90 And Counting…
by Rebecca Grappo, IECA Member (CA)
2011 is already proving to be an exciting year in our profession. The facts and figures clearly point to rapid growth in our industry, as they have for some time. By now we’re all familiar with the 26% figure representing the percentage of high-achieving high school seniors who use some sort of college-ready consulting. But another area within our field is growing rapidly: the continued emergence of the international student market. According to the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors Report, there are nearly 700,000 foreign students studying in the U.S. Not surprisingly, China, India and South Korea consistently lead the charge in numbers enrolled. While an exciting growth area, we need to ensure that we, as individuals and as an organization, understand the myriad dynamics associated with this opportunity.
Expanding your practice overseas can be an incredibly rewarding and enriching experience for IECs, not just the students we serve. Learning about new cultures and education systems in foreign countries broadens our horizons, while we use our expertise to help foreign nationals understand what college is like in the U.S. However, the same reasons that make international business expansion so exciting can also become potential pitfalls: cultural differences, language barriers, time zones, online video connectivity, international monetary transfers, visa requirements, and scarce international financial aid all stand in the way of seamlessly integrating the overseas markets into our portfolio of services. What’s more, actually finding customers in Asia, Latin America, and around the world can be a daunting task.
As someone that has been working with students around the world for some time now, I’ve been tapped by IECA to sit on a panel about international markets at the conference in Philadelphia with IECA’s newest partner, CollegeSolved. I will be joining the founders of CollegeSolved along with Mark Hershhorn, former CEO of National Media Corporation, a NYSE-traded international marketing company who is now on the Board of Governors of Rutgers and the Wharton Graduate Executive Board. Our aim in this panel discussion is to address both how to find quality students who want to go to school in the U.S. and how to appropriately manage the complexities of those relationships once we are engaged.
According to Mark Sklarow, 90 out of 376 of IECA members coming to the Philadelphia conference already engage in international student counseling sessions including 15 of us who live overseas. These are exciting times, but the onus is on us to be informed as best we can in order to represent our clients to the best of our abilities.
I hope you will join us at the panel discussion that will cover international social media and marketing, the role of agents, and overseas students’ understanding of their place in the process, cultural differences, effective use of technology in reaching out to the global marketplace, and more. The panel will take place on Thursday, May 5th at 2:45 p.m.
Related posts:
- Nearly 100 Presenters will Examine Hot Topics in College Admission, Boarding Schools, Special Purpose Programs & Independent Educational Consulting
- The Changing Nature of International Students Coming to the U.S. and What it All Means for IECs
- At IECA Conferences, Education Shares Spotlight with Networking: 5 Rules for Success
- Trends in College Admissions: Are They All Accurate?
- Commissioned Agents and Independent Educational Consultants: Recruiting International Students
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Agents,college admission trends,college admissions,college applications,college consulting,Consulting Business,Educational Consulting Growth,educational trends,IECA,IECA member consultants,IECA Philadelphia Conference,IECs,independent educational consultants,international consulting,International Students,International Study,Students | 
Tagged: admissions, changes in consulting practices, college application trends, college consulting, CollegeSolved, IECA Conference, international consulting, Social media
One more thing, Becky. IECA will be introducing the specialty “International” designation this year. Those who seek this will complete an application to demonstrate competence and will receive the “I” as a secondary field (to college, school or/and special needs.) There is no question that international work is becoming more important. In a recent conversation with NACAC Executive Director Joyce Smith, international topics dominated much of our discussion.
Thank you for your leadership in this area.