Tech-based international student recruitment marketplace Adventus.io has announced a partnership with London Metropolitan University.

The multi-year agreement will see the B2B2C marketplace deliver student recruitment, marketing, admissions and compliance services for the institution in the UK capital.

London Met will adopt admissions and compliance servicing arm Adventus Professional Services to initially support student recruitment from South Asia.

APS – which is now expanding into Sub-Saharan Africa – is designed to support institutions to “confidently deliver exceptional application turnaround, and compliance assessments via white label services with service-level agreement and scalability”.

For director of Student Recruitment & Business Development at London Met, Jennifer Wilkinson, the initial outcomes of the APS work is one of the reasons the institution has further expanded the relationship.

“We saw a significant increase in international applications to London Met this year, thanks to favourable market conditions, in addition to the introduction of new programs and recruitment strategies and the bounce back of demand following Covid-19 restrictions,” she said.

“We would not have been able to capitalise on this demand in the same way without the support of Adventus.io, who have supported measured growth with a persistent focus on high quality in line with our institutional priorities.”

Adventus.io says it is focused on institutions being inundated by applications, and suggests it is offering a smarter and more sustainable ways to support growth without compromising on quality.

“The days of ‘black-box’ recruitment, with no channel transparency or data are numbered”

“Increasingly, institutions are exploring integrated partnerships with our marketplace to access our unrivalled quality & compliance expertise,” said Patrick Whitfield, chief commercial officer of Adventus.io.

“We were the first edtech to invest heavily in rigorous compliance processes. When we launched in 2020, we knew the market was shifting. The days of ‘black-box’ recruitment, with no channel transparency or data are numbered.

“Institutions seek true partnerships that align with student success and support compliant growth. We believe this is only the beginning of what we can achieve with London Met and look forward to working with them to solve more challenges as we continue to drive smart and sustainable growth for our partners.”

The strategic agreement also offers London Met subscription to channel management and analytics tool Adventus Drive, which saw the institution receive over 600 high quality applications for the Sept 2022 intake alone.

In January 2023, this rose to over 1,000 applications and London Met is on track to exceed a 30% conversion rate from offer to enrolment.

Applications have shown greater diversity, the partners added, seeing students apply from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

“The time-consuming, but essential, activities in our admissions and compliance processes are now delivered more efficiently and at greater scale by market experts and we have the confidence that through our partnership growth can be achieved in tandem with high levels of quality control and compliance,” Wilkinson added.

“We are excited to continue to work closely with Adventus.io to ensure we meet our international targets in an efficient, compliant and transparent way.”

The post Adventus and London Met reveal partnership appeared first on The PIE News.

Stakeholders in the Netherlands are awaiting elaboration from the government on legislation plans to limit the number of international students Dutch universities can take on.

During a parliamentary debate on January 31, minister of education, culture and science Robert Dijkraaf said he will propose a new plan in March to lower the number of international students enrolling at Dutch universities.

“As far as I’m concerned, we are now at our maximum,” Dijkraaf said during the debate, the NL Times reported.

Dijkraaf has discussed the possibility of restricting capacity for programs taught in English, while leaving Dutch language variants of these courses open.

There has also been discussion around institutions being obliged to provide housing to any international students they enroll, a sentiment which was shared by Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences, in an open letter to Dijkraaf.

At the end of last year, Dijkraaf urged higher education institutions to stop actively recruiting international students due to unprecedented pressures on accommodation shortages, teaching staff and facilities.

Floor van Donselaar, team leader, at the the Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education, Nuffic, spoke to The PIE about the issue.

“At Nuffic, we believe that internationalisation improves the quality of education, that it contributes to the personal development of pupils and students and that it prepares them for a labour market and society, which is increasingly becoming international,” said van Donselaar.

“At the same time, we see that the increasing popularity of our research universities puts pressure on the education system and its surroundings, like finding proper housing which affects different groups of people, also Dutch and international students.”

Breda University of Applied Sciences issued an “appeal to Dutch politicians” in a video shared across social media platforms. The video features the university’s international students and key industry players from the Dutch business community, who highlight why international students are “indispensable in business and society”.

Guus Goorts, founder of a higher education marketing agency, highlighted that any legal measures will likely only come into effect for later academic years, and will not lower the 2023/24 intake.

“By now, the Netherlands is well known for quality education at an affordable price. Prospective students tend to take one to two years to decide on their study abroad destination, so the next year’s intake is already well in the pipeline,” wrote Goorts in a blogpost.

“I personally hope that the Dutch education sector will become a lot more strategic and coordinated in its internationalisation efforts,” continued Goorts.

“There is also a serious opportunity to be more strategic – given its demographics, the Netherlands needs the inflow of foreign talent. But it will pay to focus on attracting students with specific skills to specific areas, rather than just talking about more or fewer students.”

Similarly, van Donselaar further highlighted the importance of customisation of measurements, considering the situation and consequences vary for different types of institutions and different geographical areas.

“The situation in the Randstad – the region around large cities such as Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam – differs from areas closer to our borders and for example Zeeland as well,” said van Donselaar.

“There we see more and more people moving away, and international students play an important role in absorbing shortages on the labour market.

“It is a complex debate,” added van Donselaar.

“Somehow politicians want fewer international students but more students who stay for work”

Stephen Orme, senior vice president of partnerships, EMEA, Studyportals, told The PIE News a complete halt to international student recruitment would be “unnecessary and destructive”.

“The Netherlands has a rapidly ageing population. Without international students at some point our student houses will be empty while our retirement homes are full. Who is going to drive the economy then?” Orme continued.

“The economy will collapse if we don’t cover the deficit of young people entering the job market, and not only in very specific sectors as seems to be the common perception.”

According to Nuffic’s latest research on the stay rate from May 2022, international students from outside the European Economic Area are relatively more likely to stay in the Netherlands than former students from the EEA.

For non-EEA students, the stay rate after five years is 38%. Among students from the EEA, 19% stay in the Netherlands after that same time.

“Somehow politicians want fewer international students but more students who stay for work,” said Orme. “If we want more international graduates on the job market we need to recruit more international students, especially non-EU.”

Instead, Orme would like to see the Dutch government invest in capacity to educate the young people which he believes Dutch society needs.

“This is not the time to be complacent and give in to populism,” added Orme.

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At least 13 students who had paid money to International House Galway were not covered by learner protection insurance, leaving them in limbo when the language school went into liquidation at the end of January, it has emerged. 

The Irish Council for International Students raised concerns about the closure of International House Galway after being contacted by students and recruitment agencies who had not been refunded or offered places at alternative schools, including from Spain and Turkey.

Although the majority of the students who were studying in Galway at the time of the closure are thought to have now been relocated, it appears there are other students who have paid money to International House Galway waiting for refunds or relocation.

Under Irish immigration laws, learners from outside the European Economic Area must have learner protection insurance but there is no such requirement for EU students.

Some of the uninsured students have now been offered places at other schools in Galway for no extra cost, according to Lorcan O’Connor Lloyd, general manager at Marketing English in Ireland.

Laura Harmon, executive director at ICOS, said, “It is inconceivable to think that people paid money to the International House Galway, a reputable English language school in Ireland, and then for it to close down and for some students not to be offered any alternative.

“This is highly unethical and damaging to Ireland’s reputation as an international education destination. 

“All learners, regardless of their nationality, should have their course fees protected”

“All learners, regardless of their nationality, should have their course fees protected from the moment they pay their fees. Ultimately, the onus should be on the English language schools to guarantee students’ fees, not the other way around.”

ICOS also noted that the school had been advertising courses on social media two weeks before it closed.

O’Connor Lloyd said that the closure of the school had been “reasonably clean” but that, when it comes to student protection, EU students are “a gap to be addressed”. 

He advised any affected students to contact MEI. International students can also contact ICOS for support. 

Harmon called for “regular monitoring” of English language schools, including the introduction of a requirement to submit financial accounts to an oversight body. 

“ICOS continues to call for the introduction of the International Education Mark in Ireland to ensure the quality of courses and providers,” she added.

International House has been contacted for comment.

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The National Agency for Education in Finland is lauding the record number of applications in its joint application procedure – with the bulk of them coming from abroad.

More than 61,000 applications were made in the country’s joint application round, which occurs nationally every year, soaring over the 2022 figure of over 32,000.

International students made up around 53,000 of the joint applications, where students can apply for up to six study programs with one application.

Janni Jokela, the agency’s senior adviser, said it was down to “active student recruitment and country branding work” carried out together by institutes across Finland.

“There was also a reform of the student’s residence permit in the spring of 2022. These actions explain the immense increase in the number of applicants,” Jokela said.

While student residence permit legislation was changed last year to simplify the application process, hundreds of students still reported visa delays and issues. Applied sciences universities especially suffered, due to consulate backlogs in identification.

This may be especially important to resolve with the biggest nationalities applying to Finland, according to the recent data, being Nigerian and Bangladeshi students.

A staggering 86% of those applying in the joint application process were from outside Finland – and the numbers specifically doubled on the previous year.

The number of Finland’s domestic students using the joint application process seems to have plateaued with numbers staying largely the same as 2022.

Jokela also said that the digital entrance exam, the International UAS, means that the participants are streamlined and all only need to take one test – introduced last year, it’s already having the desired effect.

“The digital entrance examination makes it even easier for international students to apply to a program in the joint application in the spring. This also explains [the increase],” Jokela said.

Despite the issues with visa processing that caused something of a bottleneck in Finland last year, the agency is confident that there will be places for every eight applicants – services saw the toughest competition for a place, with around 31 applicants to a place.

“In Finland the degree of attraction has traditionally been measured by the amount of applications per study place,” Sandra Slotte, Arcada University of Applied Sciences senior policy advisor on internationalisation, told The PIE News.

“That only tells us about quantity, not quality. It would therefore be interesting to know more about the quality of these applications and whether or not they eventually are offered a study place, accept it and make it through immigration to arrive on campus in the autumn,” she noted.

“It would therefore be interesting to know more about the quality of these applications”

Health and welfare was also seen as a more competitive area, with 19 applicants to a place. Humanities and education had the lowest, with the aforementioned figure of eight applicants to an admission.

The data also showed that there were 1,000 more places available compared to 2022, with 7,400 study places available in 369 programs, showing that as applications continue to stream in, Finland’s competitiveness is beginning to surge.

What the data does not show is the number of applications outside the joint application scheme. Not all English-taught programs are on the scheme, and many are still open for entry for the September 2023 intake, ushering in what could be thousands more applications with a high competition rate, and more paperwork for admissions teams across the country.

“Admissions procedures are very resource intensive and it is relevant to look at the admissions funnel to see what the actual enrolment rate is, in order to determine the cost of handling each application,” Slotte added.

The post Finland’s joint application sees record numbers appeared first on The PIE News.

“We’ve come a long way, but we still have a lot of work to do,” says Jewell Green Winn, in discussing diversity equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice across the international education sector.

As the senior international officer and chief diversity officer at Tennessee State University, Winn is a champion for amplifying the voices of members of historically underserved and marginalised populations.

Winn is also the current president of AIEA. In advance of the annual conference this month in DC, The PIE News sat down with her to discuss her work and the state of JEDI efforts in the field at large. “So many organisations talk about [JEDI], but if we’re going to be about it, it needs to be in the core fabric of everything that we do.”

Winn speaks about barriers to international experiences for Black males. She expressed her concern about the low percentage of black male students in study abroad. “There is a major problem with the perception of Black males across our industry. It’s across our universities, it’s across society, and it’s unfortunate.”

She proffers the issue is not just prevalent on PWI campuses, rather, that Black male students at HBCUs do not always believe that study abroad is “for them.”

“Some are trying to take care of and be the anchor for their families. It’s very difficult for them to think of taking money, going out of the country, and studying abroad.”

Winn says because their needs are often more immediate, they “do not understand that [an international experience] could actually help them at some point in their lives to even do more for their families”. She believes it takes much intentionality around conversations to change these mindsets.

“I think that’s where our biggest challenge is,” Winn notes.

“[Black athletes] opportunity to study abroad is often slim because they have to work out during the summer and the off season. So that eliminates much of that population. Then you may have a group of Black males majoring in engineering trying to get internships during the summer. So the pool begins to shrink, and shrink, and shrink.”

Winn spoke of other barriers for Black males including students who are also first generation or socio-economically disadvantaged. “Many can’t see themselves studying abroad because they have such a hard time just surviving right here, on their turf, at their university, or at home.”

An expert in engaging minority populations, Winn speaks of her own experiences in outreach to Black male students. She cautions that we cannot simply start discussing whether they want to study abroad.

Winn advises we need to first “meet them where they are, on their turf,” and ask how they feel about the different dynamics of campus life, family life, and their professional aspirations.

“That’s where that student voice comes from. Just getting into the spaces and actively listening.”

“Go to organisations on your campus. See when the multicultural centre or Black cultural centre is having a meeting. Take the president of that association to coffee and say, ‘Hey, I’m passionate about this, but I really don’t know how to approach it. What would be your suggestion on how to approach your group and get them engaged?’

“You can’t just walk up to a group of Black men and say, ‘Hey, I want to talk to you about study abroad.’ That’s not going to work.”

Winn also suggests historically Black Greek letter organisations on campus as a place to begin. “That’s a great place to start listening to some of the conversations, after asking if it’s okay to attend, as they are meetings where black males congregate on their own terms.

“Ask them questions such as: What do you think about travelling the world? What might prevent you from travelling the world?”

The post Jewell Green Winn, AIEA, US appeared first on The PIE News.

A group of international students who were studying medicine in Ukraine before the Russian invasion have resumed their studies in southern Serbia.

Talking to German news outlet DW about his experience, British medical student Shinga Chikura said he thought his plight to become a doctor was “over” when the war started.

“I tried to apply in many countries — even in England, France, Germany — and they all said that they could only allow me to start in first year,” he recalled.

“I began to think that all my time in Ukraine had been wasted.”

However, in southeastern Serbia at the University of Nis, the institution had begun to accept credits from Ukrainian universities. The university has a medical course in English available to the students at the cost of 5,500 euros a year – higher than some European destinations, but the price is offset by the low cost of living.

Chikuraa was one of around 170 medical students to first make the transfer to the University of Nis.

One of its professors in gynaecology and obstetrics, Milan Trenkic, said that the students who have since transferred have perhaps “brought something with them” from their time in Ukraine.

“I thought… my time in Ukraine had been wasted”

“They really expect a lot of themselves – and of us, too. Above all, they want our full attention,” he said.

Another student who was affected by the invasion was Saudi Arabian student Shireen Rahmani. Before being able to flee Ukraine, she experienced the horrors of the war itself.

“It was honestly a very frightening, scary period of my life,” she said.

“Because even after the whole situation when I came home, for days I had PTSD. Even now when I hear fireworks, the first thing on my mind is, ‘I hope it’s just fireworks, I hope it’s not bombardment,” she explained.

She had been reviewing a move to Serbia before the war broke out, but the invasion made the decision for her – and while she still has reservations about tensions between Serbia and its neighbour country Kosovo (a peace deal was tentatively agreed on February 7), she maintained it was the right one.

“They really helped me – and not just with university matters, but also finding accommodation and adjusting to life in Serbia. That did me a lot of good,” she said.

Chikura has now spent over 10 months in Serbia, and was relieved to have only lost a year of his course, as opposed to the five he could have studying somewhere else.

The institution has reportedly seen a big jump in the number of applications since war broke out in Ukraine and Trenkic said that the students have taken extremely well to the adjustment.

“If they don’t understand something linguistically, they immediately check on their tablets. Luckily, medical terms the world over are in Latin,” Trenkic added.

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