What Today’s Data Tells Us About Tomorrow’s Sector Stability

Overview: The US higher education sector has been facing financial and demographic challenges for over a decade, with peak enrollment of high school students predicted as soon as 2025 and set to drop by 576,000 between 2025 and 2029 (McKinsey & Company). Couple this with a growing mistrust and questioning of the value of higher education from incoming cohorts and a strong employment market, and states are now facing the reality that several campuses may not be viable in their current form for much longer.

US institutions are coming under pressure to cut costs and achieve more with less, but two thirds of prospective international students interested in the US say that high-quality teaching is the most important thing when choosing a course (QS International Student Survey 2024.)

Institutions must recruit smarter, more deliberately and with a higher return on investment for their efforts. With QS data and insights, this presentation will provide higher education leadership with a roadmap forward – by understanding how to benchmark their position, realize diversification opportunities and emerging markets, build impactful partnerships and enhance in-country presence to maintain and grow market share.

Learning Objectives: Attendees will gain a data-driven benchmark on where US institutions sit in the global market and insights to evidence the sector’s current and upcoming challenges.

Attendees will understand how to realize diversification opportunities and match source markets to their reputation for optimized recruitment efforts and a higher return on investment.

Attendees will better understand the power of partnering for collaborative solutions to student recruitment and how in-country presence can expose institutions to regional insights, stronger relationships and opportunities in-market.

Attendees will leave with greater knowledge of the steps to take for smarter, more resilient and higher quality student enrollments to maintain stability in the increasingly competitive global higher education market.