New “mystery shopping” analysis reveals how well specific US colleges and universities entice international students.
[1]A new report finds that the top-rated US and Canadian colleges and universities rank fifth in communication with prospective international students, and one in five of these institutions do not respond to requests for information.
According to the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s annual State of College Admission report [2], many US institutions are taking steps to enroll a greater number of students from other countries due to a plateau of high school graduation rates, which grew for about 20 years before peaking in 2011-12.
“The landscape of higher education is changing, and that is prompting colleges and universities to look for new ways to serve students,” said Jeff Fuller, NACAC president and director of student recruitment at the University of Houston.
The new insights are part of an innovative analysis by comparative study choice platform StudyPortals [3], in partnership with the British Council IELTS [4], and, thanks to interest from higher-ed institutions around the world, the partners decided to conduct a “mystery shopping” investigation on how well specific colleges and universities engage with international students.
Edwin van Rest, CEO of StudyPortals, explained that international education is already creating 340,000 jobs and contributing $26.8 Billion to the U.S. economy [5], as well as to the quality of education and the attraction of talent. “The US has the most reputable system of higher education and yet only a relatively small percentage of international students; [6] therefore, there is large potential to grow this share. The study identifies how universities can improve in reaching, informing and communicating with prospective international students.”
The analysis also provides universities an institution-specific report on the findings, reported in confidence and including a benchmark against peer universities.
(Next page: Methodology and findings)
Methodology
Because colleges and universities “display information on their websites in various formats, often using jargon that is complex and unfamiliar to students with international study ambitions,” the analysis aimed to determine how well the world’s top 500 universities (chosen based on their standing in the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities [7], U.S. News & World Report [8], the Times Higher Education World University Rankings [9], and the Academic Ranking of World Universities [10]) met the needs of interested prospective students.
The analysis introduced what Van Rest says is new methodology in higher-ed research: using a team of international student researchers to conduct a mystery shopping exercise, presenting specialized insights into how potential students likely view information provided by universities.
The research, which covers almost 500 universities across the world, looked at roughly 40 data points spread across three categories deemed most important by the research team and student researchers: Findability, Information and Usability, and Responsiveness. (For a thorough explanation and detailed information on the methodology, read the full report [11]).
The weighted scores of each university deliver an overall institutional score, called the “Student Eyes Rating,” which reflects its performance in the context of the analysis. The Rating ranges from 0 to 100 points, and can provide the data necessary to compare the performance of universities from a student’s perspective.
Key findings
- US and Canadian universities rank 5th in the “Through Student Eyes” analysis, behind: 1) Benelux and Scandinavia, 2) Australia and New Zealand, 3) UK and Ireland, and 4) German-speaking Europe. There were no significant variations between private and public non-profit universities within the US and Canada.
- US and Canadian university websites fail to provide students with key information on: Program accreditation (missing from 1 in 3 programs), study program duration (missing from 1 in 5 programs), program start date (missing from 1 in 5 programs). However, universities generally made it easy to find information about the type of degree and student-directed deadlines or requirements (admission requirements, application deadlines, application information, etc.).
- Despite providing forms and email addresses to help students contact the university: 20 percent of US and Canadian universities fail to reply to student inquiries, and universities that do reply still fail to follow up with students interested in their programs (4 out of 5 times). The number of universities not replying to student inquiries in the UK and Ireland is slightly lower, with only 13 percent of universities not replying to emails or contact forms that students submitted to their university.
- US and Canadian universities are going mobile (67 percent of university websites pass the Google Mobile Friendliness test). The trend is also reflected in the MobiReady [12] scores for university websites, which is currently averaging 3.6 on a scale from 0 to 5 (0 as the least user-friendly and 5 as the most). “With more universities switching to mobile-friendly formats, the universities that lag behind are in danger of losing visitors to institutions that are willing to meet students on all platforms,” notes the report. “At the moment, the findability of universities’ websites is good, [and] most of the researched universities score very high on Google PageRank, which shows how high up the website will appear in a relevant online search.” However, US and Canadian university websites scored an average of 6.3 on PageRank, a lower rank than universities in the UK and Ireland (6.8) and universities in Australia and New Zealand (7.3).
Recommendations
The report concludes by emphasizing that since international students, on average, apply to four different universities when choosing a new study program, it’s never been more important for institutions to meet these students’ needs.
“With thousands of students looking at studying abroad every year, the goal of StudyPortals and British Council IELTS is to help universities provide better services to international students across the board, as well as to promote transparency in international education worldwide,” said Stephen Carey, marketing manager for British Council IELTS.
The individual reports accompanying this research may also be useful for understanding how each university measures against peer institutions, and can offer tips and actionable steps for universities wanting to improve. These reports are being distributed to the universities in confidentiality.
To know more about the “Through Student Eyes” research, or to receive your university’s personalized report contact, intelligence@studyportals.com.