US state consortia offer streamlined approach to student recruitment

In our previous video interview with Mr Greg Thompson, Senior International Trade Specialist and Education Team Leader with the United States Commercial Service, Department of Commerce, one of the topics we explored was the US study state consortia brands - the similarities and differences among them, best practices, and how a state can get started with its own consortia. Today, we dig deeper into this topic via a discussion with Mr Ryan Buck from Study New York (SNY), a growing consortium of accredited colleges, universities, and other educational institutions in New York State. Mr Buck serves as a board member of SNY and he is also the Executive Director of International Student Affairs at Brooklyn College, The City University of New York. New York is the second most popular state in terms of hosting intentional students (California is number one). Open Doors 2012 data showed that there were 82,436 foreign students in New York (up 4.5% over the previous year), bringing approximately US $2,584,900 to the state. The top origin countries were China (with a large lead at 23.9%), South Korea, India, Canada, Taiwan, and Turkey. As Mr Buck explains, SNY is a group of educational and training organisations in New York State whose broad purpose is to connect international students and professionals with quality education and training. SNY has a number of goals to strengthen the international education industry, such as...

• promote New York State as a leading destination for international students;
• enhance the global visibility of SNY member institutions and New York State;
• facilitate partnerships focusing on international student recruitment, student and faculty exchanges, as well as study abroad opportunities
• increase SNY member institutions’ access to opportunities for international recruiting, education missions, meetings and collaborative initiatives with the New York State Office of Economic Development and the US Departments of Commerce and State;
• communicate best practices in international student services and recruitment.

Mr Buck also talks about the services and benefits a US state consortium such as SNY offers to agents, which include...

• a free resource for agencies to explore higher education in New York State;
• easy access to a large network of international education professionals based in New York State;
• access to international partners, advocates, and contacts at a wide range of colleges and universities.

Working with a state consortia can enable recruitment agencies to expand their global partner network inside a particular state, which can help streamline their efforts in helping a student find a school that best matches their educational goals.