On Saturday I wrote about the growth of new international education export markets, including Japan, Malaysia and India.
I have just come across an interesting article about Taiwan's intention to admit Chinese students to its universities starting in 2009.
According to the article, the government of Taiwan is taking things slowly as it deals with significant domestic concern over the move.
Monday 29 December 2008
Saturday 27 December 2008
Emerging Markets: international competition hots up
The most popular study abroad destinations are US, UK, Australia, Germany and Canada. Those markets currently have the lion's share of the estimated global market of around 2 million students who choose to study abroad each year.
However competition looks set to increase with several emerging markets actively seeking to expand their market share.
Foreign students in Japan now stand at about 124,000, a significant increase on previous years. The main source markets are China, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Malaysia currently hosts approximately 63,000 foreign students and expects that number to grow to 80,000 by 2010. The main source markets are Indonesia, China and Iran.
There are about 50,000 foreign students studying in India
The international education market is predicted to grow to 3.7 million students per year by 2025. As the market grows so too it seems will the competition between the countries vying for the attention of international students.
However competition looks set to increase with several emerging markets actively seeking to expand their market share.
Foreign students in Japan now stand at about 124,000, a significant increase on previous years. The main source markets are China, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Malaysia currently hosts approximately 63,000 foreign students and expects that number to grow to 80,000 by 2010. The main source markets are Indonesia, China and Iran.
There are about 50,000 foreign students studying in India
The international education market is predicted to grow to 3.7 million students per year by 2025. As the market grows so too it seems will the competition between the countries vying for the attention of international students.
Friday 19 December 2008
Social networking - the dangers
Last week I blogged about using Twitter as a marketing tool for educational institutions. Having talked up the positives I thought I should complete the picture by discussing the risks involved in using social networking tools as part of your marketing strategy.
As discussed briefly last week, Twitter is just one of a fairly new batch of social networking web sites. Put simply these are web sites that enable people to join and connect easily with others. Unless you have been living on another planet you will have heard of some of the big players in this area, including MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.
Many businesses, including educational institutions, are now using these social networking tools as part of their marketing strategy. It can work very well if done properly.
One of the emerging risks in this area is a form of web based identity theft. There are increasing instances of educational institutions having their brand used on social networking sites without permission. Corporate branding is used to establish official looking user groups and sub communities, often with a commercial gain in mind.
A recent post on squaredpeg.com provides alarming details of highly organised misuse of college/univeristy intellectual property (i.e logos) to establish "Class of 2013" groups on Facebook. It makes for interesting reading and tracks the unfolding discovery of the extent of the scheme. Many of the groups alrady had hundreds of unsuspecting students as members. Presumably many of them thought that they had joined an "official group" started and/ir moderated by the institution in question. At last count over 200 colleges in the US had been affected.
This type of behvaiour is akin to identiy theft. And the real concern for institutions is the loss of control of their corporate identity and the very high reputational risk that comes from having that identity hijacked by an outsider.
I guess the moral of this story is that institutions need to be aware of how their brand is being used in cyberspace. Even if you don't use social networking tools as part of your marketing strategy it is very important to have a sense of the presence your school has on the web. The cost of doing nothing could be very high.
As discussed briefly last week, Twitter is just one of a fairly new batch of social networking web sites. Put simply these are web sites that enable people to join and connect easily with others. Unless you have been living on another planet you will have heard of some of the big players in this area, including MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.
Many businesses, including educational institutions, are now using these social networking tools as part of their marketing strategy. It can work very well if done properly.
One of the emerging risks in this area is a form of web based identity theft. There are increasing instances of educational institutions having their brand used on social networking sites without permission. Corporate branding is used to establish official looking user groups and sub communities, often with a commercial gain in mind.
A recent post on squaredpeg.com provides alarming details of highly organised misuse of college/univeristy intellectual property (i.e logos) to establish "Class of 2013" groups on Facebook. It makes for interesting reading and tracks the unfolding discovery of the extent of the scheme. Many of the groups alrady had hundreds of unsuspecting students as members. Presumably many of them thought that they had joined an "official group" started and/ir moderated by the institution in question. At last count over 200 colleges in the US had been affected.
This type of behvaiour is akin to identiy theft. And the real concern for institutions is the loss of control of their corporate identity and the very high reputational risk that comes from having that identity hijacked by an outsider.
I guess the moral of this story is that institutions need to be aware of how their brand is being used in cyberspace. Even if you don't use social networking tools as part of your marketing strategy it is very important to have a sense of the presence your school has on the web. The cost of doing nothing could be very high.
Saturday 13 December 2008
Twitter for marketing
Some of you reading the title of this post may be wondering what we are on about.
Twitter is one of the multitude of social networking sites that have become so popular in recent years. It basically enables users to provide updates on what they are doing in 140 characters or less.
Importantly it is popular - very popular.
So what? Well, Twitter offers a lot of opportunities for institutions who want to attract and enrol international students. With a bit of imagination you can build a network your institution and course offerings.
Best of all it should not take too much time. A few well planned minutes during the week could yield great results.
There are already lots of educational institutions using Twitter as a marketing tool. You can get a sense of how they are using it by visiting the Twitter brand index and clicking through the Twitter profile of the institutions listed.
Ok, so how could you use it? There is a great blog post on this over at .edu guru which I highly recommend that you read. A couple of the ideas suggested there are:
- special offers only available on Twitter
- a campus tip of the day
News and updates are obvious candidates for inclusion, but it is important not to be too dry. Twitter works best when you engage with your audience.
If you want to give Twitter a go it is simply a matter of going to the Twitter home page and signing up for an account. It is free.
Oh, and if you want to link up when you get there, here's our profile
Twitter is one of the multitude of social networking sites that have become so popular in recent years. It basically enables users to provide updates on what they are doing in 140 characters or less.
Importantly it is popular - very popular.
So what? Well, Twitter offers a lot of opportunities for institutions who want to attract and enrol international students. With a bit of imagination you can build a network your institution and course offerings.
Best of all it should not take too much time. A few well planned minutes during the week could yield great results.
There are already lots of educational institutions using Twitter as a marketing tool. You can get a sense of how they are using it by visiting the Twitter brand index and clicking through the Twitter profile of the institutions listed.
Ok, so how could you use it? There is a great blog post on this over at .edu guru which I highly recommend that you read. A couple of the ideas suggested there are:
- special offers only available on Twitter
- a campus tip of the day
News and updates are obvious candidates for inclusion, but it is important not to be too dry. Twitter works best when you engage with your audience.
If you want to give Twitter a go it is simply a matter of going to the Twitter home page and signing up for an account. It is free.
Oh, and if you want to link up when you get there, here's our profile
Thursday 11 December 2008
Australia: Cookery and Hairdressing courses to get the chop
It is widely expected that the Australian Government will soon remove hairdressing and cookery courses from the list of employment skills in short supply in Australia.
If it happens, vocational colleges specialising in hair dresssing and cookery courses are likley to feel the pinch.
Currently international students who complete courses in hairdressing and cookery are entitled to extra migration points for applications for permanent residency in Australia because the two trades are on the Migration Occupations in Demand List
The Australian Council for Private Education and Training, has reportedly lobbied the Australian Government on this issue, and has called for appropriate transitional arrangements for students and colleges. The current economic environment is ACPET's favour. The Government is unlikely to want to make decisions which result in job losses - at least not for the moment.
Students and academics oppose Big Brother
The BBC today reported that academics and foreign students have together presented a petition containing 4,500 signatures to Downing Street in opposition to new laws that will require universities to monitor the attendance of foreign students at tutorials. See full story
According to the BBC many academics have complained they are being asked to "spy" on students in a quasi immigration officer role.
It is understandable that there is concern about these new measures, but the content of the laws is hardly surprising. The current student visa system appears to be very open to abuse and it was really only a matter of time before the UK Government responded with stronger regulation. As a matter of interest the BBC also reported today on an extensive student visa scam that had been operating quite openly for some time - see full story.)
The UK Government is not breaking new ground here. Australia has had laws regulating the provision of education to international students in place for several years. A National Code of Practice introduced in 2007 places strict quality controls on institutions.
Certainly there is a compliance burden and cost to be met by UK institutions, but they are also benefiting handsomely from the international students that they enrol.
Regulation like this is not all down side for educational institutions. A robust regulatory regime which improves the quality of the provision of education to international students can do a lot to improve the perception and reputation of a given market. The US, UK, and Australia remain the key competitors for international students, but many more players are gaining ground. In this internationally competitive market laws which improve the international education services that the UK provides may deliver long terms gains that outweigh the short term pain that they inflict.
According to the BBC many academics have complained they are being asked to "spy" on students in a quasi immigration officer role.
It is understandable that there is concern about these new measures, but the content of the laws is hardly surprising. The current student visa system appears to be very open to abuse and it was really only a matter of time before the UK Government responded with stronger regulation. As a matter of interest the BBC also reported today on an extensive student visa scam that had been operating quite openly for some time - see full story.)
The UK Government is not breaking new ground here. Australia has had laws regulating the provision of education to international students in place for several years. A National Code of Practice introduced in 2007 places strict quality controls on institutions.
Certainly there is a compliance burden and cost to be met by UK institutions, but they are also benefiting handsomely from the international students that they enrol.
Regulation like this is not all down side for educational institutions. A robust regulatory regime which improves the quality of the provision of education to international students can do a lot to improve the perception and reputation of a given market. The US, UK, and Australia remain the key competitors for international students, but many more players are gaining ground. In this internationally competitive market laws which improve the international education services that the UK provides may deliver long terms gains that outweigh the short term pain that they inflict.
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