International Enrollment Is on the Upswing
The number of international students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities is on the rise, although it has still not returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to a report released by the Institute for International Education. International enrollment rose 4% during the 2021-22 school year and climbed another 9% in the fall 2022 semester. “Total international enrollment stood at 948,519 students in the 2021-22 school year, compared to 914,095 in the prior year. The rebound still leaves total enrollment of international students below its high-water mark, set in 2018-19 with 1,095,299 students.” Students from outside the U.S. now account for almost 5% of enrollees, although that number includes those who attend schools remotely while continuing to live abroad. The number of newly enrolled students jumped 80% on an annual basis, while the number of international graduate students increased by 17%.
Source: Forbes
Most Schools Plan to Increase Global Recruitment Initiatives
Two-thirds of U.S. colleges plan to increase global visibility initiatives within the next five years “by ramping up recruitment of international students, developing additional study abroad experiences, or other efforts,” according to a new report. Nearly half had been in the process of doing so before the pandemic, although that number dropped to 21% from 2020 to 2021. “Despite colleges prioritizing internationalization, only 28% said they had assessed the impact of their current and past efforts in the last three years… Colleges most actively focused their international recruitment efforts on Asian countries, with 65% of respondents saying they work to enroll students from China. That percentage dropped from 73% in 2016, though China is still the most popular country from which colleges recruit international students.”
Source: Higher Ed Dive
Higher Ed IT Leaders Identify Top 10 Biggest Challenges
In an effort to “describe the foundation models that colleges and universities will develop next year and beyond,” EDUCAUSE has released a list of the most pressing issues for campus IT leaders. “Having a seat at the table,” tops the list, followed by privacy/cybersecurity. The third priority is described as “evolve, adapt, or lose talent,” while the fourth is “using technology, data insight, and agility to create a frictionless student experience.” Next on the list is “leading with humility and candor to engage, empower, and retain the IT workforce,” followed by leveraging data and analytics to boost enrollment. The final four challenges include “converting data analytics into action plans to power institutional performance,” improving IT support, “developing a learning-first, technology-enabled learning strategy,” and managing investments in enterprise resource planning solutions.
Source: eCampus News
Journalism Tops the List of Most-Regretted Majors
Eighty-seven percent of college graduates with a journalism degree say they would pick a different field of study if they could, earning that degree the dubious distinction of being the most regretted. Sociology and liberal arts/general studies were tied for second place (72%), followed by communications (64%), education (61%), marketing (60%), medical/clinical assisting (58%), political science/government (56%), biology (52%), and English literature/language (52%). The list of least-regretted majors was topped by computer/information science and criminology (both 72%), engineering (71%), nursing (69%), health (67%), and business (66%).
Source: CNBC