Market intelligence for international student recruitment from ICEF

Asia Page 1 of 81

Japanese agents report that they sent 76% fewer students abroad in 2020

Japan, an important source market for many study abroad destinations, sent 76% fewer students to other countries in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decline was reported...

International students’ frustration mounts as Chinese border remains closed

Thousands of international students who are enrolled in Chinese higher education institutions are currently unable to enter China due to the country’s 16-month-old COVID-related ban on international visitors....

China emerging as a major destination for African students

In less than a decade, China has moved from being the least popular study abroad destination for African students to the most popular for a growing number of...

China an “indispensable recruitment market” for study abroad for which online channels will be key this year

China’s demographics are changing, and so too are some of the patterns of outbound Chinese students. They are choosing a wider field of study destinations than in the...

Indian outbound student market poised to bounce back in 2021

In many respects, India has been one of the big stories in international student mobility over the past decade. Second only to China in terms of total outbound...

Chinese border remains closed to foreign students

China has been climbing the global table of leading study destinations over the past decade and is now the fifth-largest destination overall, after only the US, Australia, UK,...

Japan eases restrictions for international travellers, including students

Update: Japan closed its borders again to international students in early January, 2021. Making a direct link between economic recovery and international travel, the Japanese government has moved...

Malaysia orders universities online and restricts foreign student entry

Malaysia’s universities were scheduled to fully reopen on 2 October. On that same day, and in the face of rapidly rising COVID counts, the Ministry of Higher Education...

UK universities charter flights to bring international students back to campus

Dozens of universities in the United Kingdom have begun chartering flights to bring Chinese students safely to their campuses. There is financial risk that attaches to flight charters,...

Survey highlights continuing strong demand among Indian and Nepali students during COVID-19

Indian education-focused think tank IC3 has just released a report summarising the results of a student survey conducted in June and July 2020 that examined the outlook of...

US revokes over 1,000 Chinese students’ visas due to national security concerns

Over the past three months, the US government has revoked the visas of more than 1,000 Chinese students who it deems to be “high-risk graduate students and research...

China continues to show its strength in global rankings

The 2021 edition of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings is just the latest indication of the continuing rise of Chinese higher education. This year’s ranking contains...

Malaysia: New international enrolments on hold with strict protocols for returning students

In updated guidance released on 29 July, Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS), an agency of Malaysia’s Ministry of Higher Education, has announced that the country will not be...

Higher education students press for refunds and discounts during COVID-19

Educators the world over are facing unprecedented challenges and uncertainty about how they will attract and retain students for the coming academic year. COVID-19 continues to be an...

COVID-19 restrictions “unprecedented” in history of international travel

A new report from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) highlights that 96% of all destinations worldwide have introduced travel restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic....