DrEducation: Trends and Insights on Global Higher Education

Boston will be hosting 10,000 international education professionals from May 24-29 for NAFSA Annual Conference. With 200 + concurrent sessions and 500+ posters on a wide range of topics, the conference has something for everyone. Programming and networking opportunities are divided into five Knowledge Communities-- Education Abroad, International Education Leadership, International Enrollment Management, International Student and Scholar Services, and Teaching, Learning and Scholarship.


 This year, I've the honor of serving as the Chair of the International Education Leadership Knowledge Community (IEL KC), which focuses serving the needs of aspiring, new, or experienced senior international officers (SIOs) and internationalization leaders.  Interested in learning more about opportunities of engagement and developments at IELKC? Join us for IEL KC Update on May 27 at 8:45 AM in BCEC, 252AB.

NAFSA's IEL KC team has worked together to provide several opportunities of engagement…

Australian and British universities are highly successful in attracting international students from around the world. Especially, given the relatively small size of the overall Australian higher education system, the large numbers of foreign show high maturity and dependency of Australian institutions on foreign students. [I will be discussing on this at the upcoming webinar entitled Global Student Mobility: Insights and Implications for Your Recruitment Strategy hosted by International Education Association of Australia (IEAA).]

Here is the list I compiled by taking top-20 universities in Australia, the UK and the US in terms of international student enrollment and sorting top-30 of total 60 universities. The results are:
Among top-10: Australia=5,   US=3 and UK=2
Among top-20: Australia=8,   US=8 and UK=4
Among top-30: Australia=10, US=9 and UK=11




This analysis excludes other leading destinations like Germany and Canada, due to unavailability of parallel data that indicates inter…

Much has been debated and researched about the uses and abuses of university rankings. Now, the arena of global university rankings has a new contender, LinkedIn, which has the potential to change the future of the rankings game. Here are the four reasons in support of LinkedIn’s potential.


1. Sharper focus on career outcomes
LinkedIn is focused on career outcomes. One of the biggest limitations of the rankings is that they focus on students as consumers of information, while their methodologies focus on proxies like research citations. An alternative approach is to use metrics that directly impact students. In a cost-conscious environment where the value of higher education is under increasing scrutiny, return on investment and career outcome is becoming more important for students.

2. Deeper view at program level
The multi-disciplinary and comprehensive nature of universities is better captured by program rankings than by university rankings. Program-level rankings are not only more…

International student recruitment is increasingly among the top priorities for many institutions in the US, Australia and the UK. Given the pressure to expand enrollment with limited budgets, some institutions adopted quick-fix solutions, which in turn has compromised the diversity and quality of international student body and their experiences. Developing sustainable strategies that are aligned with the changing needs and profile of international students, requires a deep understanding of student decision-making processes and mobility trends.

I am presenting two webinars that will provide an overview of the latest trends and research on global student mobility and its implications for strategic choices. Professionals working in higher education settings will be able to deepen their understanding of international student segments and their decision-making processes to craft sustainable and evidence-driven enrollment strategies.

Sustainable International Enrollment Strategies in a Shift…

Here is an excerpt from my opinion piece "Want to save higher education in India? Go beyond engineering" published in The Economic Times.

In last 15 years, the expansion of IT sector has provided relatively bright prospects of upward social mobility for many families. While IT sector had been integral to the economic growth of the country, it has also boxed students into linear career pathways that start with competing for college entrance exams. Students are told that they can “study whatever they want, so long as it’s engineering.”


I’m also a product of the factory line of engineering education and followed additional expectations by studying business management and working in IT sector. Only after working in IT sector, I introspected and realized that I am a misfit. In search of my passion, I moved to higher education sector in 2003 with a 25% cut in salary. After working for a few years, I came to the US to earn my PhD in Higher Education and formally learn about theory,…