Marketing EducationUSA

EducationUSA and the Social Media Wave Roll On

2012-01-19T05:47:00.000-05:00

Back in early 2009, EducationUSA launched four main social media channels focusing on global audiences: our global Facebook page, two Twitter feeds (one for students @EdUSAupdates, one for the U.S. higher education community @EdUSAtips), and our YouTube Channel. We always knew YouTube would be popular, but Facebook really surprised us.

Every six months, one of the folks I follow on things social media, Nick Burcher, out of the UK, puts together a top 30 list of countries on Facebook. His most recent effort for year ending December 2011, reveals where the growth of Facebook has been and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. Interestingly, both India and Indonesia have past the UK into 3rd and 2nd place worldwide respectively.

In my role as Outreach Coordinator for EducationUSA, as a service to the U.S. higher education community, I go a bit deeper with these Facebook users to get at the actual numbers in each of these top 30 countries (excluding the U.S.) that are in the college age demographic (16-25 yrs. old). This report reveals how dramatic the difference is in more mature vs. newer Facebook markets with regards to the percentages of users who could be looking at U.S. higher education as an option.

Recently, a Mashable.com article shared how significantly the U.S. State Department has adopted social media as an essential public diplomacy tool. I can happily report that in the last three years, our network of EducationUSA Advising Centers have truly adopted social media as a core part of their work. I encourage my higher ed colleagues in the States looking to connect with our centers via social media to review our 2012 EducationUSA Global Social Media Presence report with links to all the available centers' pages, groups, & profiles on Facebook, YouTube Channels, and Twitter feeds. The highlights include:

Facebook

127 Pages/201,813 fans/likes (plus our global fan page that has 30,000 additional fans)
9 Groups/10,151 members
27 Profiles/8672 friends

YouTube

10 Channels/141,993 video views (plus our global channel that has received 108,000 video views)

Twitter

71 Feeds/83995 followers (plus our two global feeds with nearly 6000 additional followers)

Get connected, stay involved!

Introduction to EducationUSA's "Your 5 Steps to U.S. Study"

2012-01-06T07:32:00.000-05:00

As visitors to our EducationUSA website will have noticed, particularly the "For International Students" section, we have rolled out for the first time a comprehensive guide to U.S. study options for international students. Called "Your 5 Steps to U.S. Study" we sought to simplify the oftentimes confusing process to it's essential elements, hence our 5 steps approach.

The feedback received so far has given us renewed faith that we are on to something special here. In the months ahead we'll be launching stand-alone versions of that 5 Steps web content as well as an exciting new 3D EducationUSA Virtual Advising Experience that will be distributed through our advising center network hopefully on CDs/DVDs & flash drives as part of their ongoing outreach efforts to broaden the scope of potential students who might have previously seen study in the U.S. as only a far off dream. And here's a teaser for you all, sometime in February, we'll be launching our first Facebook app based on this upcoming 3D version of "Your 5 Steps."

The above video is meant to capture some of that initial excitement about study in the U.S. and direct students to our EducationUSA site to begin their journey. We welcome your feedback and comments.

EducationUSA's Your Five Steps to U.S. Study

2011-10-18T12:54:00.001-04:00

To my colleagues at U.S. institutions, a quick question: What is the most common answer you give to prospective international students when trying to explain how admissions decisions are made at colleges in the States? It depends.

Certainly, our EducationUSA Advisers around the world use those same words with students in their centers, much to the chagrin of all involved. But what other way can you explain the admission process at 4900+ accredited institutions of all shapes, sizes, locations that don't have a centralized ministry of education to oversee their work?

To begin to answer these questions for international students looking at the United States for their higher education needs, we set out at EducationUSA, much like we try to do with our social media presence, to present the various steps to U.S. study in manageable, bite-size chunks of information. We also recognized the need to broaden the reach of the great work our advisers do in their centers and on their outreach efforts in-country to a platform with a global audience.

To that end we launched this month a revamped student section to our EducationUSA website. We start by asking the first question: What do you want to study? With possible answers being: Undergraduate, Graduate, English Language, & Short-term Programs.

Once within their selected module, we clearly break down the process for students into Five Steps:

Research Your Options
Complete Your Application
Finance Your Studies
Apply for Your Student Visa
Prepare for Your Departure

For U.S. international admissions representatives, these may seem like obvious steps, but the reality is for most students and families abroad, there is simply too much information and too many differences for most to get their heads around the complexity of the process. Within each step, we provide students the opportunity to see the recommended timeline for how far in advance of the start of their studies they should be.

As student progress through the steps, we provide Glossary, a Did You Know? FAQ section, related Links, and a Documents section to help supplement what they are viewing on screen.

But perhaps the most significant new tool we've launched as part of this initiative is our Define Your Priorities self-assessment.

This comprehensive tool (a different version for each of the four main categories: undergrad, grad, English language & short-term programs) is designed to help students put pen to paper, so to speak, as to what is important to them in their decision to study in the U.S. We want students (and parents) to really think through these questions BEFORE jumping to their search for colleges and universities. These questions we ask will help prepare students throughout the research phase but even in preparation for their eventual visa interview at the U.S. consulate or embassy.

Anyone who has recruited internationally for more than a minute knows that the tendency for students and parents is to start with schools they know, then the "ranked" institutions, and then maybe a broader starting point of possible options. While those factors will remain important, to really help students find the college or university that is the "right fit" we needed to develop a tool that at least asks the questions that can truly help refine a student's criteria for choosing a school before they jump in to using the various college search engines and other available resources.

We encourage you to share this new site with your prospective students, and to include EducationUSA as part of your overall international recruitment plans.

How Social Media Saved My Niece From Sponge Bob

2011-09-30T12:50:00.001-04:00

In recent memory, there have been several shows in the children's television milieu that have been very disturbing to me, Barney & the Teletubbies come to mind. Thankfully, our first child didn't come along until after these fads had passed out of popular consciousness. But my nine-year old niece, Rachel, had her sights set on convincing my now 18-month old son, Charlie, about the inherent value of Sponge Bob Square Pants. Somebody had to put a stop to this madness!

While you're thinking how on earth can you tie social media & Mr. SquarePants together, rest assured I'll get there. About two weeks ago, while on my commuter bus ride home, I read a story on one of my news apps on my iPhone about a study that proclaimed Watching Sponge Bob is Bad For Kids. This was the evidence I needed to make my move. That night, I posted the following on Facebook, and see how the conversation unfolded:

Obviously, my last comment was only half serious. But a short two weeks later my sister-in-law confided that after she shared my post with my niece, and the accompanying news story about the effects of SBSP on kids, Rachel decided to give up on SpongeBob. Why? As a nine-year old, she is beginning to come to grips with herself as a student, and is incredibly self-aware. She stepped back to think about some issues she was having in school, thought about what the study was saying about attention issues, and realized that she did not need to watch SpongeBob any more. What a relief! My son is safe, at least for the moment. So what does this all mean? Other than Rachel having to get rid of a lot of SBSP clothing and toys (Christmas is coming, I hear her saying), I must say I'm very proud of her for making such a life-altering decision.

Moreover, this interaction demonstrates how social media can influence your intended audiences. As admissions reps know, guidance counselors and advisers say how important it is to have the "experts" speak to their students when we visit their schools and centers. In the end, we reinforce the messages that counselors/advisers have been hammering home for months, but, for whatever reason, our message has a greater impact because we're the "experts."

In social media land, while I firmly believe there are very few true experts, and even fewer (if any, myself included) who are successfully using social media in international education, our goal is to achieve the same things we have done in print, in person, and email recruiting in the past, but with different, yet more immediately impactful tools.

Other than this blog forum, I encourage you to join in a more regular conversation at Marty B on Social Media & Intl Ed Facebook page or if you prefer LinkedIn, a group of the same name.

EducationUSA Weekly Update: New & Improved!

2011-09-01T08:05:00.000-04:00

EducationUSA PDF format

As we all come to grips with how to reach our intended student audiences overseas, as international educators, at EducationUSA we've taken a huge step forward. Those who know our network of 400 advising centers in 170 countries, may have heard of our Weekly Update before. This newsletter goes out every week to all centers, and up until the last three months was a simple email, PDF or word document that then got parsed out by centers, or simply posted to their center's student contact, put up on their websites or in their centers.

While there was certainly value in this approach, it didn't always meet students where they were. After surveying our advisers earlier this year we learned that we needed to provide them greater control and choices over how they receive and distribute Weekly Update content. For those not familiar with Weekly Update (WU), it contains typically announcements of scholarship & financial aid assistance available for international students, and a "Campus News" section highlighting new academic programs that might be attractive to international students, or major events that would be relevant for international students to know. We collect these stories from U.S. institutions that submit information through the higher ed section of our EducationUSA site. The online form (for those institution representatives who have been approved for login access to our site) allows for a substantial amount of information including institutional logo, website, all social media links, related video url/embed code for the post, as well as specifics on the award or news story.

The end result allows us to maximize the effectiveness of this higher ed institutional content for our student audiences abroad. In so doing, when we publish our WU each week, our EducationUSA Advisers have the ability to choose how they wish to receive these announcements (in html email, PDF, and/or in pre-packaged social media-ready posts, all versions replete with bit.ly url shorteners that allow us to track globally how and where these posts are read. Since we launched this program in June, our WU posts have increased from about 10,000 click-throughs to currently 14,000 each week. That number will only increase as the academic year kicks into gear.

More importantly for U.S. representatives (and for students) the content from both of these sections of the WU are also fed automatically into two RSS feeds on our site for financial aid and for news. In addition to the posts, and RSS feed content formats, we also for the scholarship/financial aid announcements create individual pages for your WU submission on our site that feed into a growing financial aid database, that will also soon include national scholarships from various countries around the world that students can access to study in the U.S.

So, I invite all my U.S. higher ed colleagues at accredited institutions to:

Request your U.S. higher ed login access to our site if you haven't already
Submit your institution's scholarship & financial information for international students into our Weekly Update
Stay tuned for more developments on how the financial aid database will become a great resource for you as well.

Until we meet again...

Where Does Your Audience Live?

2011-07-12T09:15:00.000-04:00

From AllFacebook.com

The world of social media moves incredibly fast. No news there, but just how fast may shock you. Facebook continued growth overseas should continue to raise the profile of this platform in U.S. international admissions circles. For example, in December 2010, Brazil was beginning to see some dramatic growth in Facebook users and stood at about 8.8 million users. a short six months later at the end of June, over 21 million Brazilians were on FB, many of which have moved over from their Orkut accounts to Facebook.

In terms of other social networks, the AllFacebook.com graphic here shows those countries where Facebook is not yet the #1 social media platform in the world. Interestingly, the GlobalWebIndex Social Networking Map 2011 shows the penetration rates of social media in various countries. Guess what the top 3 most connected countries are with regards to social media usage as a percentage of their online users? The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia each with between 67-76% penetration.

For U.S. colleagues looking to explore Facebook as a main platform to reach international students, you would be very much barking up the right tree. Using the semi-annual format produced by Nick Burcher out of the UK of the Top 30 countries on Facebook, here is that top 30 list with some additional data related to the college age demographic (16-25 years old) for users in each country.

for EducationUSA July 2011

Pay particular attention to the highlighted countries (India, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Egypt, Poland, Peru, Pakistan, and Russia) which enjoyed triple digit growth in the last 12 months in terms of Facebook users. Not including the U.S. you'll find that of the top 29 countries, 254 million are in the 16-25 year old demo. Happy hunting!

Facebook Now Has 750 Million Users

2011-06-27T13:14:00.000-04:00

Facebook Now Has 750 Million Users

For those keeping score at home, based on the average percentages, this number now translates to:

- 70% of users outside the U.S. = 525,000,000

- 60% of users outside the U.S. are ages 16-25 = 315,000,000

This means that outside the U.S. the equivalent of the the U.S. total population now logs onto Facebook at least once a month that is between the ages of 16-25. Any U.S. international admissions reps out there who still don't think you need a presence on Facebook?

EducationUSA Forum 2011: Bigger and Better

2011-06-22T05:51:00.000-04:00

Today marks the start of the EducationUSA Forum 2011 (Wednesday through Friday). After the success of the first Forum last June, we knew we needed a bigger venue. While we were packed to the gills in an M St. hotel with about 250 total participants a year ago, we knew we could do better.

We found the perfect site for this year's Forum at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center that will welcome nearly 450 attendees. Among those guests will be over 360 members of the U.S. higher education community, 50+ EducationUSA advisers, regional directors, and DC-based staff, as well as several U.S. Department of State officials. Under Secretary of State, Judith McHale and at least three other prominent senior leadership from the State Department will be addressing the Forum over the course of the next three days.

Why is this event important?

EducationUSA represents, for lack of a better phrase, your tax dollars at work. In terms of "bang for the buck," this U.S. Department of State-supported network of 400 advising centers in 170 countries has connected with well over 10 million contacts since the start of the FY2011 (October 1, 2010). Through visits to their centers (900K), mobile outreach activities (1.5 million), and an extensive virtual and social media presence (7.8 million), EducationUSA represents the official source on U.S. higher education around the world. Advisers from 36 countries, including many of the top sending countries to the U.S., will be presenting throughout the conference on key issues such as recruitment opportunities in their areas, national scholarships available, and education system changes/updates.

Much like guidance counselors in U.S. high schools, for my colleagues in U.S. admissions offices, our network of advisers perform much the same role in guiding prospective students through the increasingly complex process of applying to U.S. colleges & universities. Their role is to be unbiased, and provide information on all available accredited options given the student's interests and family's means. The connections the U.S. institutional representatives attending this Forum make, the relationships renewed and developed, and the knowledge gained will assist their colleges in better informing and enhancing their international education strategy. The agenda is packed full of great content for those invested in the U.S. international education community.

In an era where most institutions are seeing budget belts tightened and travel abroad cut, opportunities for this kind of interaction are rare. At least four sessions during this event will focus on virtual, armchair and social media-based recruitment efforts and ways to connect with our advisers and their students. With four separate networking/country cafe breaks, a Global Showcase where our advisers will be joined by representatives of two dozen DC-based foreign embassies, and a major Opening Reception Wednesday evening, we hope to provide multiple chances for our EducationUSA staff to interact with our U.S. colleagues.

Welcome to DC!

Get Connected, Stay Involved, Be Relevant: Part II of International Student Recruitment through Social Media

2011-05-31T09:15:00.000-04:00

Any commitment in life should be taken seriously, and, to be done well, should involve a willingness to invest in that relationship, project, or strategy over a period of time. More importantly, to succeed you need to be relevant and appealing whether that be to a significant other, business partner, or institution.

The greatest professional frustration I hear from colleagues in international student enrollment management circles comes when a college/university administration pays only lip service to how much value they place on international students and/or refuses to commit over a period of time to allow a particular change in strategy or the opening of new markets to have a chance of success. Too often administrations that don't understand international markets well (or know the implications of expanded international enrollments on campus life) see full fee-paying students from overseas as quick fixes for enrollment and/or budgetary shortfalls. That's a topic for another day, but the same commitment to these kinds of strategies as a institution should also apply to outreach conducted through social media.

Get Connected

As I outlined in my previous post, step one is identifying where key student audiences are in target countries/regions, next is establishing a presence on those platforms. Who does that at each institution will vary dramatically depending on the size of the college as well as the marketing and communication/IT office's role on campus. Let's say for argument's sake we say that the admissions or international office that is responsible for recruitment abroad takes on this role. Speaking with one voice is key in this process, which can involve multiple individuals contributing, but certainly makes training an absolute must. One blogger that speaks to the importance of character & commitment in social media is Tony Teegarden. If you are becoming more immersed in this world, give Tony a quick follow.

In social media world, however, it is essential that going in, everyone understands, institutions no longer control the message. If there are any doubters out there, please have them watch Social Media Revolution 2 (refresh) put out by Socialnomics last year. It really explains the fundamental shift from traditional marketing approaches to a listen first, sell second attitude.

Stay Involved

If there ever was an antithesis formula for success to the Field of Dreams approach, social media is it. Throwing up a page or group on Facebook, simply having a Twitter feed or YouTube channel simply is not good enough. Messaging on a regular basis, responding to comments (especially negative ones), re-tweeting, sharing, and managing what kind of content gets posted are bedrock essentials that will require continual care to see growth and eventually to bear fruit. Think about a school like MIT, where the admissions office's homepage for at least the last two years, has been driven, content-wise, by student bloggers hired to share their experiences. Similarly, over recent years, the admitted freshmen cohort at MIT have on their own created a Facebook group to which over 85% of their future classmates have become members. Without an office wide commitment to embracing social media from that initial impression of MIT online, several members of the admissions team also regular post on Twitter.

Be Relevant

Interpreting relevancy of messages can often be a moving target, but in admissions circles there are some very core take-aways prospective students should receive: opportunities to interact with current students/staff/alumni, admission requirements/deadlines, aid available, services on-campus, and the all-important "Can I picture myself as a student there?" Internationally, when budgets and travel don't allow admissions staff to get everywhere the students are, social media represents an opportunity, used correctly, to paint these pictures for future students.

Involve current international students in online chats or virtual events like CollegeWeekLive
Post student/alumni testimonial videos on YouTube
Tweet news on deadlines or upcoming events
Engage in conversations on Facebook and blogs on topics that matter
Explore ways to better present your campus via video, e.g.

Why I Chose Yale?
Grand Valley State U.'s Lip Dub
Oregon's Call Me a Duck

One institution that I've seen recently that really gets it when it comes to international admissions is Roger Williams University. Every traveling staff member in their office is required to tweet at least three times a day. Too much? Actually, the simplest things from tweeting interesting articles from the student newspaper, to Twitpic'ing a photo as they stroll across campus, to announcing when a rep will be visiting a country or school, have all produced very positive and engaging content from which international students, who rarely get a chance to visit campus before enrolling, truly benefit. These efforts allow these students to begin to paint their own picture of what their lives might be like at RWU.

What is clear with the rise of social media is that U.S. higher education institutions have new opportunities to better reach their audiences. The approach, which I'll discuss more in Part III, must have as the end goal to Keep Them Coming Back For More. Stay tuned after NAFSA for more.

Live Where Your Audiences Live: International Student Recruitment Through Social Media

2011-05-25T07:09:00.004-04:00

For as long as I've been in my current position, social media has become a second professional passion of my life, surpassed only by my love of international education. In the last two and a half years, our EducationUSA network's use of social media is truly transforming and expanding our reach beyond the physical walls of our centers. Later this year we will be launching a useful new tool for prospective students that will be using social media extensively, as we spread the good news about the five steps to U.S. study.

Our chief guiding principle in marketing EducationUSA is to "Live Where Our Audiences Live." Not simply physically, through our network of 400+ centers in 170 countries, but in the virtual world on platforms that our key audiences are using. For purposes of this post, part one of a series on social media in international admissions, we're talking students.

We all know how Facebook started on a U.S. college campus, and has grown like wildfire to the point now, where recent ComScore data (as reported by InsideFacebook.com) showed that 72% of all U.S. internet users were on Facebook, that works out to over half the U.S. population. While the U.S. is a fairly mature Facebook country with, at present, more baby boomers signing up than any other age demographic, the rest of the world is a different story. Facebook will reach, based on conservative projections, 700 million users worldwide in June. Here are a couple of staggering numbers for international admissions folks to chew on. This data comes direct from Facebook's advertising module.

70% of all Facebook users reside outside the U.S.: 490,000,000
60% of FB users outside the U.S. are in the college age demographic (16-25 yr. old): 294,000,000

If you haven't already considered using social media more actively in your international student recruitment, these numbers should give you some motivation. To see the incredible growth particularly in the college-age demo in some of the most populous Facebook countries, check out my earlier blog this year. Even more revealing is the level of penetration Facebook currently enjoys in some countries. Social Times, an excellent social media resource/RSS feed to follow, recently profiled the Top Ten Countries Where Facebook Rules that outlined internet usage stats v. Facebook usage where each of the top 10 had more than 86% of its internet users on Facebook. Those 10 countries are:

Philippines
Israel
Turkey
Chile
Argentina
Malaysia
Indonesia
Peru
Colombia
Venezuela

But Facebook is not a universally dominant social media platform. I encourage you to check out a recent presentation I gave at the Ohio NAFSA Drive-In Meeting in April, that highlights some of the other fascinating facts on other social media platforms that enjoy dominant market positions in certain countries.

Here are just a few places where Facebook doesn't rule (yet):

China – Renren (Facebook knockoff), QQ (like MSN Messenger chat), and others including Youku (YouTube ripoff), and Sina Weibo (Twitter clone) 600 million internet users
Russia – Vkontakte, Russian language, 111 million users globally
Netherlands – Hyves, 11 million (2/3rd of Dutch population)
Japan – Mixi, but Twitter is about to surpass Mixi in terms of total users
Brazil – Orkut, but Facebook and Twitter gaining fast

Happy hunting, everyone.

For those who'd like to connect IRL and talk more about these topics, I'll be at our EducationUSA Pavilion in the NAFSA Expo Hall in Vancouver Tuesday-Friday next week (May 31-June 3), booth #537, so please stop by to say hello!

Part two, next week, from Vancouver, will focus on how to approach social media in international admissions-Get Connected, Stay Involved, Be Relevant.

http://issuu.com/martybennett/docs/socialmedia-in-international-recruitment

How Marco Met Sharifa: The Value of Relationships Between EducationUSA Advisers and U.S. College Reps

2011-03-14T11:53:00.000-04:00

The Ohio State University Sends Representative to Uzbekistan

This was the headline last month, after Marco Chavez from Ohio State University's Undergraduate Admissions office visited Uzbekistan, and specifically, our EducationUSA Advising Center in Tashkent. Sharifa, our senior adviser in Uzbekistan, helped set-up visits for Marco during his visit. But this relationship began a year ago, when Sharifa had the opportunity to connect with Marco when she participated in a post-NAFSA campus visit to Ohio State.

Let's explore what happened as these two had the opportunity to work together.

Sharifa shares her experiences on this connection between her advising work and her visit to Ohio State.

What are the value of campus visits for EducationUSA advisers?

Advisers are able to see the university with their own eyes to tell students about it, to see each school at university, get to know the faculty member and admission officers. Meeting with international students studying there can give us an idea as to whether our students from Uzbekistan can do well at this university. Also getting to know the culture of the university, diversity, prices, possibilities of programs, climate and others is very useful. All of these opportunities help the adviser see the whole picture and you never forget about it.

After your visit to OSU, what kind of communication did you have with the people you met?

We were e-mailing each other and established a skype communications, which helped us to communicate faster. I could communicate not only from work, but from home as well, since the time differences are difficult to make the communication faster via Skype.

What were you able to set up for Marco during his visit to your country?

Participation at our college fair. I posted at the www.educationusa.state.gov site, then sent him the link, so that he could participate. I set up two school visits, one to Tashkent International School and one to Academic Lyceum No. 2.

Specifically related to Marco's visit, what were the benefits for you and your students?

For me it was that I learned more about this university and learned more about U.S. Higher Education. Students were able to learn about the programs ... and learned about the options available.

Do you have any advice for U.S. institutions who are looking for ways to explore relationships with EducationUSA Advisers?

I would say that EducationUSA advisers are experts on what is going on in the country and they know really well the local systems. They have huge network of schools, language centers, students, teachers and professors, and other contacts. This expertise gives the U.S. university representatives more options to explore in reaching a broader pool of candidates to recruit to their schools. I advise the U.S. universities to contact first the EducationUSA adviser to learn about the country and options.

Marco's shares his responses.

What are the value to US institutions of campus visits by EducationUSA advisers?

Having advisers who speak to students day in and day out provides an opportunity to learn about the trends and issues facing certain regions. The advisors provide an insight into their areas about how to best outreach to their students and make the most of our resources in targeting their students. By having them on campus they are able to see first-hand what our university is like and can then speak to their students about life on our campus in a concrete way using real examples. However, the personal connections and friendships facilitated by the visits are what make the visits truly worthwhile. J Its very nice to be able to call them and let them know you will be visiting them and having that bond already there.

While Sharifa was at OSU, what did you arrange for her to see?

Sharifa visited Ohio for an entire week. During her time here she was able to tour 9 universities and discover some parts of Columbus. We held a cookout on one of the evenings and for one half day we held a seminar. During the seminar the advisors were given the opportunity to present their centers and countries to other universities who did not participate in the hosting. We hosted Sharifa on the Ohio State campus for an entire day. During her visit to campus she was able to meet representatives from Undergraduate Admissions, Graduate Admissions, Law, MBA, American Language Program (intensive English), and the Office of International Affairs. We also had her go on a campus tour led by a current student and meet with other current students.

After her visit to OSU, what kind of communication did you have with Sharifa?

After Sharifa’s visit we mailed the material that we hoped she would disseminate at her center and sent a thank you email and survey. It wasn’t until I was thinking about traveling to Uzbekistan that we communicated again.

Specifically related to your Uzbekistan visit, what will be the benefits for you and your future students?

My visit to Uzbekistan was valuable on many fronts. Seeing the country and the facilities that Sharifa has will allow me to plan more effective outreach efforts in Tashkent. I gained a better sense of the issues and concerns that students face, better than if I had just read about it. Students were able to learn more about Ohio State and education in the US in general. And I was able to explain to students the complexities and issues revolving around applying to US universities from the viewpoint of a university.

Do you have any advice for US institutions who are looking for ways to explore relationships with EducationUSA Advisers?

Its important to get to know advisors, even if the budget doesn’t allow for hosting or traveling, there are other options such as Skype, DVCs, email, and telephone. From my experience advisors want to help universities and students connect and find the right fit for each other. It’s also important to ask questions. Each region is different and even cities within the same country may have different mobility trends or issues. Its important to know what issues are affecting your prospective students.

Marco's and Sharifa's experiences are by no means unique. This year, close to 100 EducationUSA Advisers will visit the U.S. for various conferences and training opportunities. Many of them will be actively hoping to include college and university visits as part of their travel. Likewise, we encourage our U.S. colleagues who are traveling overseas to make EducationUSA a key stop, much like the 475+ representatives who just this calendar year alone (January 1 through March 11) who have interacted with our advisers abroad.

To express your interest in hosting advisers for possible visits to your campus or your state/region if your part of an existing international education consortium of accredited institutions, we invite you to contact our new Professional Development Manager, Robin Helms.

Double Digit Growth in Two Years, Okay; How About Quadruple Digit Growth? Roll on Facebook

2011-01-04T08:37:00.001-05:00

Continued kudos to Nick Burcher, out of the UK, who has done the heavy lifting on the data mining every six months for the last three or four years on Facebook numbers by country (and willingly shares it). His blog post today revealed the most recent Top 30 countries on Facebook in terms of members. Interesting to note that in this year-end top 30 - four new countries have entered. Compared to the numbers from Dec. 2009, the minimum totals required for entry into this top 30 club rose from 1.9 million (Thailand 12/09) to 3.27 million (Saudi Arabia).

The chart below shows in the top 30 only those countries who have seen quadruple digit growth over the last two years. These ten countries represent with few exceptions countries in the developing world that are markets with tremendous potential.

Rank	Country	Number of Facebook users Dec 31st 2008	Number of Facebook users Dec 31st 2009	Number of Facebook users Dec 31st 2010	12 month growth %	24 month growth %
2	Indonesia	897,040	14,681,580	32,129,460	118.8%	3481.7%
6	Philippines	390,700	8,387,560	18,901,900	125.4%	4738%
7	Mexico	1,440,640	6,505,040	18,488,700	184.2%	1183.4%
9	India	1,071,280	5,397,480	17,288,900	220.3%	1513.9%
16	Malaysia	850,420	3,975,640	9,544,580	140.1%	1022.3%
17	Brazil	209,460	2,413,900	8,821,880	265.5%	4111.7%
18	Taiwan	112,900	5,490,300	8,752,640	59.4%	7652.6%
21	Thailand	168,720	1,963,560	6,732,780	242.9%	3890.5%
23	Poland	194,820	1,609,100	4,540,320	182.2%	2230.5%
25	Peru	296,200	1,510,480	3,888,560	157.4%	1212.8%

What is even more telling about where this growth is coming from as it relates to international admissions needs, for these same 10 countries check out my own bit of number crunching below that reveals how significant the potential college age markets are in these growing nations. With the exception of Brazil, in each of these countries, anywhere from near 63-76% of all Facebook users are in the college-age demographic.

Rank	Country	Number of Facebook users Dec 31st 2010	Number of FB users between 16-25 years old	% users 16-25 yrs. old
2	Indonesia	32,129,460	22,725,220	71%
6	Philippines	18,901,900	12,978,340	69%
7	Mexico	18,488,700	11,626,540	63%
9	India	17,288,900	13,132,400	76%
16	Malaysia	9,544,580	6,097,680	64%
17	Brazil	8,821,880	4,733,260	54%
18	Taiwan	8,752,640	5,578,520	64%
21	Thailand	6,732,780	4,523,980	67%
23	Poland	4,540,320	2,885,360	64%
25	Peru	3,888,560	2,500,000	64%

All this data from Nick Burcher and from my further drilling down, comes directly from Facebook's advertising module. To paint a bit broader picture, if you were to take the top 25 countries on Facebook outside the U.S. and do a banner ad that displayed only on the profiles & pages of that same college age cohort (16-25 yr. olds) you would reach over 194 million potential students.

Still think Facebook is only a U.S. phenomenon? I've realized in working with U.S. institutions that precious few have really embraced social media in their international student recruitment efforts. In times when budgets are being tightened everywhere, the relatively cost-effective world of social media is wide open to the institution that knows how to best approach it.

Social Media in Africa a Pipe Dream? Think Again.

2011-01-03T11:13:00.000-05:00

Africa Renewal Magazine | A social media boom begins in Africa

In the course of the last 20 years in the United States, we have gone from using land-line phones to computers to mobile/smart phones as our primary means of communicating. In much of Sub-Saharan Africa as well as many parts of Central Asia (and other regions), just within the last five to ten years, a significant number of Africans have made the jump from no phone at all, to mobile phones, skipping the land-line and desktop computer stages entirely, as their chosen mode of communications. With over 400 million mobile phone subscribers now in Africa, it is the mobile social web that is now becoming increasingly a source of focus.

For colleagues at U.S. institutions exploring the myriad of ways to reach students, and for those who have long wondered how to connect in Africa, here's an opportunity. From the article below: "In recent months Facebook — the major social media platform worldwide and currently the most visited website in most of Africa — has seen massive growth on the continent. The number of African Facebook users now stands at over 17 million, up from 10 million in 2009. More than 15 per cent of people online in Africa are currently using the platform, compared to 11 per cent in Asia."

Time to have a second look at Africa...

A social media boom begins in Africa

Using mobile phones, Africans join the global conversation

By André-Michel Essoungou

More and more Africans are using mobile technologies to access social media tools on the Internet.

Photograph: Africa Media Online / Anthony Kaminju

In the mid-1990s, as the use of mobile phones started its rapid spread in much of the developed world, few thought of Africa as a potential market. Now, with more than 400 million subscribers, its market is larger than North America's. Africa took the lead in the global shift from fixed to mobile telephones, notes a report by the UN International Telecommunications Union.* Rarely has anyone adopted mobile phones faster and with greater innovation (see A bank in every African pocket?, Better health at the click of a button).

A similar story now seems again to be unfolding. Africans are coupling their already extensive use of cell phones with a more recent and massive interest in social media — Internet-based tools and platforms that allow people to interact with each other much more than in the past. In the process, Africans are leading what may be the next global trend: a major shift to mobile Internet use, with social media as its main drivers. According to Mary Meeker, an influential Internet analyst, mobile Internet and social media are the fastest-growing areas of the technology industry worldwide, and she predicts that mobile Internet use will soon overtake fixed Internet use.

Studies suggest that when Africans go online (predominantly with their mobile phones) they spend much of their time on social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and so on). Sending and reading e-mails, reading news and posting research queries have become less important activities for Africans.

In recent months Facebook — the major social media platform worldwide and currently the most visited website in most of Africa — has seen massive growth on the continent. The number of African Facebook users now stands at over 17 million, up from 10 million in 2009. More than 15 per cent of people online in Africa are currently using the platform, compared to 11 per cent in Asia. Two other social networking websites, Twitter and YouTube, rank among the most visited websites in most African countries.

Along with regular citizens, African stars, thinkers, political leaders and companies have rapidly joined the global conversation. The Facebook fan base of Côte d'Ivoire's football star and UN goodwill ambassador Didier Drogba is more than 1 million people. Zambian best-selling author and economist Dambisa Moyo has more than 26,000 followers on Twitter. Media organizations in South Africa and companies such as Kenya Airways are using various social media platforms to interact better with customers and readers. During recent elections in Côte d'Ivoire candidates did not only tour cities and villages; they also moved the contest online, feverishly posting campaign updates on Twitter and Facebook.

High costs and poor connections still limit Africans' use of computers to gain access to the Internet.

Photograph: Alamy Images / Peter Treanor

Constraints and opportunities

Africa's upward trend in the use of social media is even more striking given the low number of Africans connected to the Internet and the many hurdles Africans face in trying to go online.

Africa's Internet users (more than 100 million at the end of 2010) represent just a small percentage of the 2 billion people online around the world. In the US alone, more than 220 million people use the Internet. Within Africa, one person out of every 10 is estimated to be an Internet user (up from one in 5,000 back in 1998), making the continent the region in the world with the lowest penetration rate.

Among the many reasons for this poor showing are the scarcity and prohibitive costs of broadband connections (the fastest means of accessing the Internet), and the limited number of personal computers in use.

But these challenges simultaneously contribute to Africa's impressive growth rate in the use of mobile Internet, which in recent years has been the highest in the world. "Triple-digit growth rates are routine across the continent," notes Jon von Tetzchner, co-founder of Opera, the world's most popular Internet browser for mobile phones. "The widespread availability of mobile phones means that the mobile Web can reach tens of millions more than the wired Web." Mr. Tetzchner believes that like mobile phones, whose use has grown rapidly in Africa in recent years, the "mobile Web is beginning to reshape the economic, political and social development of the continent."

‘Seismic shift’ coming

Erik Hersman, a prominent African social media blogger and entrepreneur who helped drive development of the ground-breaking platform Ushahidi (see Young Africans put technology to new uses), is equally enthusiastic. In an e-mail to Africa Renewal he notes that "with mobile phone penetration already high across the continent, and as we get to critical mass with Internet usage in some of Africa's leading countries (Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt) … a seismic shift will happen with services, products and information."

The sense that the future holds more promise is inducing major companies to show special interest in Africa's expanding pool of Internet users. Facebook, after launching versions in some of the major African languages (including Swahili, Hausa and Zulu) in May, has announced it will offer free access to its platform to mobile phone users in various countries around the world, including many in Africa. In October Google started testing a new service for Swahili speakers in East and Central Africa. Tentatively called Baraza ("meeting place" in Swahili), it will allow people to interact and share knowledge by asking and answering questions, many of them of only very local or regional interest.

Africans are also getting ready to benefit from the fast-growing mobile Internet sector. In South Africa, MXit, a free instant messaging application with an estimated 7 million users, is the most popular local social networking platform. From Abidjan and Accra to Lusaka and Nairobi, African programmers are designing, testing and launching new homegrown platforms and tools to keep the African online conversation going.

* Measuring the Information Society: The ICT Development Index, 2009.

Armchair Recruitment in the Digital Age

2010-12-22T14:46:00.001-05:00

Presentation at the 2010 CIS Forum in Monaco

I've wanted to share this presentation with my colleagues in international admissions circles who were unable to see it live in Monaco this November at the Council of International Schools Forum. In the past two years in this position, as marketing coordinator for the EducationUSA network, I have had countless conversations with friends doing the increasingly difficult work of recruiting students from overseas with decreasing budgets, stronger competition from other institutions and other countries for that matter.

The greater majority of these colleagues know and use the popular outlets like Facebook and YouTube in their personal lives, but precious few have harnessed the truly revolutionary power of social media into their international recruitment, and fewer still have done so in a coherent and strategic way with proper planning, training, management, and evaluation.

This presentation shares many free tools (at least monetarily) that can be used to reach out to international student audiences, as well as examples of how one institution, Roger Williams University, has made their social media outreach strategy the responsibility of all admissions staff. I encourage all international admissions colleagues to review this presentation to see what tools and tips they can adapt to their own institutions to reach out to students & EducationUSA Advising Centers overseas.

Comments and questions are welcome!

Integrating International Students Into the Life of the University

2010-12-06T14:51:00.000-05:00

courtesy of liblogs.albany.edu

Integrating International Students Into the Life of the University

This post over the weekend by Dori Kelsey at the University of Toledo, reminds us all involved in international education about the importance of the on-campus experience for international students as essential to the long-term success of an institution in their international enrollment management strategy. If you are already in the field, I realize I am preaching to the choir. But for those new to the field, or those who have administrators who don't get, I mean really get, international education, I hope this blog can help.

Far too often these days, international students are seen as cash cows by institutions around the world. Whether it's in Australia, UK, Canada, and, yes, the U.S. too many colleges and universities view these students as little more than dollars or pound signs. In the U.S. this struggle is particularly visible at public institutions that face increasingly tighter budgets and less funding coming from the state government. Pressures on upper administration officials to find new revenue streams can and do turn often to international students. Clearly, there are financial advantages of enrolling students who pay out-of-state tuition rates to attend state institutions, but for that to be the driving motivation for expanding international enrollment, is truly short-sighted. In the end this drive can have long-term negative ramifications for colleges unprepared to meet the needs of these new students from abroad.

For those who have been in international education for more than a few minutes they will tell you, institutions that think the students from the Brazil, Burkina Faso, Belarus and Bangladesh have the same needs as U.S. students from Boston, Bismark, Beaverton, and Boca Raton are in for a very rude awakening. Whether it was the Libyan and Iranian students of the '70s and '80s, the Saudis of the '00s or the Chinese now, large concentrations of full fee-paying students can pose a myriad of challenges to even well-established colleges and universities. From the admissions process, orientation, academic advising, residence life, ESL, food services, campus ministry, career services, to, of course, the international student office the entire campus is impacted by expanded flows of overseas students. Staffing, space, time, and resources must be committed to ensure that these new students have a positive experience. The alternative for institutions which cannot commit to meeting the needs of their international students (or domestic for that matter) is a ruined reputation, and a long-term hole that will be very difficult to climb out of, and in the end, far more costly that what it would have taken to do it right the first time.

The true benefit for both international students and their U.S. counterparts on college & university campuses, long term, is to promote mutual understanding.

The truly successful institution is one that, as Dori Kelsey explains in her post, recognizes "its responsibility for the well-being of international students.... To this end, colleges and universities have sought to match international students with domestic students and have tailored programs to particular target groups to assist with the adaptation process." There are dozens of successful international student programs offices (and their institutions) around the U.S. that embrace these overseas students as an essential component of their colleges' success in meeting their various missions & goals.

Ms. Kelsey again hits the nail right on the head when she posts, "Assessing and addressing the problems that international students experience will impact many areas. It will aid not only in the internationalization of the campus—as stated in the mission and goals of most universities—but it will expose domestic students to the life styles, values, and culture of people throughout the world and thereby enrich their experience. It will also foster goodwill between nations and will help all students develop beneficial bonds for their personal lives and future careers."

Well said.

YouTube - GVSU LipDub 2010 OFFICIAL

2010-11-23T10:15:00.000-05:00

How creative is this?

For U.S. colleges and universities looking for new ways to get the message about their campuses across in an innovative way, and very viral way, need look no further than Grand Valley State University's LibDub 2010. As of this morning, over 121,000 video views have been recorded for their video.

We saw a similar, Glee-like version of the campus video tour in last year's "That's Why I Chose Yale" which has surpassed 750,000 views. These kind of video will get a response, and while perhaps a mammoth undertaking logistically, can certainly raise the visibility of lesser-known institutions.

Kudos to the GVSU team for the incredible effort in putting together this viral campus tour video. Well done!

Grand Valley State University's LibDub 2010

International Education Week and the Student Visa Landscape

2010-11-11T09:01:00.000-05:00

Each year, in mid-November, the Institute of International Education, funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs, releases the Open Doors Report. There will be some fairly eye-catching numbers released next Monday, November 15 at the National Press Club in Washington DC. Open Doors represents a look back at the previous academic year, in this case 2009-10, for its survey of international student numbers.

What will perhaps be a surprise to many U.S. higher education colleagues, and would certainly be to the general public, and, more importantly, to student audiences abroad, are some remarks made by Assistant Secretary Janice Jacobs with the Bureau of Consular Affairs. A/S Jacobs' Bureau oversees the various U.S. consular officers at U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide that conduct all visa interviews.

Here's a snippet of a recent statement Assistant Secretary Jacobs made related to International Education Week:

"Our consular sections overseas also work actively to promote study and exchange programs, to demystify the visa application process, and to encourage students to consider educational possibilities in the United States. Foreign students can now apply for their visas 120 days before their U.S. studies begin. At our embassies and consulates around the world, we assign a high priority to student visa appointments, resulting in reduced wait times, shorter lines, and faster issuance of visas. We issued over 450,000 student visas in the last fiscal year, which accounts for 82 percent of the student visa applicants worldwide. That’s an increase of 13 percent from the previous year and exceeds the number of student visas we were issuing immediately before the September 11 attack."

Three key points I believe are critical to know for U.S. college and university representatives working with prospective international students:

Students can now apply for their visas 120 days before their U.S. studies begin.
Worldwide last year, 82% of all student visa applicants were approved!
The number of approvals was 13% higher than FY09, higher than pre-9/11 levels.

Those who have been working in international admissions for any length of time will have stories of admitted students who were denied visas, and having been on that side of the desk for years, it was a constant struggle to advocate for our students. Post-9/11, many of us had to work even harder to make the case for students. Those bad old days (and yes, they were bad) are becoming a memory now. The facts are certainly baring out the changes on the ground.

The key is understanding the public relations battle to overcome the bad visa experiences of certain students, and the resulting public perceptions in a number of countries is not won easily. It will take a concerted effort by every embassy & consulate, our EducationUSA advisers, your current international students, and each of you to help spread the word that the visa process while fairly intense, is not a bridge too far for students.

While we would like to see the approval percentage continue to grow, and while we know we'll continue to have stories of students who experience difficulties in the process, please know that if your prospective students are working with our EducationUSA Advising Centers, they will be much better prepared and informed about that visa process before having that brief interview with a consular officer. While our advisers can't guarantee every student that walks through their doors, you will likely find the approval rates for EducationUSA-advised students significantly higher than the averages in the most difficult countries.

Please join us in getting the good news out to your prospective students. There is hope!

New Scholarships for Students from the Baltic States

2010-10-20T02:03:00.000-04:00

Here's a quick head's up to my colleagues in international admissions positions at U.S. colleges and universities looking to recruit students from the Baltics. This foundation scholarship provides up to $25,000 per year for graduate studies in the U.S.

Baltic-American Freedom Foundation Scholarships

The Baltic-American Freedom Foundation (BAFF) mission is "to enrich the ties between the United States and Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, through programs of education and exchange centering on economic growth and democratic processes. Visibly strengthening U.S.-Baltic ties is a core goal."

BAFF offers various scholarship opportunities in the U.S. to residents of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Current American scholarship opportunities include:

The Professional Internship Program for university students and recent graduates.
The Graduate Scholarship Program for post graduate students.
The Research Scholarship Program for professors and others in academia

More information on our website: www.BalticAmericanFreedomFoundation.org .

Please advise graduate programs applicants from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania about grants for graduate studies in US universities.

Deadline - two times per year. Closest call for applications OCTOBER 30th 2010.

One Student's Journey: Bernard Londoni

2010-09-01T08:12:00.000-04:00

Here's a great example of how one student's dream became reality through his incredible determination, the commitment and perseverance of an EducationUSA Adviser, and the willingness of a U.S. institution to take a chance on a student with such incredible potential and heart.

Meet Bernard Londoni.

Inaugural EducationUSA Forum 2010 Slideshow

2010-07-27T09:32:00.000-04:00

EducationUSA at NAFSA 2010 Conference in Kansas City, MO

2010-07-27T09:31:00.000-04:00

Qik - EducationUSA Forum-Rebecca Zeigler-Mano from Zimbabwe talks by Marty Bennett

2010-06-28T11:37:00.001-04:00

Qik - Juan Camilo Tamayo from Lynn U. shares his experience w/ Bernard by Marty Bennett

2010-06-28T11:32:00.001-04:00

EducationUSA Pavilion at NAFSA 2010 Expo Hall

2010-05-27T15:22:00.000-04:00

Next week will be a banner time for EducationUSA. After years of being confined by a 10 x 10 booth in a sea of exhibitors at the annual NAFSA conference Expo Hall, EducationUSA will now have its own pavilion and room to breath.

With nearly 80 EducationUSA advisers representing 55 countries, there will be significant traffic in and around the booth. We've put together a schedule of what will be occurring at the pavilion throughout the open hours of the Expo Hall. We encourage any of our higher education colleagues who will be at the NAFSA conference to stop by to pick up the latest resources on EducationUSA, sign up for secure login access to our new site, meet advisers and REACs from around the world, hear presentations on relevant topics about our services for the higher ed community, the Opportunity program, how our centers can assist in study abroad, and our new EdUSA Connects platform for web meetings.

Of course, there will be about two dozen sessions our advisers will be presenting at during the conference, so do bookmark any of the sessions that may be of interest to you.

And last but not least there is the always popular EducationUSA - Embassy Dialogue Committee Country Fair on Wednesday from 3-5pm where every advisers will be present. Do stop by to pick up center-country fact sheets that will give you the necessaries on each of the centers present.

See you in K.C.!

Social Media Revolution 2 (Refresh)

2010-05-07T22:19:00.001-04:00

Don't think Social Media is fundamentally changing the way we communicate? Feel free to comment after reviewing this video--some eye popping numbers and statements on here.

Establishing Trust in the World of Social Media -- Relevance for U.S. Higher Education

2010-02-24T13:41:00.000-05:00

The social media gurus over at Mashable.com are one of the best resources out there for those looking to keep their finger on the pulse of new media. If you aren't a regular visitor to their site, I encourage you to do so. At the very least, subscribe to their RSS feed.

Greg Ferenstein wrote a fantastic blog today that I feel is so compelling that it is worth repeating in this forum. His post entitled The Science of Building Trust with Social Media cites the need to understand the "psychology of trust," the importance of responsiveness in the digital age, and understanding the hierarchical value people attribute to various forms of communication--text v. email v. typed "emotion-free" messages v. audio clips v. personal video--as well as the judgments people make when viewing material online without necessarily knowing all the relevant information. The examples Mr. Ferenstein explains center on some of the more effective uses of social media to build or rebuild trust centered on video responses to calls to action or, in the case of Domino's, apologies.

Implications of Building Trust through Social Media for Higher Education

My message today for my colleagues in higher education, particularly those involved in international student recruitment, is to be cognizant of how social media can be used to help not only get your message out, but also how you can use it to reestablish trust if things go south in a hurry. At a previous institution of mine, the decision was made four years ago to not simply use social media (student blogs on our website) but to take the risk of embracing the uncensored, unfiltered reality that these students let loose into the wide world about their experiences on our campus. The authenticity of those students' posts, vod/podcasts, and conversations online was consistently rated by incoming students, and, surprisingly, parents as one of the most attractive features about the school. These students spoke honestly and openly about their experiences, and our prospective student audiences valued that significantly. Applications and the quality of enrolled students increased as a direct result of these efforts.

Examples of Institutional Efforts

Today, student blogs, iTunes podcast (iTunesU), YouTube.edu, as well as Facebook fan pages & groups are increasingly seen as must haves in any admissions office's arsenal of reaching their prospective student audiences. I'll share a couple of stories from our friends at MIT. Last spring, some of the newly admitted students to this prestigious institution decided to create a Facebook group on their own, and within a few weeks over 80% of the incoming class of 2013 had signed up as members of this group. MIT's admissions office has also turned its main site into student blogger central. These are paid student employees who tell their daily stories about life at MIT to all visitors to the institutional admissions site. Other institutions rely more on video content, photo slideshows, or audio podcasts (or combinations of these) to help get their messages out from their websites. It is essential to have visually appealing information available on these sites, and to use these tools to provide an online community for your audiences.

Importance of Trust for International Students

Internationally, this last point rings truer than ever. For the lion's share of international students considering colleges and universities in the United States, they have to trust, sight unseen, the institutions they choose to enroll in. Think for a moment about the implications of that decision. The financial ramifications alone of choosing a school that will have a final price tag of anywhere from $32,000 to $250,000 or more over a four-year period without physically visiting campus are staggering. How many of us would buy cars or homes without ever taking them out for a test drive or having them inspected? International students trust their advisers and counselors in their countries that they are getting the most accurate information about the schools they are considering, but are also taking a huge leap of faith that what the college they select is telling them is what they will experience. That trust is an extremely valuable, yet fragile commodity.

Rebuilding Trust, a Hopeful Wish

Each year, particularly in wintertime, after reading season is done at U.S. institutions, there are inevitably one or two stories that pop up where a university admissions offices mistakenly send acceptance letters to a pool of candidates who have been denied. With this year's news of two well-known institutions (one in Tennessee, one in DC) encountering this regrettable faux pas, wouldn't it be interesting and refreshing to see, not just a quote in a newspaper saying that the individuals affected were being contacted to clear up any misunderstanding, to actually see a YouTube clip of an institution's dean of admissions accepting responsibility and apologizing for this embarrassing incident? Maybe next year.

Marketing U.S. Higher Education Abroad in the Social Media Milleu

2010-01-26T10:16:00.000-05:00

Rare moments of lucidity and inspiration we have in life where the light bulb truly goes on should always be shared.

A year ago when I was just getting my feet under me as marketing coordinator for EducationUSA, I knew social media would be an integral part of what I needed to do--but how exactly I'd go about that task wasn't quite clear. We are a network of 400+ centers in 170 countries under the EducationUSA umbrella. We share a common mission to be the official source on U.S. higher education for millions of students and their families each year. We also knew that our continued success would be largely dependent on providing our advisers, some of the hardest working individuals I've ever met, the tools they needed to better connect with their students and with our friends in the U.S. higher education community that are so vital to our success. How to use social media was one of those lights for me.

A year ago, the extent to which most (not all) of our advisers were using social media began and ended with Skype and other IM tools. In our entire network, we had only about 4 active Facebook profiles/groups/pages while Twitter was not even in our vocabulary. Some intrepid, forward-thinking centers had undertaken video projects they made available out in cyberspace, but there was no central collection point for this content.

Today, we have 80 different EducationUSA Facebook fan pages, profiles and groups, 35 Twitter feeds, and over 70 videos on our YouTube channel. Over 900 higher education members in the U.S. now subscribe to our HEI eNews (now published bi-weekly). Most significantly, we have a new vehicle for getting the word out about EducationUSA - our new website which brings all of these tools together and makes them shareable in the new world of social media.

Ultimately, these new tools, or new media allow us to reach out in more interactive ways to key audiences. Moreover, 2009 will certainly be remembered as the year "Social Media" became key buzzwords for institutions looking to counteract shrinking recruitment budgets, as well as global networks to share their message. The real rub here is how U.S. higher education and EducationUSA can work together to utilize these tools to encourage more and better qualified international students to come to America for their studies.

Over the last twelve months, I've compiled a list of 5 guiding principles for how we are approaching our task in this new and ever-changing world of social media:

Get Connected, Be Relevant, Stay Involved.
Live Where Your Audiences Live.
Keep Them Coming Back for More.
Listen, Listen, Listen.
Your Name Matters.

Get Connected, Be Relevant, Stay Involved

When just starting out in your use of social media, the best advice is always to start small with one maybe two different tools. That first step really is the most important -- to commit to using one or more new media. That being said, all the commitment in the world does you no good if your content, your posts, your comments are not relevant to your intended audience. Make an effort to use any market intelligence you have to create content that resonates with your audiences. As much as I love the film, Field of Dreams, social media is not a "if you build it, they will come" environment. To be successful in this medium you must dedicated time and personnel to monitor, post, and respond to questions and comments received.

Live Where Your Audience Lives

Part of a successful social media strategy is to be present where your audiences -- e.g. your prospective students -- spend their time. If you're targeting students in Japan or Korea, do you have your information available on mobile sites? For the first time in 2008, worldwide, the internet was accessed more from mobile phones than from computers.* Those mobile numbers will only grow larger. If 2009 was the year of social media, 2010 will mark the rise of mobile social media. Believe me when I say that "there's an app for that" could not be a more appropriate for the future of mobile social media in many countries.

That being said, if your goal is to enhance your outreach to African students, mobile is as important but more along the lines of SMS text messaging as opposed to the wide world of social media accessible through smartphones and other similar devices.

If you are targeting a particular country through social media, let's say Brazil, recently identified as one of the, if not the #1, most social networked country in the world, Facebook might not be the only place you want to have a presence--Orkut has been top dog there for some time (though Facebook has expanded over 1000% in the last year there).

Keep Them Coming Back for More

Part of the success of social media is the viral nature of sharing content that reminds me of an old shampoo commercial--where someone has a great experience, loves the product, and then he/she tells two friends and so on and so on--as the old word of mouth concept takes exponential growth to a whole new level. Success is not only in spreading your good news, but also keeping that audience connected to you. How do you do that? Send updates to fans, followers, or contacts that directs them back to new content on your website, or on your social media presences or both. Repeat customers, just as in the real world, are what sustains your success. Ideally, social media allows you to create and maintain an online community of supporters to keep your message out there and understood.

Listen, Listen, Listen

Many marketing professionals have experienced a rude awakening with the rise of social media. No longer can a college or university (or any business for that matter) rely on their control of message. Colleges have perhaps learned this lesson in the past few years better than most with the rise of various student-driven blogs like College Confidential. There are simply too many places online that students can get information about what they are looking for that are completely out of the hands of those who have a product or an institution to promote. Just as we all hate spam emails, those business that throw out their tired sales pitches using these new media are committing the same cardinal sin: not listening to what their customers want. Customers, or students in our realm, can control the message and the conversation. In social media terms, success will be earned by those who listen first, second and third, before responding. This is the customer service taken to the virtual world. Marketing success in the use of social media is dependent more than ever to how service-oriented and responsive you are to the needs of your audiences.

Your Name Matters

Identity in the marketplace of ideas is everything. Knowing who you are first is important, no question. Everyone who is involved in promoting your brand must have buy-in to this identity. Additionally, to be remembered you must protect your name and be consistent with your name as much as possible. As marketing guru, Al Ries, indicated recently, "If you don't think names matter, yours may be forgotten." In the end, you want your name to be associated with a positive idea or concept in the eyes of your audiences.

Bottom line, the brave new world of social media is out there for the taking. Are you taking advantage of these new media in your work? Comment here or email me to continue this conversation.

* The source for this statistic is a book called “Mobile Advertising” by Chetan Sharma, Joe Herzog, and Victor Melfi.

U.S. Colleges & Universities: Join EducationUSA on YouTube

2010-01-11T09:57:00.002-05:00

If there has been an important social media lesson learned over the past year, it would be that one size does not fit all. With EducationUSA we realize that there are many different audiences that we attract to our website, to our different Twitter feeds, our Facebook fan pages, this blog, and our YouTube presence wanting different information in a variety of formats. Information, particularly for our prospective students, needs to be of an interactive nature and visual oriented wherever possible.

To that end, we have been collecting a series of videos produced by our advising centers abroad and others that would be attractive to potential students looking to come to the United States for study. As we grow our EducationUSA YouTube channel, and hope to work more closely with all accredited U.S. colleges and universities looking to reach out to international students, we are offering a free opportunity to partner with EducationUSA to enhance your international recruitment efforts.

For your institutions to have either existing or future campus videos displayed as "Favorites" on our EducationUSA YouTube Channel, you are welcome to email Marty Bennett, EducationUSA Marketing Coordinator, the url address (from YouTube) for institutional promotional videos, interviews with international students, international office personnel, or other related videos. If you have videos but have not created a channel on or made use of YouTube, it is a free service. The only requirements for posting videos to YouTube is that they be less than 10 minutes long, and smaller than 100MB in size. In submitting these url addresses to us for linking to our YouTube channel, we would ask that you provide in the email, a statement that consent rights of the individuals highlighted in the clip for use on your institution's behalf online have been secured, and could be made available should the need arise.

As more and more U.S. colleges and universities get their heads around how best to use various social media outlets to reach international (as well as domestic) audiences, we hope you can join us in this effort. Many campuses now have either their own YouTube channel or have taken advantage of YouTube.edu options that allow their institutions to showcase all sorts of related videos on campus life, lectures, events, as well as admissions-related content. By partnering with us, your institution will be able to reach a larger audience of potential students that may be attracted by what your campus has to offer them.

Deadline for Submissions: January 29, 2010. We hope that with enough submissions by that date, we can go live with this Playlist on our YouTube Channel by early February.

Join the EducationUSA Pavilion at the NAFSA Conference in Kansas City

2009-12-18T10:46:00.005-05:00

Have you ever been to the Exhibit Hall at National NAFSA conferences and were perhaps a
bit surprised to see that the Germans, Australians, Chinese, British, Brazilians, Spanish, and a host of other countries had massive sections of the hall devoted to their countries and their higher education institutions?

Have you ever tried to arrange a place to have meetings with current or prospective exchange partner institutions abroad at NAFSA, having to settle at the last minute to meet under letter "C" on the message boards among the throngs of other lost souls looking for the same thing?

Is the country fair just too short of a time to meet our EducationUSA staff, REACs, and advisers?

Is your institution part of a state or regional consortia for international education (like Study Washington, Destination Indiana, or One Big Campus (in the Philadelphia area) that would like to have a space in the exhibit hall?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, EducationUSA has a practical option for you. At the upcoming NAFSA Annual Conference in Kansas City, for the first time, EducationUSA will have its own pavilion. We are offering on a first-come, first served basis the opportunity for regionally accredited U.S. colleges and universities as well as established state and regional international education consortia to reserve free of charge,1/2 day slots for table space within our pavilion to have meetings with potential or existing overseas partners, meeting with our advisers, and display your institution's literature.

These two options are available:

reserving a half-day's time in our booth with a table and chairs for your institution/consortia
having your literature on display for visitors to the booth to collect.

Please email Marty Bennett, EducationUSA Marketing Coordinator, to the reserve space in our 1st EducationUSA Pavilion.

Keep Coming Back For More...

2009-12-11T15:27:00.012-05:00

Since we rolled out our new EducationUSA website less than one month ago, we have seen a dramatic rise in the connections we are making with prospective students and members of the U.S. higher education community. Our Facebook fan page has jumped from under 800 fans to well over 1300 (an increase of over 63%) and the views on our YouTube channel have increased over 90% in that same time period. Additionally, we're averaging over 90,000 hits a day on our new site. We've also recently added our EdUSAtips Twitter feed to our Higher Education home page.

Today, we are announcing a new feature for accredited U.S. colleges and universities, as well professional association representatives. For those of you who have successfully requested a login to the secure section of the Higher Education site, you can now set preferences to inform you of developments (new stories, events, and resources) that involve EducationUSA and that are relevant for the U.S. college and university community. Much like Google Alerts or news digests that you can receive, once you have your login access you may set your "Preferences" to specify how you wish to receive news and updates on EducationUSA-related activities-as they happen, on a daily basis, or as a weekly digest.

In addition to indicating how you wish to receive updates about new content added to the News, Events, and Resources sections, you can also change your password using this Preferences screen. To access resources we make available for the U.S. higher education community, including past copies of the HEI eNews, conference presentations, and more, click on the "Resources" link on the top menu bar.

Please sign up now for your login access to take advantage of this new service!

2010 Campus Host Opportunities Request for Proposals (RFP) Now Available - deadline December 18, 2009

2009-11-30T11:16:00.004-05:00

Has your institution ever wanted to host EducationUSA advisers on your campus? Now is your chance. The College Board receives a grant from the U.S. Department of State to conduct various U.S.-based professional development and training programs for our network of EducationUSA advisers. In 2010 there are four different opportunities to host our advisers.

Act now to host EducationUSA advisers in 2010!

The College Board has released the RFP for US institutions to apply to host advisers in the upcoming calendar year. More information and the proposal form itself are now available on our EducationUSA site.

Option I Spring 2010 USBT Program (April 15-21) – Transportation, housing and meal per diem paid by grant funds; cost-sharing encouraged.

Option II Fall 2010 USBT Program (October 31 – November 5) – Transportation, housing and meal per diem paid by grant funds; cost-sharing encouraged.

Option III June 2010 post-NAFSA-conference campus tours (June 5-11, 2010 flexible dates) – Transportation to/from primary tour location covered; housing and meal per diem must be contributed by hosting institution(s) as cost-sharing.

Option IV 2010 EducationUSA Explore program (August/September 2010) - Transportation covered; grant funds are available to cover some adviser/institution expenses; cost-sharing is encouraged.

Apply now!

New EducationUSA Website Opens New Doors for U.S. Higher Ed

2009-11-23T08:46:00.015-05:00

Have you visited the new EducationUSA website yet? If you haven't and are having flashbacks to the old site--don't worry--you won't recognize the new site. To say it's a "complete overhaul" would not go far enough in describing the new site. Check out the video clip below that will introduce you to what's possible for our U.S. Higher Education colleagues.

Top 10 Reasons for U.S. Institutions To Visit the New EducationUSA Site:

10. Secure login access for accredited US institutions and higher education associations to more detailed information from our REACs and advising centers including most popular majors and a breakdown of center visitors (undergrad, grad, ESL/other);

9. Complete list of Scheduled Pre-Departure Orientations conducted by our centers to which institutions can refer their admitted students;

8. A comprehensive list of Higher Education Fairs in which our centers either participate or organize around the world;

7. A downloadable spreadsheet of mailing addresses for all centers, which items they can receive, and the maximum quantity of each item that can be sent to each center;

6. Links to our Social Media outlets on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and this blog;

5. Free advertising for any scholarships or academic program opportunites for international students through our Weekly Update which goes to every advising center;

4. Opportunity to request our new EducationUSA logo (via embed code) and descriptive paragraph for your international admissions website;

3. Sign-up for our Higher Education Institutions eNews;

2. A growing resource archive for U.S. institutions; and

1. Comprehensive information from our 14 REACs (regional educational advising coordinators) on Education Systems, Academic Calendars, Grading Scales, Country Statistics, Recent Trends, and Upcoming Events within their respective regions.

HEI E-News: International Education Week, Special Edition

2009-11-19T08:11:00.008-05:00

Excerpts from the latest HEI e-News....

November 2009

Special IEW Edition

Celebrate International Education Week! November 16-20, 2009

International Education Week is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. This joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education promotes programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences in the United States.

Discover how EducationUSA Advisers are celebrating International Education Week and explore ways for your institution to get involved with EducationUSA activities. View the planned events around the world at the International Education Week 2009 website. Thank you for your support of International Education Week.

EducationUSA Launches New Website: Connect with EducationUSA!

EducationUSA debuts a newly redesigned website for students interested in studying in the U.S. and the U.S. higher education community on November 16, 2009. Social media-friendly and engaging sharing features have been added to the website to allow students to find and share information about studying in the U.S. with their friends and family through their favorite social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter and link to the EducationUSA YouTube channel.

The new website will also grant the U.S. higher education community private access to a wide array of resources such as advising center profiles, country educational information, and international student recruitment opportunities. Find more ways to connect with the EducationUSA network at www.educationusa.state.gov.

EducationUSA Dialogue: We want to hear from you!

More than 20 representatives from Washington, DC area higher education institutions and associations attended the first EducationUSA Dialogue held on November 10th at the George C. Marshall Conference Center at the U.S. Department of State. After a welcome from Office Director, Paul Hiemstra, and introductions facilitated by Branch Chief Caryn Danz, Program Officers offered an overview of the services currently provided by the EducationUSA network. The participants then worked in four groups, sharing their insights and ideas about international recruiting and trends in internationalization. Participants also offered suggestions for how EducationUSA might more efficiently or effectively assist the U.S. higher education community. This time for brainstorming concluded with participants needing more time for discussion and looking forward to another meeting or event.

The State Department welcomes your comments, too. If you have a suggestion for us, please email Diane Weisz Young, Program Officer.

Record Numbers of International Students in U.S. Higher Education

The Institute of International Education (IIE) released the highlights of the 2009 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange Monday, November 16 in a briefing at the National Press Club in Washington, DC with Under Secretary of State Judith McHale and Under Secretary of Education Martha Kanter. The Open Doors Report is published annually by IIE with support from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

International Students in the U.S. Open Doors 2009 reports that the total international student enrollment in U.S. higher education increased by 8% to an all-time high of 671,616 in the 2008/09 academic year. There was an even stronger increase -- of 16% -- in the number of “new” international students, those enrolled for the first time at a U.S. college or university in fall 2008. Open Doors 2009 reports increases in foreign student enrollments from seven of the ten leading places of origin, and 19 of the top 25, with increases of more than 20% from four countries. India remains the leading place of origin for the eighth consecutive year, increasing by 9% to 103,260. Students from China, once again the second leading sender, increased 21% for a total of 98,510.

U.S. Study Abroad

Open Doors 2009 reports that the number of Americans studying abroad increased by 8.5% to 262,416 in the 2007/08 academic year. This latest increase builds on decades of steady growth, with four times as many U.S. students participating in study abroad in 2007/08 than in 1987/88. And students are continuing to go to more diverse destinations.

On the following pages check out the data for the top sending countries from each region based on the 2009 Open Doors Report, plus comments on trends from the Regional Educational Advising Coordinators. For the complete 2009 Open Doors Report, please visit http://opendoors.iienetwork.org.

Get Noticed In the EducationUSA Weekly Update!

Send two paragraphs of content related to scholarships or new programs and reach 400 EducationUSA advising centers in 170 countries. The EducationUSA Weekly Update is

circulated worldwide. Go online to the Higher Education section of our new site to request a login, and then once your login has been approved, submit your new academic program information or scholarships/assistantships that are accessible to international students online to our Weekly Update team.

Host EducationUSA Advisers on your Campus

The following opportunities are available to accredited U.S. higher education institutions and specialized schools to interact with EducationUSA advisers:

USBT: host 4-5 participants for one week during the Spring and Fall 2011 U.S. Based Training Program for EducationUSA Advisers (USBT) – in mid-April or in October/November (TBD). Multiple clusters of varied institutional types/missions (up to 5 institutions per cluster - must include graduate level); advisers represent different world regions and types of advising centers. Airfare, housing and meals for the advisers are included, along with modest reimbursement for cluster administrative expenses.
Post-NAFSA campus tours: 3-6 days visiting multiple campuses after the 2010 NAFSA: Association of International Educators conference in Kansas City, MO. Post-NAFSA tours should budget to include local sources for housing, meals and in-state travel.

Full information and a campus Request for Proposal (RFP) will be posted at www.collegeboard.com/international. Please specify your program of interest by e-mail to the College Board.

EducationUSA at Regional NAFSAs this Fall

2009-10-26T10:00:00.004-04:00

Each fall, a number of EducationUSA advisers, REACs (Regional Educational Advising Coordinators), and other members of the EducationUSA family span out across the US visiting a number of NAFSA regional conferences. This year is no exception with ten of the eleven regions seeing EducationUSA representation.

NAFSA regional conferences provide the opportunity for over 30 members of our EducationUSA family to interact with international education professionals.

NAFSA Region II Albuquerque, NM

Ms. Doreen John, Malaysia, Fulbright Commission, Kuala Lumpur
Mr. Martin Kanjadza, Malawi, U.S. Embassy, Lilongwe
Ms. Seemi Khosa ,Pakistan, Fulbright Commission, Islamabad
Ms. Liisi Lembinen ,Estonia, Tartu University, Tartu
Ms. Carolina Tamara, Colombia, Centro Cultural Colombo Americano, Barranquilla
Mr. Tim Wright Mexico, REAC Mexico, Central America & the Caribbean

NAFSA Region III Dallas TX

Mr. Salim Said Al-Badi, Oman, AMIDEAST, Muscat
Ms. Lucena R. Felipe, Philippines, Mariano Marcos State U., Batac, Ilocos Norte
Mr. Bradley Gorski, Russia Country Coordinator, American Councils
Ms. Martha Huaman, Peru, ICPNA, Lima
Ms. Gunay Masimova, Azerbaijan, Education Information Center, Baku
Ms. Seena Sunil, India, IAES/USIEF Satellite Center, Ahmedabad

NAFSA Region IV Rochester MN

Mr. Wes Teter, Hungary, REAC Western and Central Europe

NAFSA Region V Milwaukee WI

Ms. Diane Weisz Young, Washington DC, State Department, Program Officer for Africa
Ms. Bernice Affotey, Ghana, U.S. Embassy, Accra
Ms. Judith Dijks, Suriname, U.S. Embassy, Paramaribo
Ms. Ariunaa Enkhtur, Mongolia, EARC Ulaanbaatar
Ms. Amy McGoldrick, Turkey, REAC Turkey, the Balkans and Central Asia
Mr. Arif Mujaddedi, Afghanistan, U.S. Embassy, Kabul
Ms. Priyani Shah, Nepal, Fulbright Commission, Kathmandu
Mr. Marty Bennett, Washington DC, EducationUSA Marketing Coordinator

NAFSA Region VI Cincinnati, OH

Ms. Nichole Johnson, Washington DC, Director, REAC Services
Mr. Hamza Dalhatu, Nigeria, EducationUSA adviser
Mr. Adama Dieng, Senegal, EducationUSA adviser

NAFSA Region VII Knoxville TN

Ms. Claudia Carrillo, Chile, ICN, Santiago
Ms. Beth Franklin, Saudi Arabia, U.S. Embassy, Riyadh
Ms. Lai-mei (Delai) Lee, Taiwan, AIEF-Taipei
Ms. Clara Priester, South Africa, REAC Southern/Eastern Africa
Mr. Daniel Ramos, Mexico, Inst. Cult. Mex. Norteamericano, Guadalajara
Ms. Elena Tatarkova, Kyrgyzstan, Soros Foundation, Bishkek

NAFSA Region VIII Washington DC

Mr. Marty Bennett, Washington DC, EducationUSA Marketing Coordinator
Ms. Nichole Johnson, Washington DC, Director, REAC Services
Ms. Dorothy Mora, Washington DC, State Department, Program Officer for Eurasia

NAFSA Region X & XI Springfield MA

Mr. Marty Bennett, Washington DC, EducationUSA Marketing Coordinator
Mr. Hamza Dalhatu, Nigeria, EducationUSA adviser
Mr. Adama Dieng, Senegal, EducationUSA adviser

NAFSA Region XII San Diego, CA

Ms. Nichole Johnson, Washington DC, Director, REAC Services

For our friends in the US higher education community we invite you to stop by and pick up a brand new packet of information for institutions to assist you in connecting with EducationUSA as you look for better ways to recruit international students to your campuses.

Happy & safe travels to you all.

Higher Education Institutions E-News Quarterly, September 2009

2009-09-28T17:25:00.011-04:00

Mark this date: – November 16, 2009 – Updated EducationUSA website launch

As we move into a more collaborative, interactive online world of information sharing and networking, the mission of EducationUSA to connect U.S. higher education institutions to our advising centers and their students has never been more significant. To that end, at the start of International Education Week 2009, we will be re-launching the EducationUSA.state.gov website. User-friendly interfaces for students, accredited U.S. institutions, and the EducationUSA community as well as comprehensive information on advising centers and host country educational systems will be available on the updated site. Contact Marty Bennett and Gina Anderson, EducationUSA Marketing Coordinators, for details.

EducationUSA at Upcoming Conferences, October-November 2009

NAFSA Regional Conferences offer you the opportunity to meet with EducationUSA advisers and staff in a smaller, more intimate setting than the annual NAFSA national conference. Please make a point to meet our outstanding advisers to learn more about their countries and how you can partner with them.

The following EducationUSA representatives will be participating at the following conferences:

NAFSA Region II Albuquerque, NM
Ms. Doreen John Malaysia Fulbright Commission, Kuala Lumpur
Mr. Martin Kanjadza Malawi U.S. Embassy, Lilongwe
Ms. Seemi Khosa Pakistan Fulbright Commission, Islamabad
Ms. Liisi Lembinen Estonia Tartu University, Tartu
Ms. Carolina Tamara Colombia Centro Cultural Colombo Americano, Barranquilla
Mr. Tim Wright Mexico REAC Mexico, Central America & the Caribbean

NAFSA Region III Dallas TX
Mr. Salim Said Al-Badi Oman AMIDEAST, Muscat
Ms. Lucena R. Felipe Philippines Mariano Marcos State U., Batac, Ilocos Norte
Mr. Bradley Gorski Russia Country Coordinator, American Councils
Ms. Martha Huaman Peru ICPNA, Lima
Ms. Gunay Masimova Azerbaijan Education Information Center, Baku
Ms. Seena Sunil India IAES/USIEF Satellite Center, Ahmedabad

NAFSA Region IV Rochester MN
Mr. Wes Teter Hungary REAC Western and Central Europe

NAFSA Region V Milwaukee WI
Ms. Diane Weisz Young Washington DC State Department, Program Officer for Africa
Ms. Bernice Affotey Ghana U.S. Embassy, Accra
Ms. Judith Dijks Suriname U.S. Embassy, Paramaribo
Ms. Ariunaa Enkhtur Mongolia EARC Ulaanbaatar
Ms. Amy McGoldrick Turkey REAC Turkey, the Balkans and Central Asia
Mr. Arif Mujaddedi Afghanistan U.S. Embassy, Kabul
Ms. Priyani Shah Nepal Fulbright Commission, Kathmandu
Mr. Marty Bennett Washington DC EducationUSA Marketing Coordinator

NAFSA Region VI Lexington KY
Ms. Nichole Johnson Washington DC REAC Coordinator
Mr. Hamza Dalhatu Nigeria EducationUSA adviser
Mr. Adama Dieng Senegal EducationUSA adviser

NAFSA Region VII Knoxville TN
Ms. Claudia Carrillo Chile ICN, Santiago
Ms. Beth Franklin Saudi Arabia U.S. Embassy, Riyadh
Ms. Lai-mei (Delai) Lee Taiwan AIEF, Taipei
Ms. Clara Priester South Africa REAC Southern/Eastern Africa
Mr. Daniel Ramos Mexico Inst. Cult. Mex. Norteamericano, Guadalajara
Ms. Elena Tatarkova Kyrgyzstan Soros Foundation, Bishkek

NAFSA Region VIII Washington DC
Mr. Marty Bennett Washington DC EducationUSA Marketing Coordinator
Ms. Nichole Johnson Washington DC REAC Coordinator
Ms. Dorothy Mora Washington DC State Department, Program Officer for Eurasia

NAFSA Region X & XI Springfield MA
Mr. Marty Bennett Washington DC EducationUSA Marketing Coordinator
Ms. Dorothy Mora Washington DC State Department, Program Officer for Eurasia

NAFSA Region XII San Diego, CA
Ms. Nichole Johnson Washington DC REAC Coordinator

Council of International Schools Forum, Munich Germany
Ms. Rekha Kalle India REAC India
Ms. Amy Beausoleil China Country Coordinator, Beijing, China
Mr. Marty Bennett Washington DC EducationUSA Marketing Coordinator

International Education Week, November 16-20, 2009

First held in 2000, International Education Week is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. This joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education promotes programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences in the United States. The International Education Week 2009 website (iew.state.gov) includes promotional materials, interactive quizzes, and opportunities to post and view planned events around the world. In addition, the IEW Facebook page and group have been updated (www.facebook.com/internationaleducationweek). New this year, IEW also has a presence on ExchangesConnect (connect.state.gov). You can find a links to all our pages on the IEW 2009 website. We encourage all individuals and institutions interested in international education and exchange activities, including EducationUSA centers, schools, colleges and universities, embassies, international organizations, businesses, associations, and community organizations to participate in celebrating IEW 2009. If you have any questions or comments regarding IEW, please send them to feedback@state.gov. Thank you for your support of International Education Week.

EducationUSA Weekly Update

Another free benefit of partnering with EducationUSA is Weekly Update. This weekly email newsletter goes to all advisers in our network (in 170 countries). If your institution has scholarships that are available for international students and/or if you have new academic programs that may be of particular interest to an overseas audience, you can send an email with those details (a short paragraph with weblinks and email addresses for further information) to educationusa@state.gov. If there is a short video that describes these new programs or scholarships, we can embed those in the Weekly Update as well. We distribute the Weekly Update to all 450+ EducationUSA Advisers, many of whom forward it to their student contacts each week.

Financial Aid Awarded to International Students

The REAC for West and Central Africa has published the fifth edition of the EducationUSA Undergraduate Financial Aid Table, listing 886 four-year colleges and universities that are known to have awarded $10,000 or more in need- or merit-based funding to international students, including 352 that award more than $20,000. Students in EducationUSA centers around the world use this table as a guide in their selection of schools. If your institution awards more than $10,000 to individuals from outside the United States, please send your information to Nancy Keteku for inclusion in the next edition of the table.

EducationUSA Searchable Database Now Available Online

For those who attended the NAFSA Country Fair, you likely received a flash drive containing a searchable database of over 150 countries in which EducationUSA is represented. These country profiles contain contact information for all of our advising centers (with adviser email addresses) as well as the services each center provides for accredited U.S. institutions, some important statistical data on each country including the grading scales for both secondary and university education, and best times for visits to the country. Please email Marty Bennett, EducationUSA Marketing Coordinator, for more information about the online version of this database.

AFRICA

Scholarship Awards in Africa

EducationUSA Advisors worked harder than ever this year to help their students compete for admission with funding where needed. We are exceedingly proud to announce that students who use EducationUSA centers in Sub-Saharan Africa were awarded $16.5 million from U.S. colleges and universities this year. About 70% of these awards went to undergraduates, with the remainder going to graduate students. To those who made these awards possible, we send our thanks in hundreds of African languages.

MBA Tours in Africa

MBA Admissions representatives join forces to identify the next generation of African business talent: In late August, admissions officers from five leading U.S. MBA programs held information sessions, visited universities, and put on workshops for prospective MBAs in Lagos, Nigeria; Accra, Ghana; and Johannesburg, South Africa. The leading business schools most eager to enroll African students were: Tuck School of Business (Dartmouth College); Darden School of Business (University of Virginia); Wharton School of Business (University of Pennsylvania); Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University); and Chicago-Booth School of Business (University of Chicago). Following this sterling example, Columbia University’s School of Business has announced an African tour in late October. Traveling together in small groups with coordination from EducationUSA Advising Centers and local alumni has proved a highly successful and cost-effective way of meeting high quality students in Africa.

Council of International Schools (CIS) Africa Tour Returns in Late Fall

The CIS annual Africa tour will travel to ten cities in eight African countries in late October-early November. Admissions representatives from eight U.S. and four Canadian undergraduate institutions will visit Accra, Ghana; Lagos, Nigeria; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Nairobi and Mombasa, Kenya; Lusaka, Zambia; Harare, Zimbabwe; Johannesburg and Durban, South Africa. Other undergraduate admissions officers visiting Africa this fall include Vassar College, Tufts University, Harvard College, Yale College, University of Pennsylvania, and Bryant University. Again, coordination through EducationUSA Advising Centers is the secret of success for these visits.

Nigeria College Fairs in October

EducationUSA Advising Centers in Nigeria will hold their 12th annual College Fairs in early October – Lagos on October 6-7 and Abuja on October 8 - attracting thousands of Nigerian students and teachers to this very popular event.

Educational Advising Enhancements in Africa

Eighteen EducationUSA Advising Centers have received a total of $93,000 in funding under the Assist African Advising program, to implement projects in their centers ranging from equipment upgrades to outreach campaigns to English language teaching programs, all designed to enhance African students’ ability to gain admission to colleges and universities in the United States.

EAST ASIA/PACIFIC

Australia

EducationUSA advisers in Australia will conduct graduate information sessions in Cairns and Townsville on October 6 and 7. The programs will be hosted by James Cook University.

An international student U.S. pre-departure orientation will be held in Brisbane on October 8. The program will be hosted by Griffith University and is being supported by Queensland Education and Training International (QETI). The EducationUSA center at the U.S. Consulate General in Sydney will also host a Pre Departure Orientation on October 22.

For information on these and other events in Australia, contact Helen Reidy.

Indonesia: EducationUSA Reconnect-Plus admissions delegation to Indonesia
Application deadline: OCTOBER 7, 2009

Take advantage of a new opportunity for U.S. institutions to participate in U.S. Department of State-funded delegation to Indonesia during November 30-December 13 to visit EducationUSA advising centers and Indonesian secondary schools and universities. Participants will deliver information sessions and workshops for students, families and educators across Indonesia to explain the U.S. higher education admission process, academic programs and exchange initiatives. For the program description and application form please e-mail educationUSA@collegeboard.org to join this effort to increase US-Indonesian student mobility (must have experience with EducationUSA advising, preferably as campus host).

Japan

The Fulbright Japan EducationUSA center will conduct several Public Sessions in November, 2009 on a variety of topics, including:
- Graduate Admission in the U.S. (Nov.4)
- How my study abroad experience shaped my career (Nov.17)
- Liberal Arts Undergraduate Education in the U.S. (Nov.18).

EIS also welcomes individuals (or groups) to give presentations on specific topics regarding higher education in the U.S. For more information, please visit them online at www.fulbright.jp/eng/study/usservice.html

Korea

Fulbright Korea would like to announce the Association of Boarding Schools Fair scheduled for Tuesday, October 27 from 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM at the COEX InterContinental Hotel. For more information on this and other events, visit them online at www.fulbright.or.kr/en/usec/studyfairs.php

Taiwan

The Fulbright Taiwan EducationUSA advising center will host a public information session on U.S. Graduate Admissions on November 19, 2009. The session will be presented by Kristin Williams, Ed.D, Assistant Vice President for Graduate and Special Enrollment Management at The George Washington University. For more information on this and other upcoming events, please contact Mrs. Judy Chow.

EUROPE/EURASIA

1st Annual Volunteer College Fair in Ankara, Turkey, Oct. 6, at the Turkish-American Association in AnkaraAny alumna/us of a U.S. university is invited to participate in this fair and to share information about his/her alma mater with local high school students. It is not too late to sign up. If you have an alumna/alumnus of your college in Ankara, please encourage him/her to sign up to represent your university at this event. Participation is free. To register for this event, please contact EducationUSA advisor, Aylin Dewan.

EducationUSA Triennial Workshop in Prague, Czech Republic from March 21-25, 2010

Dear Colleagues,
We invite you to participate in the Europe/Eurasia Regional EducationUSA Triennial Workshop “From Reykjavik to Vladivostok” sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State. The workshop will take place in Prague, Czech Republic from March 21-25th, 2010.
110 EducationUSA advisers representing over 40 countries in Europe and Eurasia will be attending this workshop. U.S. exhibitors will be able to promote their institutions during the student fair and sessions. A call for session proposals will be posted online and distributed in the coming weeks.
Contact EducationUSA Europe to receive more information and to join the mailing list: educationusa@iie.eu

Follow the EducationUSA EUR workshop on Facebook: www.facebook.com/educationUSA (Find the Triennial Workshop under events.)

Launch of the Croatian-American Foundation for Education and Training

The Institute for the Development of Education (IDE) in Croatia, a member of the EducationUSA network, is proud to announce the launch of the Croatian-American Foundation for Education and Training. The Foundation will provide masters-level graduate scholarships for highly qualified Croatian citizens who wish to study at U.S. universities. The Foundation is the product of a joint initiative between IDE as the founder and the U.S. Embassy in Zagreb and it will be governed in partnership with representatives of the Croatian government, the Croatian academic community and members of the American and Croatian business communities.

IDE looks forward to establishing linkages with specific graduate programs at U.S. universities in the near future and welcomes any partnership proposals related to the Foundation. For further information about IDE and contact details, please visit the web page: www.iro.hr .

Ana BudinFoundation Director, Zagreb, CroatiaT: +385 1 4555 151 / +385 1 4817 aabudin@haz.iro.hr / www.haz.iro.hr

Are you coming to the CIS Forum in Munich? Stop-by in Prague

Are you going to participate at the Council of International Schools (CIS) Forum that takes place in Munich, Germany, through November 16 – 17, 2009? You may consider an extension of your stay in Central Europe, visiting Prague, the beautiful capital of the Czech Republic, and celebrating International Education Week with prospective Czech students in the Advising Center of the Czech Fulbright Commission. If you are interested in this recruitment opportunity, please contact the Educational Advisor Jakub Tesar (tesar@fulbright.cz +420 222 718 452) and discuss your options in Prague.

Futurália 2010 - Educational Fair in Lisbon, Portugal: Your first stop in Europe!

The Fulbright Commission in Portugal and EducationUSA invite you to participate in the new EducationUSA Pavilion at the 2010 edition of Futurália – Youth, Education and Employment, an Educational Fair that will take place in March 10-13th. Participants: high school and university students; young graduates; teachers; parents; and education and learning experts. Futurália is expected to host 35,000 people in a major educational fair in Portugal.
Mark it on your calendar!
More information:Fulbright Commission – Portugal Phone: 351 217 611 130 Email: studyusa@ccla.pt
Best regards,

Ricardo Sequeira, Fulbright Information Center, Lisbon

Fulbright Center in Amsterdam – Outreach tour in the Netherlands

This fall the Fulbright Center in Amsterdam organizes an outreach tour throughout The Netherlands. We will organize 9 events and visit 8 cities during the months of September, October and November. The seminars will highlight undergraduate education in the U.S. and promote our Campus Scholarship Program. This program offers excellent Dutch high school graduates the opportunity to study in the U.S. for a year or a full degree. If U.S. institutions are interested in having Dutch students on campus, please contact the educational advisers of the Fulbright Center, Fabienne van den Bor (fvandenbor@fulbright.nl) or Erik van den Berg (e.vandenberg@fulbright.nl), for more information about student outreach opportunities.

Opportunities Arising in Slovenia

The EducationUSA center in Ljubljana was established in March, 2008. Its presence enables HEIs in the USA to be informed and use opportunities for promotion of programs in Slovenia and the region. In next few months, various fairs will take place in Slovenia. First will be the 10th Student Arena from October 13-15th. 20,000 people attended the event last year, primarily high school and undergraduate students, and it aimed to promote various opportunities for young people in the areas of education and learning, career and employment, science, sport and leisure. It will be followed by the 7th “Kariera” career fair on November 25th and 26th, visited last year by 14,000 young career-oriented people interested in employment or postgraduate education (MBA and other). In the beginning of 2010, on January 29th and 30th, a fair called “Informativa'10”, the largest education event in Slovenia, will take place. Each of the three fairs is organized by different organizers, but all offer free admission to students. HEI can participate for a fee as exhibitor, through lectures or advertisements. There are great opportunities to present your programs to specific target groups in Slovenia so we invite you to participate.

The EducationUSA center in Ljubljana will be present at two, if not all three, events to promote education in the USA. If you need more information on how to get involved please visit the above stated web sites or get in touch with us at EducationUSA@sklad-kadri.si. You can also contact us if you will not be able to attend but would like to be promoted through the EducationUSA center.

The Swedish SACO Fair: November 25th, 2009

The SACO fair in Malmö attracts about 6,000 students (mainly high school seniors). To make a bigger impact this year, EducationUSA @ Malmö Borgarskola is setting up a "Study in the USA- Island" where we will bring together as many U.S. institutions as possible. This will of course reduce the cost for you substantially. You will not have to pay any sign-up fee and the booth cost is reduced for you to approx. 500USD. If you are interested in participating (either yourself or alumni) contact us before October 23rd.
Andreas LejonEducationUSA Adviser and TeacherEducationUSA at Malmö Borgarskola andreas.lejon@pub.malmo.se +46-40-34 70 20

New EducationUSA advising centers in Ukraine and Georgia

We are very pleased to announce the opening of three new advising centers in Eurasia, serving regional populations of Ukraine and Georgia.

The Center for Promotion of International Education “Osvita”
Simferopol, Ukraine
Ms. Nelly Malii, Adviser, eacosvita@pop.cris.net

EducationUSA Advising Center, Crimean Engineering Pedagogical University
Simferopol, Ukraine
Nataliya Krasnobaya, Adviser, curly_nata@mail.ru

Center for International Education

Akhaltsikhe, Georgia
Tinatin Vardidze, Adviser, tvrosy@gmail.com

2009 – 2010 Education Fairs in Eurasia

If you have recruiters or alumni in the region, we would love to involve them in Education Fairs, and advisers can even distribute materials on behalf of your school if no representative can attend. Please contact the local EducationUSA advisers indicated for each fair for more information on how to get involved.

October 4, 2009

Rostov-na-Donu, Russia

Contact: Mr. Bradley Gorski, russiacoordinator@gmail.com

October 5-6, 2009
Kyiv, Ukraine
Contact: Ms. Victoria Mikhailenko, ieac@americancouncilskyiv.org.ua

October 7, 2009

St. Petersburg, Russia

Contact: Mr. Bradley Gorski, russiacoordinator@gmail.com

October 8, 2009
Moscow, Russia
Contact: Mr. Bradley Gorski, russiacoordinator@gmail.com

October 9, 2009

Tbilisi, Georgia

Contact: Ms. Tea Kuchukhidze, Kuchukhidze@state.gov

October 10, 2009
Baku, Azerbaijan
Contact: Ms. Bahar Haji-Zada, bhaji-zada@beic.az

October 23, 2009
Yerevan, Armenia
Contact: Ms. Gayane Grigorian, gayane@americancouncils.am

November 12-14, 2009
Moscow, Russia
Contact: Mr. Bradley Gorski, russiacoordinator@gmail.com

February 19-20, 2010
Yekaterinburg, Russia
Contact: Mr. Bradley Gorski, russiacoordinator@gmail.com

Funding Opportunities for study in the U.S. for students from Eurasia

Governments and local foundations in Eurasia are increasingly recognizing the value of an international education, and several new scholarship programs have been introduced in the region for study in the US. If you have interested students and applicants from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Tatarstan (in the Russian Federation) and Ukraine, please encourage them to contact their local EducationUSA advising center for more information these funding opportunities.

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani Government Scholarship Program - scholarships for graduate studies at a select number of U.S. institutions. Funded by the Government of Azerbaijan. www.edu.gov.az

State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic Scholarship Program (SOCAR) –scholarships providing full funding to master’s degree students from Azerbaijan interested in pursuing a career in the oil and gas industry. www.socar.az/12-snews-view-en.html

Georgia

Democracy and Reform Fund – scholarships to master’s students in the fields of business, law, engineering, social sciences, humanities and medicine. Scholarships can cover full expenses, but preference is given to those who receive partial scholarships from universities. Funded by the Government of Georgia.

Russian Federation

Tatarstan Higher Education Fellowship Program – one-year fellowships for up to 50 undergraduate and graduate students to study at a U.S. university in the fields of agriculture, architecture (undergraduate only), arts & culture, business administration, chemistry, computer science/IT, economics, education, engineering, environmental management, journalism, physics, public health, social work, sociology, and urban planning. Funded by the Government of Tatarstan, a region within the Russian Federation, and administered by American Councils for International Education. http://www.americancouncils.org/program/3e/THEF/

Ukraine

WorldWideStudies – grants to cover university tuition and fees, study materials and health insurance (up to $50,000) for masters programs in the fields of agriculture, environmental studies/ecology, law (LLM) and public administration. Funded by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation. worldwidestudies.org/en

Belarus, Russian Federation and Ukraine

Opportunity – provides support to talented international students of limited financial means who cannot afford the expenses of applying to accredited U.S. higher education institutions for degree-granting programs (undergraduate and graduate). May cover up-front expenses including, but not limited to: standardized testing fees; application fees and international postage; translations and certifications of academic transcripts; visa and SEVIS fees; transportation to the U.S. for enrollment; settling-in allowance for initial costs of living in the US. Information and applications available from EducationUSA advising centers. Funded by the U.S. Department of State. educationUSA.state.gov

MIDDLE EAST and NORTH AFRICA

Tours in the region

· The Linden tour will travel to six Middle Eastern countries from October 13-25th. The group will visit Dubai, UAE; Muscat, Oman; Doha, Qatar; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Kuwait City, Kuwait; Amman, Jordan. www.lindentours.com
· The USEG tour will travel to nine cities in seven Middle Eastern countries from October 27th through November 11th. U.S. university representatives will visit Beirut, Lebanon; Amman, Jordan; Aqaba, Jordan; Manama, Bahrain; Dammam, Saudi Arabia; Doha, Qatar; Kuwait City, Kuwait; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and Dubai, UAE.
· EducationUSA Advising Centers in Cairo and Alexandria hold their annual College Fair in mid October, attracting hundreds of Egyptian students and teachers to this very popular event.

Competitive College Club students headed to the United States this fall

EducationUSA Advisors worked harder than ever this year to help their students compete for admission with funding where needed. Nine Competitive College Club students and 6 Opportunity Grant students are in the U.S. Thank you to all of the universities who believed in our students!

The Competitive College Club works with exceptionally bright students- both students who do and do not need financial assistance. CCC is open to students in grades 9-12 who are in the top 10 percent of their class. Students come to bi-monthly meetings, participate in community service projects and go through an intensive advising process with EducationUSA trained advisors. The club is free and also open to athletes and musicians looking to study in the US. Any schools with competitive scholarship programs who would like to do a video conference with the CCC students are invited to contact the REAC, Kristen Cammarata reackmc@gmail.com

Information on Iraqi Scholarships

Message from the Higher Committee for Education Development in Iraq (HCED)

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to inform you that the Iraq Education Initiative is well on its way to becoming a reality. We have opened our new offices in Baghdad, staff has begun work, and applications are flooding in. We already have well over 3,000 applications in hand. Our website is up and running at: www.hcediraq.org

The first 150 scholarships will be allocated automatically to the top 100 high school graduates across Iraq and to the top 50 technical college graduates. We hope to award an additional 400-500 scholarships this year for both graduate and undergraduate study in the United States and in the UK.

While we are off to a slower start than we had hoped, we will work hard to ensure that as many students as possible begin their programs this fall. Quite a few universities have indicated to us great flexibility with regard to arrival dates, since nearly all students will enroll in intensive English courses at first.

For those interested in becoming members of the American Universities Iraq Consortium, the Academy for Educational Development (AED) is coordinating registration on their website at www.cap.aed.org

We are looking for university partners who:

• provide ESL either on or near their campuses (or have an arrangement that will pipeline students into their academic programs),
• can issue DS-2019s from the start so that students travel on J visas only,
• ideally, offer provisional admissions and accept international students without the SAT requirement.

In addition, consortium members will:

- Assign an admissions liaison to serve as point contact for the HCED and coordinate the admissions process for all academic degree programs at the institution.
- Accelerate the admissions process for Iraqi students, including providing provisional admissions to Iraqi students who meet pre-determined admissions requirements.

We will place the first cohort of students with as many of the founding members of the consortium as possible, but actual placements will depend on majors, places and degree levels available and the needs of the program this year.

We anticipate a much larger program next year and will welcome participation from as many accredited programs and higher education institutions as possible.

Please stay tuned for further developments.

Best regards,

Zuhair Humadi, PhD
Executive Director
Higher Committee for Education Development in Iraq (HCED)

SOUTH and CENTRAL ASIA

Afghanistan: Kabul EducationUSA Advising Center (KEAC) Forms First Competitive College Club

Recently, the EducationUSA advising center in Kabul formed a student group which principally focuses on admission applications and standardized tests. The advising center invited about 60 students to join the club, but the club ended up with 18 committed students. The goal ultimately is to provide assistance to those who are interested in pursuing their college education in the United States. This initiative gives a remarkable opportunity to prepare the students for higher education in the United States. To encourage students and offer them even more of an incentive to pursue their academic goals, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul paid for the TOEFL test fees for the club participants. The EducationUSA advisor in Kabul meets with the club members on a regular basis to monitor their progress and challenges.

India: EducationUSA invites participation in International Education Week celebrations

EducationUSA, Kolkata, India will be organizing “Study America Fest” during International Education Week from November 16-18, 2009. The fest will comprise group sessions on U.S. admissions and applications procedures, individual counseling by EducationUSA staff, and student visa sessions by Consular staff. U.S. universities and colleges are invited to participate in this event. If you are visiting India and would be willing to conduct a special session on applications or any other related topic, please contact Sudarshan Saha. You may also send us posters, promotional materials, literature and other takeaways which will be freely distributed. Around 300-400 students participate in this event each year. "America Quiz" will also be conducted by the Public Affairs Office and American Library as part of the celebrations.

Kazakhstan

2009 International Education Fair, Aktobe, Kazakhstan, Oct. 28-29, 2009
Kazakhstan is a rapidly developing economy, with a population of 15 million people, located south of Russia and north-west of China. Over 16 years of independence, Kazakhstan has secured a leading position in terms of economic growth among all 15 former Soviet republics. Educating the next generation of Kazakhstani youth has been one of the key priorities of the Kazakh government since the country became independent in 1991. The “Bolashak” Presidential Scholarship Program (approx. 1,000 scholarship holders every year) and the policy of trilingualism (promotion of Kazakh, Russian and English) are making Kazakhstan a favorable place to market your educational services and attract brilliant students with solid high school and university background.Who are we? The AKEAC (Aktobe Educational Advising Center) is a member of the worldwide network of U.S. State Department-affiliated EducationUSA advising centers. AKEAC personnel are highly qualified professionals in the sphere of overseas education and are NAFSA: Association of International Educators members. We help people find a way for professional and academic improvement and provide a variety of services and products related to education overseas and English language studies. Our target group is Kazakhstanis of various ages from Aktobe Region and Western Kazakhstan. We use our knowledge and experience in administering educational services and in educational advising and provide up-to-date information and expertise. For more information, please visit www.akeac.org

Who attends?

• High school students aged 15-17

• College and university students aged 18-21

• Teachers, practitioners, scholars, and researchers

Why attend?

• Explore a new market

• Directly recruit new students

• Establish long-term business partnership

If you are on the Bolashak list, you will meet potential Bolashak recipients who may choose your institution (learn more about Bolashak at www.edu-cip.kz). For more information, please contact info@akeac.org.

10th Annual International Education Fair, October 24, 12pm-5pm, Almaty, Kazakhstan

The fair will be held at the Hyatt hotel and hosted by the Educational Advising Center BILIM-Central Asia. The fair offers great opportunities for colleges and universities, international educational agencies, foreign embassies, and other participating organizations to recruit talented students from Kazakhstan. It is not too late to register. For more information, please contact Gulnaz Issakhanova. More information is also available on Bilim's website: www.bilim.kz.

Kyrgyzstan: Request for US University Videos

The EducationUSA center in Naryn, Kyrgyzstan (the Naryn Educational Advising Center) requests DVDs from U.S. universities. Visitors to the Naryn EducationUSA center enjoy watching videos of U.S. campuses at the center. The videos are also useful during outreach events and the annual education fair. The videos should be sent in either DVD or CD format. If you have a video of your campus that you would like to send to Naryn, please contact Nazira Kaseeva by email at naryn.edu.center@gmail.com for the center mailing address.

Pakistan: USEFP Education Fair October 2009

The United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP) will hold a college fair on its premises in Islamabad on October 17, 2009. This is part of our ongoing effort to give U.S. universities a ‘face’ in Pakistan even though admission officials rarely visit this country. USEFP has requested universities and colleges to request one or more of their alumni in Pakistan to come to the USEFP and represent their alma maters. This event is meant to attract Pakistani students to meet the ‘face’ of U.S. universities and to enable them to speak face-to-face with a fellow Pakistani who has had personal experience with the institution and life in the United States. Other major college fairs are held in Pakistan each year which include dozens of universities from all over the world, yet not a single one from the U.S. It’s no wonder why Pakistani student numbers have dropped so drastically. USEFP held this education fair last year, and it was very well received. U.S. alumni in Pakistan need only commit about four hours to represent their institutions on October 17th! There is no charge for participation.

WESTERN HEMISPHERE

Western Hemisphere EducationUSA Adviser Training Program – This week in el D.F.

The Western Hemisphere EducationUSA Adviser Training Program is taking place this week, September 28th through October 2nd in Mexico City. This U.S. State Department-sponsored program is bringing together over 100 advisers from the network of EducationUSA advising centers in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as representatives of over 50 U.S. higher education institutions.

Fall 2009 Caribbean College Fairs

The College Fair organizers in the Caribbean are pleased to remind you of the dates for the fall 2009 Caribbean College Fairs, which begins in Aruba on October 16th and ends in the Bahamas on November 20th. To register your institution to participate in one or all of these fairs, please contact the fair organizer in each country. You can find contact information and specific dates by visiting www.educationusa.state.gov Find Your Advising Center > Recruiting Fair Schedule

We are pleased to offer this newsletter as a way to keep accredited higher education institutions informed about what is happening in our network. To register for the Higher Education Institution listserv (email group) please send an email to educationUSA@state.gov along with your name and position, and the name of your college or university.

EducationUSA Advisers Conferences, Workshops & Programs

2009-09-10T09:39:00.006-04:00

Later this month over 100 EducationUSA advisers will converge on Mexico City for the Western Hemishphere triennial regional advising conference. Of the many remarkable things about this event is that this year, there will be over 50 US higher education community members in attendance.

Though the event is billed as an Adviser Training Program, as many sessions are geared toward updating advisers' skills and knowledge base, the week-long agenda also includes several opportunities for the US higher education community to present with or to advisers, as well as numerous meals and more social events at which institutional reps and advisers get to know each other. The importance of relationships in the international education world cannot be underestimated, and I won't belabor the point here. What I will say is that in this increasingly competitive global marketplace we find ourselves in, at EducationUSA we recognize that while our advisers work every day with students in the 170 countries we operate, in order for us to be truly successful in our mission, we must also reach out to our US colleagues that are eager to enroll these students.

We are making concerted efforts to encourage US college and university representatives to attend these regional conferences (as well as other events where EducationUSA is represented) now and in the future. In addition to the opportunity to interact with advisers from through Latin America and the Caribbean, we have arranged (through our good friend, Juan Camilo Tamayo at Lynn University, a series of international & national school visits on one day of the conference when advisers will have specific sessions focused on center needs. Mucho gracia, Camilo!

Though the deadline has passed for the upcoming WHA conference, we invite you to save the dates of March 21-25, 2010 in Prague, for the Europe/Eurasia Triennial Workshop where more than 100 advisers will also be present. Additionally in 2010, there will be the African EducationUSA Advisers Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa in September (dates tba).

We hope to see you in the coming months both at home and abroad!

Facebook and EducationUSA: An Update

2009-08-28T12:25:00.007-04:00

Facebook is the driving force in social media today. Four or five years ago many thought of this fledgling social network as just a fad, limited to college campuses in the US. Today, the number of users on Facebook worldwide (as of this blog post: over 262 million) would make it the 4th largest country in the world, only 38 million or so behind the US. Keep in mind that 70% of all Facebook users are outside the US. This is where my US international admissions colleagues really have an opportunity to break ground.

While there are certainly a multitude of types of social media (from microblogs, to blogs, to photo/video sharing sites, to newsfeeds, and many more) out there to use, the big dog they are all looking to is Facebook. I've covered some of the other options and avenues to reach out using social media in other past (and future) posts, but today, let's focus on the current state of affairs with regards to the use of Facebook.

At present, 38 countries worldwide have more than 1 million Facebook users:

1. United States 79,808,380
2. United Kingdom 19,042,180
3. Turkey 12,834,260
4. Canada 12,091,440
5. France 11,654,520
6. Italy 10,598,540
7. Indonesia 8,358,660
8. Australia 6,293,200
9. Spain 6,251,860
10. Argentina 5,996,380
11. Colombia 5,934,060
12. Chile 5,178,360
13. Mexico 4,505,500
14. Philippines 4,477,400
15. India 3,959,980
16. Venezuela 3,943,660
17. Germany 3,725,060
18. Malaysia 2,549,180
19. Belgium 2,430,020
20. Sweden 2,397,560
21. Hong Kong 2,192,800
22. Denmark 2,059,480
23. Norway 2,058,300
24. Taiwan 1,950,680
25. South Africa 1,870,900
26. Greece 1,796,400
27. Egypt 1,786,500
28. Israel 1,669,160
29. Switzerland 1,557,480
30. Singapore 1,533,040
31. Brazil 1,439,080
32. Czech Republic 1,298,140
33. Netherlands 1,260,140
34. Finland 1,195,040
35. Peru 1,107,140
36. Thailand 1,077,140
37. Serbia 1,041,840
38. New Zealand 1,030,060

All of these stats can be found on http://www.checkfacebook.com/ which also provides data on the fastest growing countries and a demographic breakdown by age group of each countries population. In almost every country, 50% or more of the Facebook users, are in the 14-24 year old range, i.e. prime college material.

Many domestic admissions offices in the US have been increasingly using social media: YouTube channels, iTunes podcasts, student blogs, and webchats, and also social networks like Facebook to recruit and/or convince to enroll at their respective institutions. But I ask today, how many of you are using these tools explicitly to attract international audiences?

We have realized at EducationUSA that we need to "live" where our student advisees live. And in so many (not all, mind you) countries that place they live most is online, and increasingly online on their mobile phones/devices. Even in some of the most remote countries on earth, mobile phones are must-haves. In fact, in many developing countries families go from no phone at all to having a mobile phone (and no land line).

Specifically as it relates to Facebook, we have made a concerted effort to encourage and train our advising centers to set up and use center profiles, groups and fan pages to reach out not only to their student advisees, but also to help connect those advisees to former students who are now in the US, and probably living on Facebook. We have created an EducationUSA page which we invite you "become a fan." This page serves a multitude of audiences but can connect you with our advisers and their Facebook profiles, groups and fan pages as well.

I invite you to check out the "Info" tab on the Fan page to see a list with hyperlinks to the growing presence of EducationUSA on Facebook--17 center profiles, 22 groups, and 26 fan pages from centers around the world. This list is updated fairly regularly so bookmark the page and come back often.

We encourage our colleagues in international admissions to set up their own Facebook fan pages and/or groups specifcally for international students looking to get connected with your institution. For more ways to connect with our EducationUSA centers as you recruit internationally, please contact me for details.

Six Must Have Links for International Admissions Folks Using Social Media

2009-08-26T09:14:00.006-04:00

Let's face it, technology is advancing faster than we can possibly have imagined when we first entered international education as a field. The rise of social media and increasingly mobile social media tools are fundamentally changing the way prospective international students live their lives. These lives are lived online. Are you active where they live? Personally, a large part of my world these days is spent researching social media tools updating US institutions and our EducationUSA advising centers on how some of these can be applied to our common goals to bring/send more international students to the US for higher education.

To help provide my colleagues in higher education with my top 6 must-have links/resources for understanding, tracking some of the key trends and applications of the social media world I submit to you the following:

Mashable.com The gold standard for all things social media--many guides on how to use different tools.

http://www.checkfacebook.com/ If you're not on Facebook or think it's going away anytime soon, think again--70% of the nearly 270 million users are outside the US. This site will allow you to see the demographics by top country, fastest growing countries on a weekly basis, and individual country age breakdown of users. Great data!

DIOSA Communications This company does regular reasonably priced webinars on using social media in higher education, but also has some worthy blog and video posts on the usefulness of these tools.

http://www.statmats.com/ These folks do quite a bit of research on use of social media in higher education. They also have a free white paper on "THE FIVE FUNDAMENTAL STEPS
FOR DEVELOPING A POWERFUL SOCIAL NETWORKING STRATEGY FOR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES."

Rachel Reuben -- http://www.doteduguru.com/ -- Rachel is a leader in the higher education field for using social media in marketing and communications. Great resources from following her, very active on Twitter.

http://www.nickburcher.com/ Nick is based in the UK, and is on top of examples of how businesses are using various social media tools. Nick occasionally does Facebook demographic updates as well.

Hopefully, by following these few folks/sites (and me!) the murky waters may become a bit clearer, and a path for your institution's approach to using social media in international admissions better defined.

I certainly invite others to make comments and suggestions as to other sites to include as my list is not exhaustive. Happy hunting!

Transitions in Life: Assisting International Students

2009-07-17T07:54:00.006-04:00

In each of our lives there have come times when we have all had to up stakes and move to pastures new. Whether that be growing up in different cities around the country (or the world), leaving home for college, or getting that first job after graduation, we've all endured transitions in our lives that can bring with them a range of emotional, physical, and psychological issues. Perhaps no transition where an individual has a choice in the matter is as daunting as moving from one country to another to pursue a dream.

This is the challenge international students face when they commit to studying abroad in the US. As much as international admissions and student services offices try, it is next to impossible to anticipate and understand all the individual circumstances of their new students arriving on campus in the next few weeks. I know from experience, at previous institutions I have worked for, we would send a series of messages to our admitted students starting in April or May through early August. These emails would make our incoming class aware of some of the relevant issues they needed to keep in mind as they prepared to come to our campus. We would send out messages about their visa interview, what to bring/wear, arrival instructions, housing information, orientation schedules, health insurance, weather, student associations on campus, friendship families, and others. These were what we thought were essential elements that would help students prepare for their transition to our campus.

These kind of communications are vital not only to prepare your incoming class for your campus environment, but also to convince these new students that you can and will be well-placed to take care of their needs. All that being said, can all US institutions say that they can anticipate the needs of students from all the various countries they receive students from each year? Probably not. EducationUSA wants to partner with your institution in this process. EducationUSA centers around the world provide pre-departure orientations for their students traveling to the US for studies. These sessions help new students physically, mentally & emotionally prepare themselves for the journey on which they are about to embark. What better way to complement the information you provide to your incoming students, than to refer them to the local EducationUSA center in their city/region for a pre-departure orientation that is specific to the needs of students from that country. The better prepared your students are for what they will face on their long journeys to your campuses and the transitions they need to make, insha'allah, the happier they will be once they arrive.

Good luck to you all in the coming month or so as you await the arrival of your incoming classes. Please, as you move forward with plans for the next recruitment cycle to include EducationUSA as a resource for your prospective students, on the ground in 170 countries. For ways in which you can connect EducationUSA with your prospective students, email me for details. Till next time...

The Value of Relationships and Face-to-Face Interactions

2009-07-01T11:28:00.008-04:00

In looking back on the last few months of hyperactivity surrounding EducationUSA, particularly with all our Social Media outreach, I need to pause and reflect on why I love what I do. The people I've met, the relationships I've developed, the places I've been make my "work" a real passion. If you've connected with a guidance counselor, an EducationUSA adviser, a colleague from a partner institution, or even parents and students abroad, don't you want those relationships to grow and thrive? Take this picture for example. Prior to the recent NAFSA Conference in LA, over 150 EducationUSA advisers gathered for a 25th anniversary gala along with US institutional representatives who had hosted these advisers over the course of the last quarter century. These relationships that were formed 2 years, 5, 10, or 20+ years ago have grown stronger over time because they began between two people.

Having been at an institution that before I joined had precious few partner relationships around the world that were healthy and producing regular flows of students. I know how difficult and time consuming these relationships are to develop properly. What I can say, without reservation, that the best form of recruitment is working with your contacts overseas. Whether it be alumni in far flung corners of the world, a guidance counselor at a school whom you met at an OACAC conference, parents of current international students, or EducationUSA advisers in countries where you are looking for help, nothing spreads the good word about your institution better than those who have gotten to know you and/or your college and can speak informatively about the benefits of attending.

Some lucky few institutions, of course, can go a long way internationally on their reputations & rankings, but even the best universities will say it doesn't take long to ruin a good run of form, with a relationship gone south with an important alum, or an unfortunate incident on campus that wasn't handled well. In every case, institutional changes in leadership of international offices up to the presidents' offices make it difficult for even the most gifted and able to maintain all international relationships at their desired levels. What I can say, from 15 years of experience on the university side of international education, my most consistent and fruitful professional relationships have come with individuals in whom I invested time, institutional and personal resources to grow.

In today's fast-paced, high tech world we can often lose sight of what really matters in the long term--the people we meet and touch, the opportunities we make for ourselves, our friends and family, as well as in our work with the relationships we build. The great news here is that keeping up those relationships has become easier with the tools we have at our fingertips. Whether we choose to use them or not to advance our relationships is the question of the day.

Lately, I have seen a disturbing trend in higher education whereby international student enrollments are seen as cash cows. Institutions that set about on a campus internationalization plan who see only dollars signs when they consider expanding international student enrollment flows are missing the point. I won't spend time going on about the lasting & relational benefit of international students' presence on US campuses. I only refer you to the long list of world leaders who were educated in the US--International Students Yesterday, Foreign Leaders Today

We know that post-9/11 the US took a big relational hit globally as to how others viewed our country, in particular how they viewed our government. Of course, we're all aware of how those changes, coupled with the implementation of SEVIS, complicated our lives immeasurably in international education. But what is significant is that we know the way back--it's not easy, and will take time, but it is absolutely essential we take those steps to rebuild. From the top down, the folks in Washington began a long path back to reclaiming our good standing in the world. This administration has made use of technology a key component in the PR battle in which we are all playing a role.

In moving forward with EducationUSA's outreach to our two main audiences -- the US higher education community and prospective international students around the world -- we know we need to become more visible in what we do and where we go. We need to be connecting with more college and university representatives, and creating more opportunities for students abroad to connect with our advising centers, and with our US colleagues. As it relates to US higher education folks--we want to meet you! Please connect with us at upcoming conferences. You can always find these events on our Facebook EducationUSA Fan page. Coming soon, we'll have over a dozen EducationUSA people at OACAC at Chapman University in Orange, CA (July 16-19). We'll also be hosting 3 EducationUSA Regional Advising Conferences in Mexico City (Sept. 28-Oct 2), Prague (March 21-26, 2010), and in Africa (date & location tba in 2010). These regional conferences are where US institutions can get the most bang for their buck--over 100 advisers will be at the Mexico City & Prague conference. IMPORTANT NOTE: Registration for the Western Hemisphere EducationUSA conference in Mexico City closes on July 31. EducationUSA will also have a presence at most all of the regional NAFSA conferences this fall as well.

Please join us at these upcoming events, and of course, when and if you do visit the 170+ countries where EducationUSA has centers, please visit. Here's to seeing each other face-to-face in the coming months.

Connecting with EducationUSA: Why US institutions should

2009-05-28T00:52:00.022-04:00

Have you ever been in a room of thousands of people and felt like a needle in a haystack? The recent NAFSA Conference in LA (this year with over 7000 attendees) can induce a feeling quite a bit like the proverbial needle, especially when you are the needle hoping to be found. For our hard working corps of EducationUSA advisers, this year a record number attended, over 150 in total, plus 14 REACs (Regional Educational Advising Coordinators).

At an event as large as the annual NAFSA conference, where many international education folks look forward to each year as perhaps their one opportunity to connect face to face with colleagues from other institutions and abroad, having a plan of attack in place to find your way is essential. You may wonder why I'm raising this topic after the conference has concluded. Well, it was clear that this year, for a variety of reasons, many of which were economic, attendance was down at NAFSA. In the scope of what we do, those few days in LA last month represented a fairly substantial physical presence for our EducationUSA network. But that conference is only the tip of the iceberg for the ways US institutions can connect with the largest global network of professionally trained advisers serving as the official source of information abroad on accredited US higher education opportunities.

While there has been much talk of late as to the use of agents by US colleges & universities, an expensive venture that can have its own share of pitfalls, EducationUSA represents a low or no-cost way to help you achieve your institution's international objectives. What many of our 150 advisers did before or shortly after the event in LA is to visit a variety of US colleges & universities around the country. Because these advisers are to represent all accredited US higher education options to the students in their regions, it is vital that advisers see for themselves what life is like on a variety of different college & university campuses. As a result of these experiences, they can help their prospective students, find their own needle in the haystack--that right school for each student, the right "fit." These advisers see what community colleges are: a great often less expensive pathway to a 4-year bachelor's degree; what a large public university looks and feels like: a wealth of people, technical and social resources on campus for students to pursue their dreams; what a solid mid-size private university can offer in terms of a best-of-both worlds approach to higher education; what a small liberal arts college or specialty school can provide in a nuturing environment with very close interaction with professors.

These advisers cannot promote one university or college over another. They provide this free information and guidance to each student that comes to their centers with no other motive other than to help that student navigate through the college search process, a daunting task for anyone.Those who have been in admissions for more than a minute, especially those who are part of larger enrollment management structures at institutions know, retention rates are some of the truest indicators of an institution's overall success. Our EducationUSA advisers help the students who come to their offices narrow down the overwhelming number of choices based on what the student and/or family have identified as priorities. These advisers also ask the questions that perhaps the families have not considered in the selection process--beyond college & university rankings being the only criteria.

In many countries there are families that are willing to pay exorbidant amounts of money to agents and/or consultants to get their children into the best schools, or any school. This phenomenon may be part of the culture in that country, or it may be a status thing. But in the end, there is no guarantee that the student has found a good match with the right school for them, where they are happy and able to succeed. While no advisers can likely claim that every student that they see never transfers to a different institution once they arrive in the US, one thing does ring true--that student got the most comprehensive advice about all the options he/she had.

We all want our students to be happy where they come to our institutions. Having worked on the US international admissions and students services side for over 15 years, I know what it takes to keep students happy and in a healthy environment once they get to campus, but I also know in working with students during the admissions process that a student who came through an EducationUSA advising center and decided to apply to my institution has good reasons for applying. Likewise, students who randomly applied without having any prior contact with our office (or with an EducationUSA adviser), if admitted, and decided to enroll, typically had a rougher transition, and oftentimes did not know what they were getting into.

Doesn't getting your institution's admissions prospects in touch with EducationUSA advising centers as early in the application process as possible make sense? EducationUSA advisers provide soup-to-nuts advice for prospective students, from the daunting college search, testing information and sometimes prep courses, assistance with finding the funding students need to complete their dream move, preparation for the visa interview at the US consulate, and pre-departure orientation before students leave for the school they have chosen to attend. As much as we (international admissions folks) think we are experts on the world around us, nothing can compare to the on-the-ground, in country support that EducationUSA can provide to your prospective students.

Connecting with EducationUSA has never been easier for US institutions. And with budgets shrinking across the country for international recruitment, it stands to reason that our advisers around the world can assist you with your potential students. If your institution's international admissions page doesn't already have the EducationUSA logo with hyperlink to the www.educationusa.state.gov website, all you need to do to get a hyperlinked version of that logo sent to you is to email educationusa@state.gov with your institution's name, your name, position, and a request for the logo. We suggest when you add this logo to your site, that you include a descriptive paragraph indicating what EducationUSA is and how the advisers can assist students in applying to your institution throughout the process. And this service is free to institutions.

Another free benefit of partnering with EducationUSA is Weekly Update. This weekly email newsletter goes to all advisers in our network (in 170 countries). If your institution has scholarships that are available for international students and/or if you have new academic programs that may be of particular interest to an overseas audience, you can send an email with those details (a short paragraph with weblinks/email addresses for further information) to educationusa@state.gov. If there is a short video that describes these new programs or scholarships, we can embed those in the Weekly Udpate as well. We distribute the Weekly Update to all 450+ EducationUSA Advisers, many of whom for forward it to their student contacts each week.

We also invite you to sign up for the quarterly HEI E-news that highlights the upcoming conferences, recruitment fairs, and event that EducationUSA is either participating in or sponsoring worldwide. Once again, a simple email to educationusa@state.gov will get you added to that distribution list. A new edition will be coming out June 19th.

Online you can also find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/EducationUSA/72457958318 where we invite you to become a "fan" of EducationUSA and have a forum where will post events, photos, and other newsworthy items. This venue is meant mainly for EducationUSA advisers and US higher ed folks to come together.

With any luck we'll be seeing you either virtually or in-person at an EducationUSA event. Hope to see you soon. Comments and feedback are always welcome on how EducationUSA can be better serving the US higher education community.

The Power of Information

2009-05-14T06:44:00.024-04:00

Have you ever wanted something, thought you knew where to look, and then could not find it? I cannot begin to tell you the number of times this has happened to me in my personal and professional career. The frustration is manageable (most of the time), but the real trick is knowing that you could take a few extra steps, but simply don't have the time to fix the problem so that it doesn't happen again.

Since coming on board at IIE, I have been charged with the expressed responsibilities of assisting EducationUSA advising centers promote US higher education to students in their countries, and better connecting accredited US institutions & the international education community with EducationUSA advisers & REACs (regional educational advising coordinators). At the upcoming NAFSA conference we will be rolling out for the advisers a series of new marketing materials & items for centers to use, and have plans for a major website overhaul & marketing campaign in the upcoming year.

For the US higher education community, there has been a concerted effort on our (EducationUSA) behalf to raise the level of visibility of our advisers & REACs through expanded presence at various conferences around the world (AACC, AACRAO, NAGAP, AIEA, CIS, and OACAC). Additionally, at NAFSA this year over 150 advisers and REACs will be attending--our largest group yet. In addition to these efforts, we will be conducting a major network wide survey this fall of our advising centers and their students to gather information that will help shape how we reach out to students in the future.

Part of my goal, having been in international admissions for over 15 years, is to improve the information we provide to US institutions to assist them in recruiting overseas students. I invite you to comment to this blog with any questions you have you would like included in an EducationUSA survey to prospective students and to our advisers that would help you reach your intended markets. I will be collecting these questions for potential inclusion in our survey over the next two months.

Additionally, for those attending NAFSA this year, you will be the first recipients of a new tool to help US institutions reach out to our EducationUSA advising centers. At the country fair on Wednesday, May 27th, from 3-5pm in the Exhibit Hall at NAFSA, we will be distributing to all attendees an EducationUSA Searchable Database on a flash drive (see images below). For those who cannot make to NAFSA, fear not, the contents of this database will be part of the EducationUSA website overhaul that will be taking place later this year. Hope to see you all if not in person, certainly virtually soon.

Social Networks, International Admissions

2009-05-05T11:01:00.005-04:00

Nothing is more disconcerting for someone raised in a pre-internet environment, where information was in books, newspapers, and magazines, and if you were feeling hi-tech, you might look at microfilm, than to watch today's pre-college generation (and younger) who don't know life without an iPod plugged in one ear and a web-enabled cell phone in the other perhaps with Bluetooth.

When I started my professional career in admissions back in 1993, the internet was in pre-web 1.0 days, and email was a new toy we were trying to understand. Students found out about my institution through our flashy brochures, snail mail we would send them, or profiles they would read about us in respected guidebooks. Of course friends and families' opinions oftentimes were (and still are) a significant factor in most students' eventual decisions as to where to attend college. But, we felt that if we got our information, the authoritative source, then we had a chance to get that student to at least apply, and perhaps enroll. We felt to a great extent that we were in control of our message, especially when it came to international students.

Today, that is clearly not the case. Prospective students looking at the US as a destination for their higher education have unlimited resources online in chat rooms, social networking sites, podcasts, YouTube videos, discussion forums, and numerous online advertisers claiming to have information on the best institutions. This explosion of informational access points has put, as Thomas Friedman asserts in The World Is Flat, the power squarely in the hands of the individual.

Colleges and universities, especially on the domestic admissions front, have seen the light and over the past few years have begun to adapt their strategies to explore new ways of reaching their prospective student market. A recent two-year comparative study at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth entitled "Social Media and College Admissions: The First Longitudinal Study" surveyed over 500 institutions in 2007 and again in 2008 to gauge the usage of social media in admission strategies. A couple highlights of the results:

61% of admissions departments using social networking in admissions

48% use video blogging

41% have an active admissions blog

Interestingly, the jump from 2007 to 2008, in terms of use of at least one form of social media, was from 61% to 85%. As it relates to future importance in admissions, 55% considered social media is "very important" while 89% of admissions departments feel that social media is at least "somewhat important" to their future strategy.

Through two recent, small snapshots of my own taken from online respondents (through a TWT Poll embedded in my last blog), and from a text poll done during a recent presentation to a state consortium group, overwhelmingly, the single most common area of familiarity and usage of social media tools among US international admissions representatives is social networking. In particular, Facebook is the tool of choice. Many institutions now have at least an organization page, and likely a group as well called "Future International Students of .... University" or "MU Class of 2009."

These new tools are great to have, but in order for them to be functional and attractive for prospective students, these pages need to be dynamic in terms of their content and conversations that occur. A focus group of student office workers can easily inform you as to what groups/organizations your students found most appealing and useful. Any one of them, and yes, even you, can create these group/organization pages on Facebook. Populate these groups with staff members and current international students, post some pictures and videos of recent events, and start a couple of discussion forum topics, and/or wall posts. If you have upcoming events, post them here. Message all your prospective or admitted students (depending on how large a group you want), and invite them to "join" the group or "become a fan" of your organization page.

If you are asking why Facebook, and why use Facebook for international audiences? Well, although the largest number of users in any country are in the US (it did start here after all), what most don't realize that as of April 2009, when Facebook broke the 200 million member barrier, over 70% of all members were outside the US. If Facebook were a country, it would be the 5th largest in the world, larger than Brazil. Interesting, if you wanted to place a banner ad on Facebook for your organization or group page (or institutional website), and you wanted to target university age students (17-25), say in Turkey, your audience would be over 5,320,000. A similar ad targeting your audience in India would reach 955,000. An important note here, a similar ad placed in February in India would have only reached 350,000. In both these countries and others, the numbers have been expanding dramatically in the last year. A couple of good online resources I would recommend for keeping up with social media changes are Nick Burcher and Mashable.com. You can follow both of these on Twitter to catch updates on potentially useful articles and tips.

That being said, just under half of the top countries sending to the US are top users of Facebook (bolded on second list), yet. From the Institute of International Education's Open Doors 2008 release:

India

China

South Korea

Japan

Canada

Taiwan

Mexico

Turkey

Saudi Arabia

Thailand

Nepal

Germany

Vietnam

United Kingdom

Hong Kong

Indonesia

Brazil

France

Colombia

Nigeria

For Facebook, as of April 2009, the top 20 countries by users are:

Canada

Turkey

France

Italy

Australia

Colombia

Chile

Spain

Argentina

Venezuela

Indonesia

Sweden

Denmark

Belgium

Mexico

Norway

Germany

Hong Kong

With the exception of Hong Kong, Facebook has not really taken hold of university-age populations with the big dogs of East Asia (China, Korea, Japan & Taiwan) primarily because more established local social networks have already been dominant there. Nick Burcher (referenced earlier) has done some research on dominant social networks in countries in the Facebook top 20. For example, in much of Latin America Hi5 is a dominant player. Brazil is one of the most socially networked countries in the world, and Facebook is not in the top 3, Orkut is top of the heap. A recent Nielsen Survey revealed these results.

While establishing groups on other social networks can be useful, perhaps on Orkut (a Google social network) or Hi5, if you are targeting specific countries where those networks are highly traffiked may be useful, perhaps a more appropriate strategy may be to use banner advertising for your institution. Alternately, if you have very tech savvy international students who want to volunteer their time, ask them to manage a group on a social networking site popular in their home country.

Nonetheless, there is an additional synergy that can occur by utilizing Facebook for prospective students, as they can connect with a technology/social network that US university students are living on these days, make friends with current students on campus before they even arrive. As I experienced in my most recent position at Ball State, and had confirmed through anecdotal stories from EducationUSA advisers around the world that were active on Facebook, that students respond faster to Facebook messages than to email.

Over the past year or so, our network of EducationUSA advising centers around the world have begun to embrace Facebook group/organization pages. Later this year we will have a comprehensive resource available on a new EducationUSA web portal that lists the centers with Facebook groups. We also would like to assist those accredited US institutions who have social networking group/organization pages promote use of this tool. If your college or university has such a page on Facebook (or other social networks) specifically for international students please do send that group name to me for inclusion in this project.

In the meantime, I invite each of you to join our EducationUSA Facebook page (search for "EducationUSA" pictured top right here), and become fans, if you are not already. We will post upcoming events for US institutions to connect with the EducationUSA community.

What Social Media Tools Are You Using in Your International Recruitment Strategy?

2009-04-15T09:24:00.000-04:00

In order to get a sense of what the most significant social media tools that folks in the international admissions arena are using currently, please answer the following poll (please select the most prominent in your strategy). I will use the results of this poll to move forward with our goal to better connect and inform US institutions of possibilities to reach international students through the EducationUSA advising center network in over 170 countries.

The Impact of Social Media on US Higher Education

2009-04-14T08:54:00.000-04:00

The title for this blog makes it sound a bit too heavy and academic if you ask me, but really is reflective of a critical lesson for institutions on how to operate particularly in relation to international student admissions flows. In this first installment, let's look at what has changed over the last 15 years in the way colleges and universities recruit students, specifically international students.

Back in the early 90's most admissions offices were buying lists of thousands of students who took SAT tests and other exams and mailing them information in the hope that a certain number of those prospects, after reviewing the glossy brochures and smiling faces of students on campus, would eventually apply, and from that group, a smaller subset would be admitted, and then an even smaller number would eventually enroll. This Admissions Funnel was the industry-standard for recruitment for US institutions.

With the rise of the internet and Tom Friedman's increasingly flat world, control over information is now in the hands of the individual. In the arena of international admissions, students in any country now have access to details and critiques about any institution in the US they would ever want to get their hands on. As a result, what universities and colleges now face are students who are first presenting themselves equipped with all the information they might need (other than whether they will get a scholarship). The admissions funnel has narrowed quite dramatically since the early 90s. In some cases upwards of 75-80% of first time international inquiries to institutions in 2008 were applications!

These "stealth" applicants are students who have done their homework and found out enough from institutional websites and other resources to really feel confident enough about whether that institution can meet their needs. Development of EducationUSA's "How to make your website internationally friendly" resource has helped institutions get a sense for what the do's and don't's are regarding what international audiences will understand. But are institutions now using their sites as springboards or portal to more interactive, student-friendly, web 2.0 tools, programs?

A combination of improved interactivity of institutional websites combined with vast array of new tools that allow prospective students to get perhaps an insider perspective. In the past only the few international students that are able to make campus visits, and perhaps stay overnight on a "shadow" experience in the residence halls could get the level of clarity and reality of what life on a particular college campus is like.

Over the next few weeks, we'll look at a few of these technologies/tools and the impact they have have on international admissions. First up next week, Facebook.

We're So Glad You Are Here: What Do You Do Exactly?

2009-01-16T01:26:00.000-05:00

Whenever someone takes a new position in an organization, generally one of two things can happen. Either the expectations for the new job are set very high (which is fine if you like a challenge) because there has been a great need for someone in that position, or that no one is really quite sure what this person is actually supposed to do. That's normal--but what happens when you come into a new job and you have both high expectations and no one is really sure what you do?

The good news is I love the people I'm going to be working for and I am more than happy to explain what I'll be doing. After 15 years working in international education, especially over the last 10 years with my contacts with the EducationUSA community, I really see the need for the US to have a more comprehensive, unified approach to marketing higher education options to international students. While the US has lost its share of the pie of the student market abroad -- from perhaps 35% in the 90's to about 23-24% today, coupled with down years post-9/11--the good news is that as of the 2007-08 academic year, there are more students studying in the US from overseas than at any point in US history. This positive also demonstrates that the pie of possible students studying outside their home countries continues to grow. The most recent Atlas of Student Mobility, published by the Institute of International Education, suggested that by 2025, there would be over 20 million students studying outside their country of origin (currently there are approximiately 2.5 million).

While these are certainly some positive developments, the US has lost some of its luster internationally, and competitors for these students have been backed financially by their governements to increase overseas students on their campuses. In part our competitors have an advantage in terms of funding for promotion, but more significantly they are representing a much smaller number of institutions (less than 200) which are in, by nature, much easier to organize & market. Of course, in the US one of our greatest strengths--our diversity--is also one of our curses. With the EducationUSA network, these 450 advising centers must represent 4500 accredited institutions in the US, no small task.

As I move into this job, my first task will really be establishing a baseline of knowledge of our two main constituencies: advisers & regional educational advising coordinators and the students they serve on one side, and the US higher education community. First, we need to know of the accredited institutions in the US, which universities are aware of what EducationUSA is and does, and if so, what services do they access that are provided by the centers worldwide. Second, we need to see what media prospective students around the world are using not only for university searches, but in terms of social networks, blogs, e-communities, and other technologies. With this data as a base, we can begin to develop appropriate strategies and tools necessary to reach out to institutions and students to bring them in closer cooperation with the EducationUSA network.

Obviously, there will be new marketing materials created and technologies implemented to broaden the reach of the network. We will focus on significant big picture issues, and help individual centers and institutions raise their games. As you can imagine there is much to do and a short time to do it in, relatively speaking. All I ask is your patience & support as we move the ship that is EducationUSA into the proper channels.

That's at least a quick overview of what I'll be doing and hopefully can address questions about expectations at least for the short term.

More soon--stay tuned.

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EducationUSA's Your Five Steps to U.S. Study

How Social Media Saved My Niece From Sponge Bob

EducationUSA Weekly Update: New & Improved!

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Facebook Now Has 750 Million Users

EducationUSA Forum 2011: Bigger and Better

Get Connected, Stay Involved, Be Relevant: Part II of International Student Recruitment through Social Media

Live Where Your Audiences Live: International Student Recruitment Through Social Media

How Marco Met Sharifa: The Value of Relationships Between EducationUSA Advisers and U.S. College Reps

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Integrating International Students Into the Life of the University

YouTube - GVSU LipDub 2010 *OFFICIAL*

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One Student's Journey: Bernard Londoni

Inaugural EducationUSA Forum 2010 Slideshow

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Keep Coming Back For More...

2010 Campus Host Opportunities Request for Proposals (RFP) Now Available - deadline December 18, 2009

New EducationUSA Website Opens New Doors for U.S. Higher Ed

HEI E-News: International Education Week, Special Edition

EducationUSA at Regional NAFSAs this Fall

Higher Education Institutions E-News Quarterly, September 2009

EducationUSA Advisers Conferences, Workshops & Programs

Facebook and EducationUSA: An Update

Six Must Have Links for International Admissions Folks Using Social Media

Transitions in Life: Assisting International Students

The Value of Relationships and Face-to-Face Interactions

Connecting with EducationUSA: Why US institutions should

The Power of Information

Social Networks, International Admissions

What Social Media Tools Are You Using in Your International Recruitment Strategy?

The Impact of Social Media on US Higher Education

We're So Glad You Are Here: What Do You Do Exactly?

YouTube - GVSU LipDub 2010 OFFICIAL