Globally, recent data show that international student enrolment increased by 4.7 percent (from 690,923 to 723,277) during the school year of 2010 to 2011 (Institute of International Education, 2011). The figure improved to 6.5 percent during the academic year 2011 to 2012 with a total of 228,467 new enrollees. The top places of origin of international students in the United States are China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Canada.
2.4 The Use of Social Media for Marketing Higher Education
Social media cannot be ignored when it comes to international student recruitment. However, when using social media tools a university needs to define its goals, activities and expected outcomes (Academic Impressions, 2012). Social media also has the
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However, apart from competition and budgetary factors, there must be other reasons that should pressure colleges and universities to focus on recruitment efforts, like the need to attract the best and the brightest from different parts of the world and the opportunity to reach out to diverse cultures and traditions. In this particular context, social media offers an effective means and opportunity to improve and redesign higher education institutions' recruitment and marketing strategies and techniques and to adapt to the changing needs, decision- making, and engagement patterns of potential international students. One potential problem is that change is not that easy to introduce and implement in higher education. Thus, it is the responsibility of university administrators and executives to explain to their stakeholders why their institution needs to embrace change and adopt new programs and recruitment …show more content…
However, there are other research and studies that students’ perceptions, beliefs and views towards higher education can be influenced by both internal and external factors, such as personal motivations, the desire to secure good employment prospects, parental and family influences, social and environmental factors, financial aspects, immigration factors, among others.
While many scholars and researchers strongly recognise the potential of social medial tools in improving, reinforcing international students’ recruitment process, there are those who still believe that traditional communication channels, such as foreign exhibits, educational fairs and campus tours, can effectively complement new marketing methods and strategies. Current trends and global patterns also indicate that there is an increasing use of social media by students, including university-bound