Universities should target cities not countries, Americans look to European MBAs over domestic & tracking what happens after students graduate abroad
International student recruitment is fundamentally changing. In the August 2025 edition of Studyportals Higher Ed Data into Insights, we reveal three major shifts reshaping international higher education.
🎯 [Video] Universities: Stop targeting countries, start targeting cities: Why city-level recruitment targeting beats country-level approaches, with data showing students in Mumbai and Hyderabad have completely different study abroad preferences.
🏃 American students are looking to Europe over home: European business schools are gaining ground with 49% of US interest going to EU programmes while only 21% stays domestic.
🔍 [Video] Tracking 300,000+ graduate careers: What happens after international students graduate? Our dataset helps universities, policymakers, and governments make data-driven decisions on graduate mobility and talent retention.
[Video] Universities: The case for city-level student recruitment
By Carlie Sage
Universities often target entire countries for student recruitment. Based on the data, this is a missed opportunity 💡
Carlie Sage shares Studyportals data showing that students in Mumbai and Hyderabad—both major Indian cities—have completely different study abroad preferences. Universities should consider going even more granular, even down to neighborhoods.
"You could run this kind of analysis on any cities, and you might be surprised. Sometimes students from opposite sides of the world share similar preferences, and other times, neighboring cities are quite different. ....Your next big opportunity might not be a whole new country; it might be a city that you've been overlooking."
The lesson: hyper-local recruitment targeting beats country-level approaches.
Watch the video below ↓
European business schools gaining ground with American students
by Benjamin Stevenin, Mathias Falkenstein & Karl Baldacchino in Poets&Quants
Poets&Quants just featured our data showing something pretty remarkable: American students are choosing European business programmes over their own domestic options by more than 2:1.
Our tracking shows 49% of U.S. interest now goes to EU programmes, while only 21% stays home. Southern Europe is having a moment, with Portugal up 23% and Ireland and Spain not far behind.
The story goes beyond just numbers though. Students are less interested in traditional two-year MBAs for specialised master's programmes, especially anything combining business with data skills. They want sustainability baked into the curriculum, not just offered as an elective. And they're prioritising international experience and post-grad work opportunities over brand names.
See which countries are seeing the biggest jumps → Read the full article on Poets&Quants
[Video] 🔍 Tracking 300,000+ graduate careers: What happens after international students graduate?
Every year, millions of students leave home to study abroad. But what happens after graduation? One student studies artificial intelligence in Germany and later builds climate solutions in Canada...now multiply her story by over 300,000.
Our dataset enables quantitative research on international graduate mobility. With this research:
Universities can identify which graduates stay and which industries they enter
Policymakers can measure post-graduation employment trends
Governments can shape smarter migration and talent policies
This research is shaping discussions on skilled migration and talent retention around the world.
Learn more in the video below ↓
Featuring Robert Lintzen, Advanced Analytics Consultant at Studyportals.
This work recently earned us a nomination for Excellence in Data & Insight at the PIEoneer Awards. The PIE
Thank you for reading! Let us know which data insights you'd like us to explore by emailing hello@studyportals.com
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