I just got off a webinar on the state of international admissions for colleges. One could easily transfer most of the same issues to boarding school admissions. Many of the issues are exactly the same and it is no real surprise.
The session started off with a comment that, at a conference a number of years ago, a counselor stood up and said basically that international student enrollment was here to stay and would keep growing. Well, the facts don’t actually support that viewpoint now when in fact enrollment at both universities and boarding schools has either declined or flattened.
What is interesting is that the number of applications has risen, but actual matriculations at US schools are down.
What are the reasons?
- Trump and residual effects
- Nationalism and other rhetoric around the world
- Increased options and awareness of new pathways
- Safety and Mental Health
- Racism
- Currency fluctuations
- Cost of attendance
- Visa issuance concerns
These are just some of the reasons, but certainly these and others are impacting how students and families are making choices, which affect applications and enrollment around the world at both universities and schools. One of the factors here in China is the increase in options particularly for high schools. The number of schools now offering innovative (for China) education seems to grow by the day. From bilingual schools to schools experimenting with curricular concepts to schools planning to use the Mastery Transcript in the future. Families have more options and are thus more discerning in their choices. Commonly heard are comments like, “If I/we can’t get into a “good” school I/we will stay where we are.”
One side affect of this last point is that families are, to some extent but not always, willing to use unethical means of securing a place at a top school. The Varsity Blues Scandal only highlighted some of the inequities in admissions, but strangely parents response was not only shock, but “How much do I need to donate?” Further, colleges and universities are also seeing grade inflation or unreliable GPAS and predicted grades (AP, IB, A Level to name a few). This has only increased the pressure on student’s expectations, challenged perceptions, and added more confusion to their application and research process.
Because of the reasoning above, schools and universities are now seeing more and more melt, to the point that one university mentioned they lost 5 students who had gone through the complete enrollment and visa process. They just didn’t show up. For some universities 5 students is not an issue, but for smaller institutions, it can be significant. We have seen the same thing with boarding schools. Great schools have in the last couple of weeks announced that they are still looking have lost students who had committed.
Of all these current issues, it places enrollment management in a challenging situation as they seek more stable channels for students without relying on one specific region, country, or population. With decreased budgets, expectations, or institutional priorities for greater socio-economic and ethnic diversity in the student populations, admissions staffs are challenged to meet and manage expectations of higher management, boards, and other key members of the community.
It goes without saying that the world is not what it used to be five or ten years ago. But the impact of the changes present interesting challenges to all stakeholders – students and their families, schools, and universities. In some ways this will force recruiters to look deeper at their marketing to really point out significant advantages to their schools, be clearer and cleaner in admission processes and associated benefits – merit scholarships, financial aid for universities, and also focusing on direct outcomes of their institution rather than relying on ranking to drive admissions. One can only hope this to be true!
Everyone has a stake but one thing is clear there will always be challenges in any kind of admissions. The world is in flux, just as it has always been. The response to an ever-changing world is to adapt, educate and move forward.
Photo: www.wnycstudios.org
