A new report from the Ahain Group, a team of digital professionals with particular experience in social business, notes that international students could boost Irish colleges’ finances – and, perhaps, the jobs market – and advises colleges on how to recruit students via social media.
Enrolling an international student in an Irish university generates an average of over €16,000 per year in fees and living expenses, according to Education Ireland.
There are currently over 26,000 international students attending courses in Ireland, but increasing this figure would not only assist Irish colleges in increasing revenues, it could also lead to job creation both inside and outside the higher education sector.
The Ahain Group’s report analyses the methods for recruiting international students undertaken by colleges in North America and recommends similar strategies for the Irish education sector. “The report highlights the speed at which change is taking place in the international student recruitment sector due to use of cleverly deployed social campaigns on platforms such as Facebook and YouTube,” explained John Twohig, managing partner at the Ahain Group. “Traditional recruitment methods are already outdated, being replaced by the social business model, which offers low-cost, high-value targeted methods of attracting international students.”
“This report contains the information needed by the Irish institutions, to understand the changing international student recruitment model and we are delighted to circulate this report to all our education partners,” said Enterprise Ireland’s Lucia Reynolds, brand manager of Education Ireland.
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