|
At first glance, you’ll see that North American students show much more interest in getting a Bachelor’s degree overseas over a Master’s degree as compared to other regions. However, more and more North Americans actually want to study in a Master’s program abroad each year. There are 25.2% more prospective students interested in Master’s degrees since 2020. Looking for more international students in your shorter programs? This group is more interested in studying abroad for a shorter period of time than any other region in the world. Programs that are 2 years or less in length attract more than 80% of North American prospective students. What can we learn by looking at the top fields of study for North Americans wanting to head overseas? |
|
Canadian students are especially interested in Art & Design. This subject is preferred by 16.5% of prospective students, the highest proportion out of any other global region in the world. General Studies, however, has fallen to the bottom of the list in Canada as compared to taking 9th last year. For Americans, the subject of Humanities & Culture attracts more than twice as much attention as it does for the average international student! So, when do they want to start their studies abroad? With the limitations on travel as a continuing reality, almost 90% of students are looking to begin their travels in 2022 or later. When looking at last year’s data, students were nearly twice as eager to head overseas in the same year as the survey was taken. |
Marketing InsightsTop Considerations: Student stories are top indicators of teaching quality to Americans, while more Canadians judge quality using program rankingTo learn about how North Americans make study abroad decisions, we asked what they consider first when deciding where to study abroad. |
|
Since 2019, there has been a steady trend in the proportion of North American students' first considerations when deciding on a study abroad program. The country has become increasingly less important, while study abroad programs and schools have become more commonly considered first. What is most important in a program to North American students who prioritize a program first? More than half consider the quality of professors and teaching as the most important factor when choosing a program. Just under work placement or internship opportunities at second, the content and modules of a program have become much more important to students this year (49.5%) than in last year’s survey (33.3%). An additional interesting difference within the region is that the study mode and flexibility of a course have double the importance to American students (41.8%) than for Canadians (20.4%). |
|
As student judgment of teaching quality seems to be the most important factor overall, let’s take an inside look at how teaching quality is actually judged by those who prioritize it. When you look at the region overall, students say that hearing about personal experiences is key. About 51.8% say that student stories or people they know who have experience with teachers at a school would be their top indicator of quality, with the percentage even higher in the United States alone (59.5%). For 51.6% of Canadians, however, program ranking is valued the most, with online student ratings of professors as well as their professors’ previous work and general school reputation seen as better measurements of quality than student stories. |
Top Motivations: School or program rankings are only half as likely to motivate students from the United States to study abroadSo, what sets North Americans apart when it comes to their motivations to study abroad? Passion for experiencing a new culture or lifestyle is certainly present here - this option is 20% more popular in North America than the global average. North Americans also want to make friends or widen their professional network more than other parts of the world, with the exception of Europe. Learning a new language is a big reason to study abroad here too, and is an option chosen the most by North Americans. About a quarter aim to expand their linguistic capabilities overseas (24.9%). With the intercultural experience of studying abroad at the front of these students’ minds, career-related aspects of study abroad are prioritized much less than for other students (besides those from Australia and New Zealand). Is your school not as highly-ranked as hoped? You’re in luck, because rankings also don’t seem to inspire Americans so much either. School and program rankings are less than half as motivational to this group (6.6%) than for the average international student (15.3%). Does your school give extra language support to international students? This could ease some fears. There’s been a 24.1% decrease in the percentage of students in North America that say that they are worried about not speaking the local language in their study abroad country since last year. Even with this drop from 2020, Canada and the United States still host the highest number of students nervous about their language skills in the world in 2021. Distance from home also reaches their top concerns, as the second-largest proportion of students anticipating homesickness are from North America (after Oceania). |
Top Influences: North Americans find photos and videos of destinations to be twice as helpful than average in the decision-making processAfter their family, North Americans along with students from Europe, the Middle East, Caucasia, and Central Asia are more likely than students from other areas to listen to their friends when making a study abroad decision (36.6%). |
|
Where does your school have a social media presence? In 2019, we asked prospective students in North America how important different social media platforms were when researching study abroad options. Two years ago, YouTube was the top answer, followed by Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. What about in 2021? When we asked what students found to be the most useful to get more information about a university, almost 60% answered Instagram. What else might influence North Americans to try out life as international students? Over half of all students from this area say that they are influenced by other students’ stories of study abroad (52.1%). This is more than most other regions besides Australia and New Zealand. North Americans and Oceanic students also share a love for photos and videos of study abroad destinations. About 20% of North American and Oceanic students say that these forms of media are helpful when deciding where to study abroad, which is double the international average. |
