Post Your International Scholarship For Free

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Jennifer Frankel

AA025294A US education is highly valued around the world. In worldwide rankings, more than half of the top 100 schools, and more than 8 of the top 10 schools are US institutions. According to The Economist, US institutions also produce the majority of the world’s Nobel laureates and scientific papers. No wonder why international students continue to place a great deal of importance on getting an American degree.

Along with a US degree comes the price tag, which has been growing year after year. The Economist found that “between 2001 and 2010 the cost of a university education soared from 23% of median annual earnings to 38%.” Because of this steep increase in tuition and fees, many international students are looking to balance the price tag with financial aid resources. While US financial aid eligibility is limited for international students, many students often seek out ways to fund their education and maximize their free money – and this is where you can help. Post your international scholarship for free throughout our network of sites.

International Education Financial Aid, also known as IEFA.org, is a website that promotes financial aid with the needs and eligibility of international students in mind. Students from around the world do their research here, search scholarships & grants, and make their financial decisions on where they want to attend school – or, how they can afford their current university or college.

Universities, colleges, and other organizations can list their scholarships, grants and fellowships here for free. Many institutions post their listing to help recruit prospective students and also to help their current international student population. To post your international scholarship for free, you simply can sign up as an award administrator and provide information about your award. Once you’ve posted your awards, you will get exposure not only on IEFA.org, but also on International Scholarships and International Student.com.

Registration takes approximately 1-2 business days after which you will be approved to enter all of your organization’s awards so long as it suitable for international students. If you are interested and would like to post your international scholarship for free and get thousands of students from around the world viewing your organization, check out IEFA.org and register now.

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International Education Pick of the Week – 10th May 2013

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Ross Mason

pick-of-the-weekOur international education pick of the week centres around the USA, with changes for students entering the USA not only with the new I-94 procedures, but also some new checks that have been ordered as a direct result of the terrible Boston Marathon bombings. We also have some excellent tips on how to effectively market on social media sites – simple but very sound advice!

Rollout of new I-94 procedures in the USA

If you are a subscriber of our International Student Newsletter, you will have seen this week one of our leading articles about the changes that are currently being rolled out through ports of entry in the USA concerning the I-94 form. Traditionally this form was a paper document that you needed to complete prior to arrival in the USA, and the immigration officer would then staple this to your passport as proof of entry. However starting at the end of April and rolling out through the month of May, this procedure will be automated so that students will not need to complete a physical I-94 document, and it will instead be available electronically online once they arrive in the USA.

US Orders New Visa Review

As a direct result of the Boston Marathon bombings last month, the Department of Homeland Security has issued an internal memorandum that requires all immigration officers to verify that international students hold a valid visa at the time of entry. The change comes after it emerged that the student visa for Azamat Tazhayakov had been terminated when he arrived in New York, but this was not checked. Tazhayakov was a friend and classmate of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s and is charged with assisting in hiding evidence after the bombings.

Tips for Better Content Marketing on Social Media

We all know that social media is all the buzz at the moment – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram…. there are so many platforms, but how do you effectively market to them? This week, an excellent article from the ICEF Monitor provided some very simple tips to effectively market yourself on social media channels. Social Media should always be one part of your marketing mix, and with these very simple tips, they can steer you in the right direction to make sure you can maximize your potential.

With NAFSA 2013 creeping up in a few weeks, we look forward to seeing you all there – we will be there in force:

  • Envisage International – Booth #1612
  • International Student Insurance – Booth #1610

As always you can follow us on Twitter @EnvisageIntl or follow me @rossjlmason

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Millennial Generation: What To Expect

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Madelene Glomsten

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In the next 15 years, half of the global population will be 21 years old or younger. While people are living longer, the birthrate in many countries is growing at an alarming rate. Today, the average age in China and India is the mid-twenties. Even in America, the Millennial Generation (born in the years 1980 to about 2000 are also referred to as Generation Y), is already rivaling the Baby Boomer population in size, at 78 million, and with immigration, some sociologists say the Millennial Generation may grow to 100 million strong in the U.S. and we are a reflection of the globe. The earth’s population is indeed growing younger.

For marketers, regardless of the industry, the Millennials are bringing both great potential and challenges to the table, as they are the first generation to be shaped by interactive media. They’re plugged in constantly (known for sleeping with their laptops and cell phones), and companies have targeted this young cohort through every conceivable medium from a young age, so consequently they are adept at screening out most traditional marketing. Gen Y’ers are also characterized for their short attention span and constant multi-tasking. So how do we appeal to this audience?

Gen Y Characteristics

To appeal to Millennials, we first have to better understand what distinguish this group. Millennials are the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in U.S. history. One in four grew up in a single parent household, and has known just two presidents; for them, “public figures” often are athletes or celebrities. They came of age experiencing Columbine, September 11, the launching of AMBER alert, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the War on Terror. They’re plagued with concerns for their personal safety as images of violence worldwide appear on their screens minutes after it occurs. This explains their toughness and cynicism.

Some other unique characteristics include:

  • This generation was “wanted” and feels individually and collectively special as a result. They feel connected to their parents and are optimistic and engaged.
  • Many members of this generation were highly protected and sheltered by parents and authority figures, and they were rarely left unsupervised. They are comfortable with significant parental involvement, and they expect parents to resolve their conflicts and to protect and nurture them.
  • Millennials are motivated, goal-oriented, assertive, confident, and want to make a difference. They are civic-minded and value service learning and volunteerism. They also believe college will help them get a great start in life and expect to advance rapidly in the workplace.
  • Gen Y’ers are team-oriented. They want to be part of the group, like to congregate and are in constant contact with peers via cell phones, text messaging, and social media. They prefer egalitarian leadership over hierarchies.
  • This generation is high achieving. Even in elementary school, they were expected to earn good grades, work hard and pursue extracurricular activities. They are focused on achievement rather than personal development.

What Makes them Tick?

Do you consider yourself a Mac or a PC? Android or iPhone? Ask any Millennia a question like that, and you will most likely get a very quick answer.

Gen Y’ers are very brand loyal and while they are both initially suspicious and harbor extremely high expectations, when you have won them over, many Gen Y’ers identify themselves by the brands they like. In fact, brand preference is the #1 personal identifier they are willing to share online.

So how do we win them over? In order to build trust with the Gen Y market you must meet four primary criteria:

  • Quality. Products should have quality in both workmanship and in features.
  • Realness. Authenticity is extremely important to Generation Y… so much so that “too perfect” make them suspicious.
  • Social purpose. One in three say that they look for brands that have a positive impact on the world.
  • Integrity. Your business must be moral and stand for something greater than just profits.

The first rule in attracting Gen Y’ers is simple: approach them on their own terms. This means your message has to be part of their communicative activities and integrated life. Millennials deeply resent messages that interrupt their lives and intrude on their time. Instead, the message must become a part of their daily experiences.

The second rule is equally simple: play to their strengths…the Internet is the media most familiar to Gen Y. Members of this generation are very apt at using the Web to find what they need. As a communal group of consumers, Generation Y probably depends more on recommendations from their peers than any previous generation. But keep in mind, along with gathering opinions from their peers, this group does not hesitate to offer their opinions – and are often vocal about a product or service they like (or dislike).

So, focus on telling genuine (brand) stories and communicate real and interesting (product) benefits – in an authentic voice, and inject humor as often as possible. Do these things well, and Millennials will help spread the message for you.

*http://www.slideshare.net/EdelmanInsights/8095-global-external-final

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International Education Pick of the Week – April 26th 2013

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Ross Mason

pick-of-the-weekAs some of you may have noticed, it has been a fortnight since our last pick of the week. As we look to refine and improve the pick of the week, and based on feedback, we have decided to move our pick of the week to every fortnight (or every two weeks). The new format should help us to refine the pick of the week, and provide an even better service to the international education world. As always, we love to hear your feedback so keep that coming into us.

The events in Boston and the terrible bombings have taken a fore-front over the last 10 days, not only in the wider media, but also in the field of international education. One of the three innocent victims that were killed in the bombings was a Chinese Graduate international student, the thoughts and prayers from all of the Envisage team go out to those who were affected.

Chinese international student died in Boston bombing

Lingzi Lu, a Chinese Graduate student studying at Boston University, was one of the 3 killed and over 170 wounded in the Boston Marathon bombings last Monday. Lu had arrived in the USA just last year to pursue a 3 year graduate program, and was watching the marathon along with thousands of other spectators before the terrible events occurred. The impact that events like this has on other students attending school in the USA is hard to determine, but like the spirit of Boston, many current international students hold very strong thoughts on this matter. Harvard graduate student Jin Sun, for example,  commented about whether other students will be deterred from the USA, “No, we come here not for ourselves. We come here to improve China and to improve relations with the United States. I don’t think students will stop coming here to study.”

Uni Numbers Bounce Back in Australia

After a troubled few years, the Australia higher education numbers are starting to show some positive signs of growth. Commencements rose 5.1% in the first quarter of 2013, the first positive rise in a number of years after there were declines in 2011 and 2012 during the same period. Sue Blundell of English Australia commented ”This is the real start of the turnaround in higher education, it seems,”. The positive numbers thought to be a direct result of the streamlining of the visa process in Australia and the introduction of post-visa work rights.

Facebook Launches new Mobile Design for Pages

Announced this week, Facebook has rolled out a brand new mobile design layout for its business pages to make it much cleaner and easier for users to interact with your content and connect with your organisation or business. Some of the main changes include moving your pages contact information up to the top of the page, so users can quickly click to call, email or like you and the most relevant information about the business has been moved to the top. As mobile usage continues to surge, these changes are welcomed, but its a good time to go into your profile and just make sure all your contact details, address, etc.. are all up-to-date as they will be much more prominent to users now.

If you have any suggestions for the pick of the week, please email or tweet us at @EnvisageIntl or follow me @rossjlmason

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Transparency in International Higher Education

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Jennifer Frankel

canada_QuebecCity_100678474College affordability and transparency has been a conversation dominating the US higher education discourse. As a college degree plays such an integral role in our lives, for those people around us, and for our own children, determining the value – and more importantly, the cost – is important for students in the US as well as international students from around the world. Even with today’s technology and easy access to the World Wide Web, determining the true cost of a US degree can still be tricky.

As someone involved in higher education, ask yourself, can an international student find out the true cost of attending my university or college from the materials we provide and from our website? Many people will find that this is not an easy question. It’s been a question that US students have been trying to figure out, and are slowly getting answers, but transparency in international higher education seem to have largely been ignored.

It all started as tuition continued rising year after year for students. In fact, tuition has been increasing on average 4% at public universities over the past 20 years. At the same time, student debt now exceeds one trillion dollars. With these staggering figures, along with public outcry, the Higher Education Act of 2008 was enacted and required all universities to have a net price calculator on their website by October 29, 2011. This calculator was designed to provide an estimate of how much it will cost to attend that particular college. Around the same time, the Department of Education launched an online College Affordability and Transparency Center to give students and their parents key insight into what schools have the highest and lowest tuition and net price.

Both of these tools, however, looked at US students and failed to provide transparency in international higher education. Many colleges and universities do provide some of the primary costs on their website specifically geared at international students. They many times include the tuition, international student fees, books and supplies, health insurance, and that’s about it. International student will often be left with an estimated budget that still has a lot of empty holes.

Many international students do not go home over the summer – does your school provide information about housing (are dormitories open for students?) or food (does the cafeteria close down?)? Do you have international athletes that arrive early – what accommodations are they provided? What is the cost of living in the town or city? Are students aware that scholarships are taxed? What is the cost of a winter coat that students may need to purchase to brave the winter? These and other questions typically go unanswered until it’s too late.

It’s a hard fact that displaying the true cost of an education can be somewhat overwhelming to an international student and schools that provide thorough information can be at a disadvantage compared to those schools that are not fully transparent – after all, a school that costs $35,000/year is much less attractive than one that’s $25,000/year.

From the discussions we’ve had, however, many schools are finding that being up front about costs can lead to less headaches later. Students who have committed to a schools with a full idea of the true costs can make appropriate arrangements to budget, get the funds needed, and prepare themselves for the costs that come up throughout their US degree program. International students who may not have this insight will think they need less, and find themselves in a pinch – and at your office looking for help. What does your university do to provide transparency in international higher education?

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Emergency Medical Evacuation/Repatriation of Remains – Defined

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Annemarie Keller

200248752-001Understanding Emergency Medical Evacuation and Repatriation of Remains can help you be better prepared in case the unimaginable happens to a student studying outside their home country. You should either have a group insurance plan in place that includes this type of coverage or require your international students to have an individual insurance plan that provides these benefits.

These two benefits are defined as follows:

Emergency Medical Evacuation
Emergency Medical Evacuation is found in most international plans. It provides emergency air and/or ground transportation to the nearest hospital or medical facility, that’s qualified to provide medically necessary treatment, when adequate treatment isn’t available locally (wherever the patient is located).

It’s important to keep in mind that this benefit doesn’t necessarily bring the patient back to their home country unless stated as such in the policy wording or recommended by the treating physician.

Repatriation of Remains
In the unfortunate event that illness or injury results in death, Repatriation of Remains will provide air and/or ground transportation of bodily remains or ashes to the area of principal residence. Sometimes local burial or cremation is included with this benefit.

Administration
Typically, the carrier that administers your health insurance will coordinate both of these benefits for you. A simple phone call can usually get the process started for each of these benefits.

Tip – Make sure to check your policy for ‘pre-notification/certification’ requirements. Most administrators require these benefits to be pre-authorized and coordinated through them directly. Otherwise, they could reduce payment of expenses by up to 50% or exclude it entirely.

As you can imagine, these benefits are sensitive in nature but they are also very important for anyone studying outside their home country to have, especially if the unfortunate happens.

If you have any questions about these two key benefits and how they are administered, please feel free to contact us.

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International Education Pick of the Week – April 12th 2013

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Ross Mason

pick-of-the-weekYet another week, and it seems the UK is yet again at the center of attention in the international education world. However, this time for slightly more positive news – London Metropolitan University, who were banned from admitting international students last year, has had that ban overturned. Also in the news this week, as we saw the passing of Margaret Thatcher, there was a very good piece on her impact on the UK’s higher education system which I do not think many will know about.

Ban on London Met University enrolling foreign students lifted

In August last year, London Metropolitan University was the first University in the UK to be stripped of its right to admit international students from outside the EU. It was reported that there were “systematic failings” by the University in terms of their monitoring and reviewing international students applicants appropriately. However that ban has now been overturned by the Home Office, and the University can now admit international students again, albeit their numbers will be limited and they are being placed on probation for the next year.

Thatcher had ‘immense impact’ on higher education

For most people, you either loved Margaret Thatcher or hated her – but what cannot be denied is the change and reform she brought about for the UK during her time as Prime Minister. An article published this week in the Times Higher Education by Terence Kealey, vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham, has highlighted and praised her for the reforms she brought about to the UK Higher Education sector, which Mr Kealey argues was a leading factor in turning it into the world class system it is today.

Responsive web design has become the top mobile solution for Higher Education

One of the buzz words for 2013 certainly has to be “responsive web design” – the process whereby websites are designed to be responsive to all different formats they are being viewed on, such as tablet, phone or through different browser window sizes. In the 2013 State of Web and Responsive Web in Higher Ed  survey undertaken by the college web editor site, their results point to responsive web design as the most popular mobile solution that Universities are now adopting – up from 15% in 2012 to over 50% in 2013. Clearly a strong trend over other solutions such as dedicated mobile apps, or a dedicated mobile solution.

If you have any suggestions for the pick of the week, please email or tweet us at @EnvisageIntl or follow me @rossjlmason

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The Value of an US Online Education for International Students

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Don Sears

There is a trend happening in higher education where more traditional US colleges and universities are offering online education opportunities and complete degree programs. This is a market that has traditionally been “owned” by for-profit schools that spend billions of dollars advertising to attract students. However, most traditional schools, who don’t have billions of dollars to spend attracting students, seem to be doing something different and listening to the students and their demand for a more affordable and a higher quality education. Even President Obama chatted about it during his State of the Union Address in February. He called for accreditors to factor in “performance and results” into their evaluation of colleges and universities and make that information public to those students looking for the next step after high school.

So what is the value proposition that traditional colleges and universities are trying to get across to students? They want students to know that it is possible to get a quality reputable degree online from a US school that is affordable. In fact, more and more schools are offering in-state tuition, or at least much lower cost than out-of-state tuition, to students no matter where they reside. So a student in California, as an example, can earn a degree from the University of South Carolina, all from the comfort of their 90210 zip code.

International Student Appeal?
Why is this trend attractive to international students? Let’s start by examining the issues that the traditional international student faces when wanting to study in the US.

  • Cost: In most cases, international students that want to travel to the US to pursue their education are subject to out-of-state tuition. One of the main reasons that international students are attractive to US universities is that they are full paying students. In addition, they need to show financial proof that they have the financial ability to cover the first years cost of their education. In addition they have higher expenses for travel, shipping their belongings overseas, etc.
  • Visa Requirements: All students that want to study in the US need to go through the Visa process. In some cases, a student could be financially qualified, a straight A student and still not get their student Visa.
  • Travel: Students come from all corners of the globe to study outside of their country. The cost of travel to and from the US can be quite expensive, long and tiresome. It is not just getting here, but what about the breaks and holidays… Winter, spring, summer.
  • Financial Aid: International students do not qualify for the typical government grants that domestic students can take advantage of, like a Pell grant. While there are scholarships available, most are in place for domestic and in-state students.

Let’s return to the value proposition. Just as a student in California can earn a degree from a school on the East Coast and pay in-state tuition, so could a student sitting in Kazakhstan. The benefit to that student is that now the only pay the in-state tuition, do not have to travel or leave their friends and family behind and they don’t need to bother with the US Visa process. While they don’t get the experience in traveling to the US and studying at a brick and mortar campus, they do have the ability to earn a quality and affordable US degree all from the comfort of their home country.

Do you allow students both out-of-state as well as international students to earn an online degree from your school?

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Adding Rich Snippets to Search Results

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Dana Luther

As search engines and the structure of the web continue to advance, it becomes ever more challenging to provide information in a way that is both user friendly and easily read by search engines. It also becomes more important to differentiate your search results from those of similar content.  One method of doing so is the use of  ’microdata’ tags to identify the key information on the webpage and pass that information on to the search engine.  Using microdata allows the search engine to display the search results as a “rich snippet” rather than a simple link and description. The library of structured data types continues to grow and can be implemented in varying levels of detail. In this post, we’ll take a quick look at what rich snippets are and where to find out more about them.
Continue reading →

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International Education Pick of the Week – April 5th 2013

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Ross Mason

pick-of-the-weekApril is upon us, and in just a few (7 to be precise) weeks we will all be hitting St Louis for one of the largest international education events of the year, NAFSA. Our team will be there and we are looking forward to seeing you there. Before that, there is lots of prep work to be done and one of our picks of the week is a little known tool that not many attending NAFSA use – but you should. Its a great networking tool pre-NAFSA and highly recommended. Also this week we have an excellent piece from the Guardian Newspaper in the UK about how the UK can look to Australia in order to solve their international education problems.

Advocating for international higher education: advice from Australia

There is an excellent blog post from Phil Honeywood (Executive Director, International Education Association of Australia) on the Guardian website in the UK that looks at how Australia has tackled their international education issues over the past few years – and how the UK could take a leaf from their book.  The post highlights 4 key areas from Australia; the Visa Consultation Committee, cooperation across sectors, streamlined visa procedures and post study work rights – and how those areas were tackled to turn around Australia’s fortunes in the International Education arena. With all the recent issues with the UKBA, and negative press in the UK towards international education, this excellent piece highlights some of the areas the UK could concentrate on to turn things around.

Canada’s education brand gets funding boost to help attract students from abroad

Over the next two years, Canada’s Education brand will get a huge boost of $10 million dollars to help strengthen its image to international students all around the world. This is an increase from just $1 million dollars that was budgeted annually from 2007 to 2012, so its a marked increase from previous years and gives a clear signal that the Canadian Federal government will put all their support behind international education with a view to growing international student numbers. I suspect we may be seeing Canada pop up a lot more as a destination over the next few years with this new marketing budget!

Connect at NAFSA with Conference Connection

With NAFSA just around the corner, its never too early to start connecting with colleagues, potential business partners and friends. One of the little known features of the NAFSA conference is Conference Connection, an excellent tool that gives you the power to connect before and during the event. With full program listings, you can add items to your agenda in advance (so you do not miss out on anything) search all attendees so you can see who is going, message them if you want to try and connect and setup a meeting prior to NAFSA and view all the exhibitors. The tool is extremely powerful and hopefully we will see greater use this year to help networking prior and during the event!

If you have any suggestions for the pick of the week, please email or tweet us at @EnvisageIntl or follow me@rossjlmason

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