Market intelligence for international student recruitment from ICEF
19th Apr 2012

Changing affordability of markets adds to volatile global education landscape

Across publications reporting on the global higher education marketplace, including ICEF Monitor, one trend continues to arise: the increasingly complex and volatile student recruitment landscape, in which even established destination countries (e.g., Australia) can quickly decline in popularity, and newer competitors are gaining market share. In "A more complex marketplace taking shape for 2012" we pointed to two articles that looked at developments such as...

  • Australia’s weakened market position
  • the UK’s challenges due to tuition fee increases and stiffening visa requirements
  • America’s uncertainty regarding the ethics of using agents in international recruitment
  • the precarious global economy

Now, we point you to another must-read report from Higher Education Strategy Associates (HESA) 2011 Year in Review: Global Changes in Tuition Fee Policies and Student Assistance. One of the chief findings of the report is that, “In the face of continued increases in participation, demographic change and profound fiscal crises (in the west at least), higher education institutions are increasingly being required to raise funds from students as opposed to relying on transfers from governments.” The report goes on to look at the various factors contributing to student affordability in 40 study abroad markets across the world - and of course, affordability is among the key criteria students look at when choosing a study destination. Overall, the report notes that tuition increased by 2.58 percent globally last year, or dropped by 1.76 percent when adjusted for local inflation. Below is an excellent graphic featured in the HESA report that combines tuition fee changes with changes to financial assistance to students in order to arrive at the overall affordability of various markets. As you can see, the US emerges (in red) as the country in which affordability is decreasing the most dramatically. Other leading study abroad destinations (e.g., Canada and the UK) are also becoming more expensive, but not at the same rate as the US. Changes to higher education affordability in 2011. Source: HESA Will this affect the relative fortunes of the study abroad front-runners in the near future? And will the greater cost of studying in the leading study abroad markets such as the US, the UK and Canada continue to drive the trend of students choosing study abroad markets closer to home, within their regions? As we cited in "A more complex marketplace taking shape for 2012":

“Students today,” reports UNESCO, “are expanding their range of destinations. In 1999, one in four students chose to study in the United States while this was true for only one in five students in 2007…Meanwhile, Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and South Africa not only remained popular destinations but saw their shares of mobile students grow. Countries that have emerged among the top host countries include China, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand.”

The global education landscape is indeed heating up … at the very same time it faces pressures like never before. Managing the opportunities and challenges inherent in this dynamic will no doubt be at the centre of both country-level and institutional educational policies and strategies in the next few years to come. See the full HESA report for further details.

Most Recent

  • UK’s stiffening compliance regime already having an impact on international student recruitment Read More
  • Search data highlights surge in student interest in Asian and Middle Eastern destinations at mid-year Read More
  • Australia raises enrolment limits for 2025/26 but are they reachable? Read More

Most Popular

  • Which countries will contribute the most to global student mobility in 2030? Read More
  • Research shows link between study abroad and poverty alleviation  Read More
  • Beyond the Big Four: How demand for study abroad is shifting to destinations in Asia and Europe Read More

Because you found this article interesting

UK’s stiffening compliance regime already having an impact on international student recruitment It would be fair to say that compliance is top of mind for international educators in the United...
Read more
Search data highlights surge in student interest in Asian and Middle Eastern destinations at mid-year Aggregated search data from Keystone Education Group reveals a distinct spike in student interest in destinations across the...
Read more
Australia raises enrolment limits for 2025/26 but are they reachable? A joint 4 August 2025 media release from the Ministers for Education, Home Affairs, Immigration and Citizenship, and...
Read more
US: International commencements could drop by 30-40% this September A new analysis from NAFSA and the research consultancy JB International projects that international student commencements in the...
Read more
Nearly 30 Canadian language programmes closed in Q1, marking the “sharpest decline in the sector’s history” The peak body for Canada’s language training sector is sounding the alarm. Languages Canada reports that more than...
Read more
Recruiting in Taiwan: An established student market adapting to demographic change Fast Facts Population: 23.4 million Youth population: 9.8% aged 15–24, but the population is ageing Youth unemployment rate:...
Read more
Australia’s central bank highlights importance of international students to national economy The Reserve Bank of Australia, the country’s central bank, has released a special bulletin on the economic impact...
Read more
Measuring the impacts of the first full year of Canada’s foreign student enrolment cap In January 2024, Canada’s immigration ministry (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or IRCC) announced a two-year cap on...
Read more
What are you looking for?
Quick Links