We asked international students applying to Chinese universities what drives their choice. Careers came out #1 - ahead of rankings, and cost.
Interestingly, slightly over 50% are also considering studying in other destinations such as the UK, Canada, South Korea, or their home country, and this actually increases as they move further down the application process.
One thing I've noticed is that each year has some quite new aspects or trends.
The higher education industry is unique in that the longer you work in it, the more the students' experience diverges from your own which is why research becomes increasingly important.
Compared to twenty years ago - before Google, before TikTok and AI - students' discovery and learning experience today is a completely different world.
And often the data only shows a small part - interviews help to fill the gap and show the real human stories.
Another challenge for universities globally is that students are increasingly invisible. They reach out less and message less, because they don't need to. They just show up as a completed application - or they don't show up at all.
And because of the long term nature of the application cycle in higher education, learning the lessons can sometimes be a painful experience.
This is probably happening in every industry.
Which is why research and increasing touch points such as online webinars become more important.
