The Australian government’s suggested plans to play nicely with post-secondary institutions could set a higher standard for the entire world of international student recruitment, according to a recent report from one of the world’s largest recruitment firms.
On Tuesday this week, ApplyBoard issued its annual projections for the international education sector, titled “Top Trends in International Education for 2024 and beyond.” With English-speaking countries meeting significant enrolment targets, more focus is being put on the quality of the student experience and diversity of students. The report indicates if institutions are to have the seats and beds needed to support more diversity, coordination among institutes and governments, such as the “Team Australia” proposed by the Australian government, is the best way forward.
“This wide-scale sector alignment hopes to spur investments in new markets, clear pathways to hiring international students, integrate more work placements and remove impediments to purpose-built student accommodation placements,” the report reads. “Destination markets that have multiple stakeholders working strategically together will be the ones to raise the standard of the sector.”
Student visa applications were up at least 23% in each of the major English-speaking destination countries in 2022 and it appears that the growth is continuing into 2023. Australia had nearly 300,000 applicants by the end of September, on pace to eclipse the 321,000 student visa applications issued in 2022. Canada and the United States are also trending for significant growth in 2023 and ApplyBoard is expecting significant growth in each of the three markets in 2024 (though a return of Donald Trump could cool American numbers). The United Kingdom is the one English-speaking market that seems to have flatlined. Surging demand for non-English speaking markets in Germany, China, South Korea and Taiwan is anticipated to continue and will fuel even more global student movement. Germany specifically got a fair bit of ink for hosting a record 365,000 students in 2022 and measuring second for student satisfaction.
Everywhere across the globe, demand for health programming seems to be on the upswing. With rapidly aging populations in most Western nations, nearly a quarter of respondents to ApplyBoard’s Student Pulse survey indicated they now have an interest in health-related programs.
While Australian plans to align strategic messaging and intake goals are suggested as a great step forward, Australian efforts in Africa were painted less positively.
Africa overall, and Nigeria specifically, is predicted to be a global hot spot for student interest. The United States, United Kingdom and Canada have seen significant growth in successful Nigerian student recruitment. For instance, Canada is expected to issue 35,000 visas in 2023. However, Australia is seriously lagging behind and is only expected to issue 1,200 visas to Nigerian students in 2023. According to ApplyBoard, Africa overall is a fantastic opportunity for Australian recruiters going forward.
“If Australia were to grow its number of African students to match its global inflow percentage, it would welcome an additional 100,000 students by 2030 from Africa.”
