An offer letter is just the beginning of the international student journey. While students and their families rightly focus on academic quality and the value of a degree, their ultimate success often hinges on a factor that is frequently underestimated: the ecosystem of support services that surrounds them. In this episode, together with our guest speakers, we'll go beyond the offer letter to break down the hierarchy of student needs. We'll discuss which products and services are absolutely required for a smooth transition, which are 'nice-to-haves' that enhance the experience, and—most importantly—which are the overlooked elements that truly determine whether a student thrives. Think of everything from securing the right accommodation and health insurance, to setting up a bank account and finding a supportive social circle from day one. Join us to explore how getting these services right is fundamental to international student success and retention.

Insights and main takeaways from the ICEF Monitor Global Summit The international education sector is facing unprecedented change, from shifts in geopolitics and demographics to new technological innovations and a heightened focus on career outcomes and return on investment (ROI). These factors have a profound impact on all of us, from institutions and recruiters to the students and their families. In this special episode, we're dedicating our entire discussion to the main insights and key takeaways from the recent ICEF Monitor Global Summit in London, where these change factors were explored in depth. Join us as we examine the views and observations shared by leading experts and visionaries, offering a timely look at how the sector is responding to these challenges and how it shapes its future, building a new path ahead.

This episode is sponsored by TSI, University of Applied Science For many years, international student mobility has been defined by the dominance of the 'BigFour': the US, UK, Australia, and Canada. These historically popular study destinations have long set the benchmark for international education, attracting a significant majority of students seeking to study abroad. However, the global landscape is changing. A growing number of destinations across Europe, Asia, and beyond are emerging as serious contenders. With proactive government strategies, competitive tuition fees, improving world rankings, and attractive post-study work opportunities, these emerging destinations are expanding the range of quality options available to students, creating a more dynamic and competitive market than ever before. This shift requires established destinations to adapt and prompts a wider discussion about the future geography of student recruitment. In this episode, we will therefore explore the evolving dynamics of global student flows. We will discuss: - The dominant countries in international education, both today and in the future. - The evolving criteria for what makes a destination 'top-tier'—moving beyond student numbers to include affordability, policy, and career outcomes. - The strategic adjustments the BigFour can make to maintain their competitive edge. - The opportunities for emerging destinations to solidify their position on the world stage.

In an industry built around global relationships, cultural awareness isn't just a soft skill required for operating effectively within organisations – it's a critical necessity. This podcast explores the profound impact of global dynamics on our professional relationships and the crucial need for refined cross-cultural understanding. We explore why navigating cultural nuances is paramount when leading dispersed teams, and building relationships with global partners and stakeholders. The explosion of remote work has introduced unprecedented challenges for organisations and the leaders and managers within them, demanding a level of cultural sensitivity and adaptability that was unimaginable even a few years ago. We'll discuss the tangible consequences of misunderstanding across cultural divides – from strained team dynamics and trust breakdowns to missed business opportunities. This episode highlights why fostering strong cross-cultural communication isn't merely about politeness; it's about building genuine trust, enhancing seamless collaboration, and ensuring the resilience of your global remote operations.

Quality assurance and quality controls in international student recruitment are of the utmost importance as they build essential trust between students, institutions, and agencies – and enable all to make informed decisions in a fair, transparent environment. On this month’s episode, Craig Riggs (ICEF Monitor, Editor in Chief), Martijn van de Veen (ICEF CBDO) and our panellists will discuss the significance of upholding quality, ethics, and integrity within international education, exploring how to maintain the highest standards, promote ethical conduct, and cultivate trust throughout the student journey.

The sentiment towards studying in the US has been evolving since the election of President Trump. While initial surveys in early 2025 indicated a generally positive or improved view among many international students, recent developments - including travel restrictions, stricter immigration policies, proposed legislation, and funding changes—are creating growing uncertainty about international student enrollment and the US's appeal as a study destination. On this podcast, recorded live at NAFSA 2025, our hosts Craig and Martijn each interview 3 key stakeholders and experts in US focused international education, to collect the latest views, sentiments and insights on the outlook for international education in the USA.

The phenomenon of declining domestic student populations is not limited to the USA. Countries like Japan and South Korea in East Asia, as well as Germany, Italy, and Spain in Western Europe, are facing similar demographic challenges and are exploring solutions to maintain enrolment numbers in their higher education institutions, ensure their financial stability, enhance the diversity and global competitiveness of their campuses, and continue to attract new generations of talent who can contribute to their future. This month, we will examine how this enrolment cliff is opening doors for international student recruitment, not only allowing for continued healthy enrolment numbers but also boosting the diversification of the student population. In short: are we converting what initially appeared as an existential threat to many education providers worldwide into an appealing scenario for growth, diversification, and ultimately, benefiting the next generations of international students? What are the obstacles, if any, that might pose challenges along the way, and what can be done to overcome these?

The rapid rise in student visa rejection rates across prominent study destinations has a major impact not just on the students, but equally on the schools and agencies handling their recruitment. Higher rejection rates have led to changes in how pre-paid student fees are managed within the sector, for example, and have placed new financial pressures on both schools and agents. It appears higher rejection rates have also contributed to some high-profile school and agency closures in recent months, which have been, partly attributed to a reliance on projected rates of visa approvals – all of which underscores how uncertainty around visa processing affects our sector and its stakeholders. In this episode, we'll take a closer look at the challenges in the visa process, such as processing delays and rejection rates, and explore their impact on educators, agents, and students. We'll also discuss insights and best practices to mitigate the risks associated with visa processing uncertainties.

International student mobility in secondary education is growing beyond traditionally dominant destinations like the US, UK, Australia, and Canada, with various emerging destinations gaining prominence. International secondary students often seek enhanced educational opportunities or unique cultural experiences and represent a valuable pool of prospective students for universities - they graduate with credentials equivalent to domestic students, are well-positioned for higher education and contribute to the internationalisation of campuses. The growing flow of secondary students is driven by various factors, including the quality of education systems, the desire to broaden their horizons, and future career prospects. Understanding the motivations and trends in this sector is crucial for institutions looking to attract talented students. In this episode, we will therefore explore the international secondary student market, examining the key decision-making factors, emerging destinations, and the higher education opportunities for both the students themselves and the institutions looking to recruit them.

Leadership changes in the USA and Canada, ongoing immigration policy debates in Europe and Australia, the rising appeal of alternative study destinations, the impact of AI-powered recruitment technologies, and growing geopolitical instability: these are just a few examples of the unprecedented challenges that the international education sector is facing in 2025. An agile, flexible, and responsive approach to international student marketing, recruitment, and admissions is essential. In this episode, we therefore bring together leading experts from North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region to share their perspectives on the year ahead, discuss the various factors impacting our sector, and debate how best to respond.

New technologies and digital innovations are not only reshaping international education and its student recruitment processes but also have an impact, in multiple ways, on international student employability. Traditional application methods such as email and CVs for example, are giving way to modern, personalised multimedia application processes, and job search in general is being enhanced by sophisticated AI-powered career platforms. Simultaneously, technological advancements are reshaping the employment market itself, creating demand for new types of positions that often require entirely new skill sets, whilst other job categories are becoming obsolete. This forces students to reconsider their career paths and urges institutions to adapt their programmes and services to equip graduates for this evolving job market.

Recorded live at the 2024 edition of ICEF Berlin, ICEF’s Craig Riggs and Martijn van de Veen look back at some notable seminar sessions from the event. They include a featured panel from ICEF Digital on balancing the human factor with automation in student recruitment, and a big picture session that explored the two major trends that are combining to shape the future of recruitment for the rest of this decade. The episode otherwise features interviews with eight industry leaders in Berlin, who all generously shared their perspectives on the most important issues and trends in the sector today. We conclude with a closer look at Germany as the latest stop for our “Keys to the Market” segment.

Student mobility has been disrupted across a number of leading study destinations this year with the introduction of more restrictive policy settings for international students. Especially in Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, new rules around enrolment caps, visa application fees, minimum funds requirements, accompanying dependants, and post-study work rights, have been accompanied by a great deal of confusion and uncertainty in the marketplace, not to mention critical media coverage. The main topic this month features a panel discussion recorded live at the inaugural ICEF Monitor Global Summit, held in London on September 23. The panel considered the immediate and long-term implications of the policy changes, and explored how educators and partners are adapting their recruitment strategies in response. The podcast starts as usual with recent news and developments, followed by the main topic, and closes with our 'keys to the market' segment which this month focuses on student recruitment from China.

With English as the lingua franca of global trade, English Language Teaching (ELT) plays a pivotal role in prominent study destinations like the UK, Canada, the USA, and Australia. The sector offers numerous advantages such as boosting local and national economies, improving job opportunities and career advancement, serving as pathways to higher education, and promoting cultural exchange among students from diverse backgrounds. Governments however tend to overlook or even dismiss the ‘collateral damage’ of recently tightened international education and immigration policies on the ELT sector, negatively impacting their economies and compromising the numerous other benefits that the ELT sector offers. In this month's ICEF Podcast episode, we will discuss the implications of new regulations on the ELT industry, and how to respond to them. We’ll explore how ELT stakeholders can effectively promote the value of their sector to policymakers and the public, and discuss strategies to advocate for policies that support the growth and sustainability of the ELT sector.

We are all well aware that Artificial Intelligence is significantly impacting our personal and professional lives, and the international education sector is no exception. While the full extent of its impact remains to be seen, early indicators suggest significantly automated recruitment processes, faster admissions cycles, and more personalised student experiences. Although these developments offer new opportunities for many stakeholders, they also raise concerns. For instance, AI could pose a threat to digital agent aggregators, which were the rising stars of our industry only a few years ago. On this month’s main topic, Craig Riggs discusses the impact of AI on international education and digital agent aggregators with Louise Nicol, founder and CEO of Asia Careers Group and ‘Top Higher Education Voice’ on Linkedin.

When looking at the complexities of international student accommodation, there are three broad themes: 1. The specific challenges and requirements of international students and how these compare with domestic students. 2. The imbalance between supply and demand that exists across nearly all major study destinations, which also has an impact on pricing. 3. The responsibility that recruitment professionals have, whether educator or agent, to facilitate access to accommodation for the students they recruit. In this special episode of the ICEF Podcast, we discuss these 3 important themes with accommodation sector heavyweights Sarah Canning (The Property Marketing Strategists), Deenie Lee (The Property Marketing Strategists), and Daniel Smith (Student Housing Consultancy), in a co-production with “Housed, the shared living podcast”.

As the international education sector grapples with policy and legislation changes in traditionally dominant markets like Canada, Australia and the UK, our focus this month goes to the European continent, famous for its long list of very diverse and appealing study destinations. Every single country and region offers a different set of options in terms of the quality of education, affordability, culture, language, career opportunities, scholarships, safety, politics, or even climate, geography, and overall appeal. The list is long and Europe’s unique diversity means that it has something to offer for everyone. On this month’s episode we will take a closer look at all that Europe has to offer, we’ll discuss how European policies compare to those in the ‘big four’, and we'll take a look at satisfaction levels of international students in Europe, based on the latest report report by ETIO, “The global student experience”, that came out earlier this month.

A new analysis from international research firm HolonIQ sets out growth scenarios for foreign enrolment in the United States over the next decade. Ranging from what amounts to "essentially flat" to "more than double," the growth trajectories are based on detailed modelling of global student flows, with adjustments for national policies regarding international students, capacity, competition, and the shifting geopolitical context. At the 2024 NAFSA conference in New Orleans we used the opportunity to interview three NAFSA delegates, three industry experts, about their views on these growth scenarios, on the factors that are involved and on their outlook for international education in the USA in general.

A lot is happening again in international education and especially the policy changes across various major study destinations are keeping everyone’s minds busy - including ours and we will therefore discuss how these policy interventions are impacting student planning for study abroad, our main topic this month. The country we discuss in our keys the market section after the main topic this time is the Philippines, these days often referred to as Asia’s ‘rising tiger’. We kick off the episode as always with some recent ‘News & Developments’.

In this ICEF Podcast we’re talking about startups and it is always fascinating to hear the stories of the people behind these new initiatives, the newcomers in the marketplace: what drives them, which ideas do they have, which problems are they solving, how can their product or service add value, and where do they find the time, the energy, the funds, the tenacity to keep going even when the going gets tough sometimes. We have invited three start-up founders: three entrepreneurs who made time in their busy agendas not only to tell us about their story and explain their format/concept, but also to share with us their ambitions and strategic objectives for the coming years.