North American Universities Rank Fifth in Communication With Prospective International Students

Study PortalsBOSTON / EINDHOVEN, THE NETHERLANDS – U.S. and Canadian universities ranked fifth in a study of how the world’s top 1,000 universities present themselves to prospective international students, according to “Through Student’s Eyes” research conducted by Study Portals and the British Council. According to the report, the most effective universities to respond to international student enrollment interest were found in the Benelux and Scandinavian countries, followed by Australia and New Zealand, the UK and Ireland, German-speaking Europe, the United States and Canada, the rest of Europe, and Asia.

“International Education is already creating 340,000 jobs and contributing $26.8 billion to the U.S. economy, as well as to the quality of education and the attraction of talent. The U.S. has the most reputable system of higher education and yet only a relatively small percentage of international students, and therefore there is large potential to grow this share. The study identifies how universities can improve in reaching, informing and communicating with prospective international students,” says Edwin van Rest, CEO of StudyPortals.

The report, which used students to mystery-shop the world’s best universities, found that while U.S. and Canadian universities are easy to find online, their websites fail to provide some basic information to students with one in five study program websites failing to mention key information such as accreditation, start date or duration.

While half of the 1,000 emails sent to the top U.S. and Canadian universities were answered promptly, one in five emails received no reply, making the students question the universities’ commitment towards international students. Furthermore, even among the universities that do reply to student inquiries, four in five do not follow up with the student after the initial reply, failing to establish a connection with the prospective student and of gaining their interest or better promoting their university or study program.

Additionally, the top 100 universities in the U.S. and Canada are performing better overall, while the universities with lower ranks (Top 401-500) are catching up and outperforming higher ranked universities.

Stephen Carey, British Council IELTS, says: “This latest research gives further insight into international students’ attitudes towards universities including their needs and expectations of institutions across the globe. With thousands of students looking at studying abroad every year, the goal of StudyPortals and British Council IELTS is to help universities provide better services to international students across the board, as well as to promote transparency in international education worldwide.”

The U.S. universities included in this research will receive an individualized report comparing their performance to the world’s best universities and providing guidelines and insights about better servicing international students.

The full report is available on the StudyPortals and IELTS British Council websites.

Featured

  • Austin International School Library Renovation

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The Austin International School has been recognized with an EDS 2025 Grand Prize award in the category of Renovation.

  • K–12 Safety Trends Report Reveals Reliance on Training, Technology

    Wearable safety technology provider CENTEGIX recently released its 2025 School Safety Trends Report, according to a news release. The report is based on more than 265,000 incidents during the 2024–25 school year as reported through the CENTEGIX Safety Platform, used by more than 800 school districts across the U.S.

  • S4L Launches 2025 Facilities and Construction Brief Survey

    Spaces4Learning recently launched its 2025 Facilities and Construction Brief Survey, which gathers information on K–12 and higher education construction projects nationwide from the previous year. The data we get from you, our readers, forms an industry report offering an overview of current trends in school facilities.

  • Dallas ISD Debuts New Peabody Elementary School

    The Dallas Independent School District in Dallas, Texas, recently announced the completion of the new facility for George Peabody Elementary School, according to a news release. The district partnered with Pfluger Architects and REEDER Construction on the 70,807-square-foot replacement campus, which has the capacity for 550 students.

Digital Edition