NAFSA Annual Conference 2013May 31, 2013

03:15pm - 04:15pm America's Center Room 276

Student Insights: How Students Research Study

Abroad Opportunities

Mike Elms, CEO Hotcourses Inc.

A survey of 6,000 prospective international students

• Across 20 local websites• With 12 million visitors• In April 2013

• Search• Content• Perceptions on types of program• Application expectations & response

Most international students search by program first

‘When researching information about study options, what do you search by first?’

Program Location University

43.50%

22.50%27.10%

However, for some countries, location and university are also important

Abroad

Vietnam

IndonesiaIndia

Mala

ysia

Latin Americ

a

Middle East

Singa

poreBraz

ilThai

ChinaKorea

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Location Program University

Note: Thai (40.5%) Prioritise Location

Note: Koreans Prioritise Location & UniversityNote: Middle

East (38.9%) Prioritise University

Most international students know the country they want to study in

‘When choosing to study abroad, do you have a specific country in mind?’

83%

17%

Yes No

Even down to a specific city or location

Average 63% have a clear idea of specific location

Abroad

Vietnam

IndonesiaIndia

Mala

ysia

Latin Americ

a

Middle East

Singa

poreBraz

ilThai

ChinaKorea

48.90%

81.70%

55.20% 53.90% 54.40%

63.10%

51.10%

63.00% 63.30%

75.40% 76.90%70.00%

Yes No

How important is it to have information in your own language?

Just over half of all respondents (53.2%) answered important or very important

90% of S. Korean respondents answered important or very important

72% of Latin-American respondents answered important or very important

50.8% of Indonesian respondents answered ‘5’ (‘Very Important)

Tip: Do you offer content in local languages on your web, FB or other marketing materials? Can you offer local language reps to speak to/IM?

The role of parents – who may not speak English…

1 Not Involved 2 3 4 5 Very Involved0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Abroad Vietnam Indonesia India Malaysia Latin AmericaMiddle East Singapore Brazil Thai China Korea

Vietnam (53.2%), India (51.2%) and Singapore (52.9%) answered 4 and above – parents more likely to be involved in decision

S. Korean applicants are slightly more independent than other countries

45.16% of all applicants replied involved or very involved

Word of mouth “very important”

‘How helpful would you find reviews by students from your country, who have studied abroad?’

81%

19%

Very Important less important

The influence of ‘other’ student views highly rated overall

1 Not Helpful 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Abroad Vietnam Indonesia India Malaysia Latin AmericaMiddle East Singapore Brazil Thai China Korea

92% of Vietnam re-spondents answered “4” and above

Reviews considered “Very Helpful” by Indonesian (75.4%), Brazil (76.9%) and Thai (76.6%) especially.

Nearly 70% of students rate video as Helpful or Very helpful

Abroad Vietnam Indonesia India Malaysia Latin America Middle East Singapore Brazil Thai China Korea0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1 Not Helpful 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful

Very Helpful

Helpful

Why is video important?

37%Of internet Usage is

made up of video streaming

72% Prospects more likely to “purchase” when

video is used

94%Of people who view a video they received

same day, will share it

Video = EmotionThe decision of where

to study abroad is a highly emotional one

Source: Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania 2011

Overall students would like to see students, and from their own country…

Abroad Vietnam Indonesia India Malaysia Latin America Middle East Singapore Brazil Thai China Korea0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1 Not Helpful 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful

Helpful Very

Help-ful

How helpful would it be to see a video of a student from your country?

1. A ‘Day in the Life’ video of an average International student, 40.5% of all respondents2. A video showing the university’s facilities, 36.1% of all respondents3. A video interview with alumni of that university, 23.3% of all respondents

Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Lat-Am & M. East wanted to see university study facilities

Vietnam, Singapore, Brazil, Thai, China preferred a ‘Day in the Life’ video

In addition to people – videos showing university study facilities are also popular

This included 91.7% of Chinese applicants, and 75.6% of Latin American applicants.

If you do have video of your school – focus on study facilities

Additionally, of those who wanted to see university

facilities featured in video, almost all markets wished to see a

university’s study facilities rather than its accommodation or social spaces/sports facilities.

However 60% of Thai applicants were more concerned with seeing

accommodation featured in such a video.

How do International students feel about studying US programs overseas?

‘Some US universities offer their courses to students at overseas universities. Would you consider this option?’

Additionally, of those who said ‘No’, 31% would reconsider if it meant a reduction in tuition fees.

58.10%

20.30%

21.60%

YESNOUncertain

Is the quality the same?

….overall, there didn’t seem to be a significantly prevalent opinion across all markets:

Is there enough information available to students?

17.80%

27.40%27.90%

26.80% BetterWorseSame QualityUncertain

Is the future online?

‘Do you believe the quality of an online degree to be the same as a campus-based degree?

Abroad

Vietnam

IndonesiaIndia

Mala

ysia

Latin Americ

a

Middle East

Singa

poreBraz

ilThai

ChinaKorea

65.20%

56.10%

68.50%64.40% 62.90%

76.10% 76.00%

55.90%

74.90%

52.40%

79.30%

66.70%

Yes No UncertainAverage “NO” is 66.53%

Online Degrees – understanding international student perceptions

Applicants from Latin America

(76.1%), Middle East (76%), Brazil

(74.9%) and China (79.3%) clearly feel

negatively about them

Applicants from Indonesia,

Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand might benefit from more information about

online degrees

Unsurprisingly, the majority of most markets believed

they should be less expensive than a

campus-based degree (73.6% of all

respondents)

How many applications will you make?

‘In total, how many universities did you/ are you applying to?’

Abroad

Vietnam

Indonesia

India

Malaysia

Latin America

Middle East

Singapore

Brazil

Thai

China

Korea

4+ 3 to 4 0 to 2

…while S. Korean, Indian, Malaysian applicants applied to slightly more

What are your expectations on response?

‘What do you consider to be a suitable response to your application?’

•Email 2 – 4 weeks after applying

*Our Mystery Shopper research shows that 52% of queries go unanswered

Looking closer, Thai (51.1%) and Brazil (53.1%) applicants felt a

prospectus through the mail would be suitable; meanwhile 51.7% of Chinese

applicants felt a letter is official.

How far in advance did you start researching study abroad before applying?

Average months per country

Months

Chinese students spend longer doing research

ME/Saudi may be influenced by scholarship funding

10.612.9

11 10 9.88.1

5.6

1011.3 11.5

18.8

6

How much of the process can be done online?

‘How comfortable are students when completing certain tasks online?’

• Of all students fell comfortable finding a program70%

• Feel comfortable applying to a program53%

• Feel comfortable finding a scholarship59%

•Of all students fell comfortable applying for a VISA online30%

•Feel comfortable finding accommodation online34.8%

•Would not feel comfortable completing any of the above tasks online4.6%

We envisage this increasing as future generations will be more internet-savvy, and further processes become

digitised

Thank you very much for your time mike.elms@hotcourses.comA small selection of sites from our network:

Take home summary…

The Good (free)• List programs• Student reviews/posts• Student videos

The bad (almost free…)• Translate content/microsite• Translate video• Student ambassadors• Local area site

The Ugly (expensive)

• Online programs• In-country visits• Partnerships

$$$