ICEF Podcast ICEF GmbH

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.

In this ICEF Podcast’s main topic, we’ll discuss in which way and via which types of innovations, international education can be made more accessible and more inclusive beyond the conventional types of student financing. Think of cost control in terms of international tuition fee payments, loyalty programmes as alternative source of funding, income share agreements, and technological innovations in terms of payment processes for example.

In our keys to there market section we take a look at Egypt.

This month’s main topic focuses on the next stage in the AI evolution: Artificial General Intelligence, and how it impacts international education. Also covered in this episode is a full update on the new visa rules in Canada.

In our keys to there market section we take a look at student recruitment form and to the Czech Republic.