The Landscape for International Undergraduate Recruitment at UBC

Karen McKellinInternational Student Initiative

April 27, 2015

International Student Initiative• Established by Board of Governors in 1996

• Recruits full-fee paying international undergraduates

• Serves faculties at UBC V, UBC O; reports to the Provost each campus

• Supports recruitment for Vantage, other entry/bridging programs, visiting and sponsored students

• Works closely with the faculties and undergraduate admissions on strategic setting of international targets commensurate with capacity, admission standards, budgetary considerations, and market considerations

• Manages international student financial assistance funding to strategically support recruitment and retention

ISI’s recruitment infrastructure• Recruitment teams based on both campuses• Teams aligned for regional focus under a Director

• Asia & Europe (A & E) • Americas, Middle East, & Africa (AMEA)

• Established relationships with broad network of international feeder schools• eRecruitment (on-line webinars, chats) the new frontier • On-campus recruitment: student/counselor fam tours, weekly campus tours• Remote recruiters:

• Asia Pacific Regional Office (1.8 fte); India; the UK; United Arab Emirates; • Kenya and Indonesia (planned)

• Dedicated marketing and communications unit; you.ubc.ca site attracts 3 M unique visitors/year; active on all major social media channels.

• New strategic partnerships capability – sponsors and third-party recruitment agents

Scale – find

enough students to meet each faculty’s annual international

enrolment targets

Diversity –

find students from a variety of source

countries; find students for our

international needs-based

scholars program

Quality –

find students who can meet program

admission requirements and English language

admission standard

Three international undergraduate recruitment goals

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1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015Projected

UBC Vancouver international enrolment in undergraduate degree programs 2008-2015 (head count)

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Projected

UBC Okanagan international enrolment in undergraduate degree programs 2008 to 2015 (head count)

Comparison with Canadian peers Winter 2014

UBC Toronto McGill

International undergraduates (all -degree + non-degree) 8,506 10,276 5,882

Total undergraduates 49,034 67,926 21,153

International as % of total undergrads 17% 15% 22%

Top five source countries

1 China 2,786 China 5,379 USA 1,741

2 USA 865 S Korea 583 France 1,330

3 S Korea 456 India 390 China 797

4 Japan 325 USA 281 S Korea 173

5 India 266Hong Kong (China SAR) 271 Pakistan 168

Institution Total Int'l StudentsUniversity of Toronto 12,607

University of British Columbia 11,965

New York University 11,164

University of Southern California 10,932

University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign 10,843

Columbia University 10,486

Purdue University - Main Campus 9,988

University of California - Los Angeles 9,579

McGill University 9,531

Northeastern University 9,078

Arizona State University 8,683

Michigan State University 7,704

University of Washington 7,469

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor 7,273

Boston University 7,143

Penn State University - University Park 7,024

Ohio State University - Main Campus 6,800

Indiana University - Bloomington 6,661

TOP N. AMERICA DOCTORATE-GRANTING UNIVERSITIES HOSTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS, 2013/14

• International education a growth industry• 4.5 million students on the move in 2013/14 – growth will be sustained until 2024• China – currently #1 source of students worldwide but growth is slowing• India – steady growth; poised to overtake China by 2024

• Hyper competitive• US, UK, Australia, Germany, Canada, and now China vying to grow their market share• General perception that US and UK offer higher quality of education than Canada

• World economy improving • Recovery from recession – set back by falling oil prices • US jobs growth• Canadian dollar down – a boon for Canadian exports

• Political factors• Lingering turmoil in Middle East• US presidential elections• Changing Canadian student visa policies

Global economic, political and demographic push-pull factors

Competitive advantages and disadvantagesUBC advantages

• Faculty-driven strategic international enrolment management

• Bulk of international tuitions flow back to the faculties

• Largest pool of dedicated financial assistance funds in Canada and one of three Canadian partners for MasterCard Foundation Scholarships

• Canadian student visa policies and right to work 3 years post-graduation

• Experienced and focused international recruitment team and worldwide network of feeder schools

• Commitment to provision of international student services (eg., JumpStart)

Challenges

• UBC moving to benchmarked tuition fees –will no longer have a price advantage

• Maintaining quality in order to maintain ranking and brand

• Maintaining diversity; risk of too great dependence on one or two source countries

• Changing Canadian immigration rules less friendly to international students who may want to stay in Canada

• Proliferation of programs geared to an international consumer– marketing and recruitment can become balkanized

• No systematic tracking of international student outcomes post-graduation and systematic cultivation of loyal alumni