Studyportals launches interactive dashboard to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on international education

Eindhoven, 8 April 2020 – Combining real-time student interest data with Johns Hopkins University Data

Studyportals, the global study search platform, is pleased to announce that it has launched an interactive dashboard to help with monitoring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international education and student search interest for 2021 and 2022 academic intakes.

The dashboard is free to access for the coming weeks and can be used by all higher education professionals to better understand how COVID-19 is shaping student search behaviours, globally and future student intakes. The dashboard can be accessed on the Studyportals website and will be updated on a weekly basis with the latest data and insights.

This interactive dashboard was built to incorporate both data that has been collected on the spread of the virus such as the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Data Stream, as well as Studyportals’ proprietary data on global student interest (demand) and university offer (supply) of global English taught programmes.

Thijs van Vugt, Director of the Studyportals Analytics & Consulting Team mentioned:

‘We were looking how best to help the higher education community globally and the big question on marketer’s or recruiter’s mind right now is how this pandemic is affecting student demand. Will it decrease, and if so for how long? Will students be looking more for online programmes or maybe more for domestic programmes? So, in the end we formed an interdisciplinary hack team within Studyportals, to provide real-time insights into the impact of COVID-19 on international student interest. Nothing is certain anymore, so we need to trust the data to inform future decisions.’

The dashboard allows higher education professionals to:

• Monitor how COVID-19 is altering student interest for international education, across different degree levels
• Evaluate the extent to which key destination countries are impacted, as well as their key source countries. Monitor in real time how these markets are recovering and have a first-hand view on ‘the new normal’
• Evaluate differences between online and on-campus student interest driven by COVID-19
• See country-specific share of interest changes for online degrees

Among the first key insights, Thijs van Vugt noted:

‘Not surprisingly, we see a decline in demand for (traditional) on-campus degree programmes, but at the same time a huge increase for online courses (degree and non-degree), as well as more interest in domestic programmes. Furthermore, in Europe we see a significant increase in students looking for programmes within Europe as well!’

The dashboard is one of many resources and intelligence activities Studyportals is making public to support the higher education industry stay informed on the latest developments, including a webinar series, a student interest survey and a dashboard for student search support.

Studyportals COVID-19 resources:

• Studyportals  COVID-19 dashboard for higher education
• Studyportals Academy webinars
• Prospective student surveys

PRESS CONTACT:

Carmen Neghina, Senior Marketing Analytics and Higher Education Consultant – Studyportals – +31 655875270| carmen@studyportals.com

Studyportals

Studyportals is the global study choice platform, enabling students to find and compare their education options across borders and make an informed choice. With over 200,000 on-campus and online courses from over 3,750 participating universities across 119 countries and over 37 million users in 2019, Studyportals is the world’s leading information source for study seekers. Since 2014, the organisation, headquartered in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, has expanded its services and is also covering universities in the Americas, Oceania, and Asia.

Studyportals aims to match students globally with the learning opportunities that fit them best. It helps institutions to optimise and grow their student population through a fully digital channel with transparent results.

Studyportals Analytics & Consulting Team

The Analytics and Consulting Team (ACT) at Studyportals advises and assists universities and other organisations in the higher education sector to realise their ambitions in the field of international marketing and international student recruitment. Our team of consultants cover everything from strategy, branding and marketing to customer relationship management, student recruitment, market insight, competitor analysis, google analytics, training as well as custom services. Our three areas of expertise are Analytics & Market Insights, Consulting & Training and Tracking and Recruitment Funnel Optimisation.