Latitudes: How to find your niche in a competitive international-admissions market

They're not brand names, but these colleges attract students from abroad. ADVERTISEMENT [Latitudes Logo]( You can also [read this newsletter on the web](. Or, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, [unsubscribe](. Not Harvard? No problem. One of the geniuses of American higher education is its diversity. Not only do we have a wealth of institutions, but they’re varied in the type of instruction they offer, their learning environment, their size, their location, and more. Yet much of the buzz overseas focuses on brand-name colleges, those that are at the top of global rankings or that enroll thousands of international students. I recently hosted a Chronicle virtual forum focused on the challenge of getting beyond the privileging of prestige when it comes to global audiences: How do you recruit internationally when you’re not Harvard or Princeton or New York University? I spoke with admissions representatives at community, rural, women’s, and liberal-arts colleges, as well as a fashion- and arts-focused institute, about ways they have leveraged their particular identity to appeal to and attract students from around the world. Our discussion is [available to listen to on demand](. But here are a few key insights and pieces of advice: It’s not just about recruiting for your institution — you may also need to educate international students (and parents) about American higher education. In many countries, what constitutes postsecondary education fits into a neat and narrow box — often, a large, public, research-focused university. If that doesn’t describe your institution, you may first need to give prospective students a primer on different educational models in the United States before you can talk about the specifics of your college. For Jing Luan, who began international-recruitment efforts at the College of San Mateo, in California, that has meant explaining the notion of transfer from a two-year to a four-year college. About 40 percent of American undergraduates are at community colleges like his, said Luan, who is provost emeritus for international affairs, “but that information is scarcely known outside the U.S.” “When I named brand-name universities that our students transfer to,” he said, “people abroad were shocked to find out. They said, it is too good to be true.” Just because a type of education is unfamiliar to overseas students doesn’t mean there isn’t an audience for it. Students who are less wealthy or who need extra academic or language support may gravitate to a community college. And succeeding there may better position students to get into a top four-year college than if they’d applied directly out of high school — international students at San Mateo frequently go on to the nearby University of California at Berkeley. Likewise, in many higher-ed systems, students are tracked into majors, expected to know what they want to study from Day 1. Liberal-arts institutions like Bryn Mawr College, in Pennsylvania, can appeal to the explorers and seekers, said Jennifer L. Russell, associate director of admissions and coordinator of international recruitment. “They have time to make up their mind in terms of what direction that they might want to go.” Emphasize fit and identity. Russell said many international students are first attracted to Bryn Mawr for the liberal arts, not because it’s a women’s college. Still, Russell said, she often finds herself talking about the benefits of a single-sex environment, especially for students in the sciences. “What would it be like if you’re not underrepresented?” she tells students. “What would it be like if you don’t have to stand a little taller, if you’re not the only woman physics major? All of our physics majors are women physics majors. You don’t have to be a female physics major. You’re just a physics major.” Ismael J. Betancourt, assistant provost for global education and engagement at Radford University, in Virginia, said it’s important to have a clear sense of institutional identity when recruiting overseas. “We’re not trying to be everything for everybody,” he said. “Be something to someone, be focused. We consciously thought what we wanted to be.” “No school is for everyone,” Richard S. Sunday, director of admissions and strategic recruitment at the Fashion Institute of Technology, counsels students. He said he emphasizes that FIT, part of the State University of New York, is “unconventional.” You say weakness. I say strength. Parents are often nervous about safety when sending their students to study in New York City, and Sunday said he doesn’t beat around the bush. Instead, he directly talks about crime and FIT’s safety record. Likewise, international students may be most familiar with American cities, but more-rural campuses have their advantages. “Being rural means freedom from crazy traffic. Being rural is room to roam around,” Luan said. The open-access nature of community colleges could be viewed as a negative by students and parents who prize selectivity, but Luan emphasizes the opportunity such an education affords. “Our task is to turn these weaknesses into our strengths,” he said. You don’t need to have “admissions” on your business card to be a good recruiter. All of the speakers said a successful approach to recruiting students relied on more than just the admissions office. Some colleges strike formal joint- and dual-degree agreements with foreign universities as a pipeline, while Sunday said he has tapped into FIT’s relationships with international partners to expand the college’s identity overseas. ADVERTISEMENT NEWSLETTER [Sign Up for the Teaching Newsletter]( Find insights to improve teaching and learning across your campus. Delivered on Thursdays. To read this newsletter as soon as it sends, [sign up]( to receive it in your email inbox. Find ambassadors for your college, and more advice Working with third-party recruitment agents can extend a college’s reach and provide an on-the-ground presence, said Betancourt, who is president of [AIRC: The Association of International Enrollment Management]( which trains and certifies agents abroad. Russell turns to Bryn Mawr alumnae as volunteer interviewers for international students who can’t make it to campus. “They get such a kick out of it,” she said. Alumni and current students can be effective ambassadors, even when they’re not representing colleges in a formal setting, like at college fairs or panels, Russell said. “It’s conversations I didn’t even know that they’re having, with a friend of a friend of a friend. Or they’re wearing a college T-shirt. These kinds of things do make a difference. The word of mouth is a really powerful thing.” New to international recruitment? It won’t happen overnight. Sunday, who has worked in admissions for three decades, recommends patience. There may be pressures from college leaders who expect that a single recruitment trip overseas will lead to a surge in enrollments. The reality, he said, is that it takes time to build relationships with high-school counselors and raise institutional awareness. “Stick with the plan because once you catch momentum, it actually will be geometric, not arithmetic,” he said. ”It’ll start slow, but over a two- or three-year period, you’ll see it quickly grow and blossom.” You’re not alone. Think of your peers at other colleges less as competitors and more as colleagues, the speakers urged. In particular, they said, conferences organized by groups focused on international admissions like AIRC and the [International Association for College Admission Counseling]( can provide great opportunities for networking and professional development. “You can do this,” Betancourt said. “Talk it out, seek help, and you’ll be able to do this. Don’t give up. We’re all in the same boat. We got you.” FROM THE CHRONICLE STORE [The Research Driven University - The Chronicle Store]( [The Research Driven University]( Research universities are the $90-billion heart of America’s R&D operation. [Order this report today]( to explore the scope of the American academic-research enterprise and how institutions can contribute to tomorrow’s revolutionary innovations. Higher-ed groups file brief in support of DACA Some 168 colleges and higher-education organizations have signed an [amicus brief]( in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which provides legal protections for some young people brought to the United States illegally as children. Texas and a group of other states are [challenging the legality of the program]( saying that it violates immigration law. The brief argues that participants in the program, known as DACA, match or outperform their peers on key academic and employment metrics, and contribute to the American economy in critical ways. It also says undocumented students benefit colleges through their academic performance and diverse viewpoints. Those signing the brief include state-university systems, research institutions, Hispanic-serving and historically Black colleges, faith-based institutions, private schools, and community colleges. A federal judge in September sided with DACA’s detractors, ruling that the Obama and Biden administrations had exceeded their authority in creating the program through [executive action](. The Biden administration then appealed that decision. However, the judge has allowed the program to continue during the legal process. Current recipients have been able to keep and renew their benefits, but no new applications have been accepted. Relatedly, a [border and foreign-aid deal]( introduced in the U.S. Senate would provide a pathway to citizenship for Afghans [evacuated to the United States]( after the Taliban’s takeover but doesn’t include permanent DACA protections. Around the globe The National Science Foundation has released interactive [research-security training modules]( for scientists at American colleges who receive federal grants. Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York wants to make it easier for international graduates to stay in the state, proposing in her [State of the State address]( to offer grants to colleges to help foreign entrepreneurs commercialize research and start businesses. Forty-four percent of the students who earn science and engineering degrees at New York’s public colleges are from overseas. A federal appeals court has blocked a Florida law that would prevent Chinese citizens, including graduate students and professors, from [buying property]( in the state. Canadian universities will be able to apply for [low-interest government loans]( to build more student housing. Officials cited a housing crunch in college towns as one reason they were [capping international-student visas](. Britain’s higher-education minister said the government would investigate possible fraudulent practices by [overseas-recruitment agents](. Higher-education leaders are urging the European Union to revise a legislative proposal that could force colleges to make reports to a “[transparency register]( because they receive funding from abroad. Students and police officers clashed in Athens during [protests]( against government plans to allow private universities to open in Greece. The Bulgarian government has proposed [eliminating tuition]( at public colleges in order to expand access and retain local talent. Russian researchers will have to report all [foreign trips]( to the Ministry of Education and Science, part of [tightening government control]( over higher education. “Citation cartels” in India and Saudi Arabia may be boosting their institutions’ scores on global university rankings by [churning out]( low-quality papers that repeatedly reference colleagues’ work. Women’s enrollment in Indian colleges is growing at a faster pace than that of male students, according to a [government report](. Visa-approval rates for international students seeking to study in Australia have [declined]( in the wake of new policies to curb abuse of the visa system. A scholarship program that brings foreign graduate students to the United States to study science and technology will be [expanded]( to include students from 10 Southeast Asian countries. Federal science agencies should vet foreign research collaborations rather than leave it to colleges to determine whether such international partnerships pose security risks, a former high-ranking lawyer for the U.S. Department of Education [argued](. Policymakers shouldn’t let geopolitics get in the way of [scientific cooperation with China]( writes a former chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley. ADVERTISEMENT And finally … Aspiring schoolteachers at San Diego State University get to take a field trip of their own, across the border to Mexico. Students in the dual-language and English-learner program spend four days visiting schools in Tijuana to better understand the experiences of immigrant children. “We want them to understand, basically, the students we share,” a San Diego State lecturer who helps organize the trips [told]( EdSource. “Sometimes there could be a student in Tijuana that the next day is in a classroom in San Diego.” Thanks for reading. I always welcome your feedback and ideas for future reporting, so drop me a line at karin.fischer@chronicle.com. You can also connect with me on [X]( or [LinkedIn](. If you like this newsletter, please share it with colleagues and friends. They can [sign up here](. CAREER RESOURCES [Career Resources]( [Read the February collection]( to learn the secrets behind mastering the final stages of the interview process. 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