (www.britishcouncil.org/e
  cs/partnership/)
• Education UK (www.educationuk.org)
• IDP Australia www.idp.com/
• Study in Germany www.campus-germany.de
• Study in Singapore www.singaporeedu.gov.sg