Diversify with Data: Insights for Higher Ed Institutions 

While traditional recruitment grounds are still represented, developing countries drive student demand for higher education.

Interest in international higher education is much higher in countries where the sector is not able to accommodate the demand for high-quality programmes that can unlock global careers. The mismatch between demand and supply is at play also in destination countries, where organizations are sometimes offsetting declining demographics with an influx of global talent.

These powerful dynamics can be harnessed by universities to expand their international outreach. Being dependent on just a handful of countries for their student population is a risky strategy.

Slide to compare: Past enrolments to current student interest

How did we gathered this information?

We relied on estimates from UNESCO and OECD to present a coherent, global picture of
student mobility. These numbers are descriptive of historical ties and of long-term student
flows. They are also somewhat difficult to cross check with national databases despite great
efforts in standardizing the definition of an international student. UNESCO and national
statistics represent past enrolments rather than the current state. Preparing the data we took
the latest measurement available per country.
UNESCO do not differentiate by language of instruction: International education and
international English-taught education are accounted together.

Aside from the two largest countries in the world, many other players play a significant role in
international student mobility.

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Enrolments by destination

Core audience by destination 

Many enrolment datasets (including UNESCO data) provide a backward-looking perspective on higher education demand. Because student behavior on Studyportals is forward-looking, this can give us insights into what the future holds. Analysing changes in millions of pageviews over time can give an indication of future growth prospects and emerging trends in student
recruitment.

Studyportals tracks the anonymous, organic search behaviour of 52 million prospective
students annually, on its proprietary platforms. Student demand is calculated on a granular levels ( based on actual page views), representing real-time student search behaviour. Studyportals also has the most comprehensive coverage of English-taught programmes in the world. Approximately 90% of all English-taught programmes globally are listed.

80% of interest from international students: it plots the core audiences for on-campus, English –taught

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© 2023 Studyportals. All rights reserved 

Each year 52 million students use Studyportals to search for best-fit programme. The core audience making up 80% of international student interest on Studyportals, for each destination, is a good indicator of opportunities outside of the few countries making up past enrolments. Institutions should have all relevant origin countries on their radars by understanding this core audience. Studyportals data measures interest for English-taught progmrammes only and is a good indicator of enrolments 12 to 24 months in the future. Note that data from China is absent due to internet restrictions in that country.  

Click on the destinations on the interactive map to see which origin countries make up 80% of past enrolments, and 80% of current interest on Studyportals

Student interest 

Key takeaways

Data insights to inform diversification strategies in HE

Each year 52 million students use Studyportals to search for best-fit programme. The core audience making up 80% of international student interest on Studyportals, for each destination, is a good indicator of opportunities outside of the few countries making up past enrolments. Institutions should have all relevant origin countries on their radars by understanding this core audience.  Studyportals data measures interest for English-taught progmrammes only and is a good indicator of enrolments 12 to 24 months in the future. 

Are you finding these insights interesting?

52 million
students

80% of international student interest

12 to 24 moths
in the future

The gap between past enrolments and current student interest 

Looking to grow and diversify international student enrolments?

We relied on estimates from UNESCO and OECD to present a coherent, global picture of student mobility based on past enrolments. These numbers are descriptive of historical ties and of long-term student flows. They are also somewhat difficult to cross check with national databases despite great efforts in standardizing the definition of an international student. In preparing the data we took the latest measurement available per country. Note that some data such as the number of outbound international students from Nigeria is unavailable, and UNESCO uses estimates of these figures.  

UNESCO do not differentiate by language of instruction: International education and international English-taught education are accounted together.

Methodology: About the data

Studyportals has the scope of 52 million users and the granular detail of measuring student behavior by number and type of page views. This allows us to analyse which countries make up the core audience (80% of interest from international students). Note that data from China is absent due to internet restrictions in that country.   

Studyportals tracks interest in English-taught programmes around the world. Approximately 90% of English-taught programmes are listed, making Studyportals the most comprehensive listing of these programmes in the world. This analysis plots the core audiences for on-campus, English–taught, Bachelor's and Master's programmes for the top 25 study destinations on Studyportals.  

Because student behavior on Studyportals is forward-looking, this can give us insights into what the future holds. A strong correlation between Studyportals data and enrolments 12-24 months into the future has been established repeatedly. Analysing changes in millions of pageviews over time can give an indication of future growth prospects and emerging trends in student recruitment.