Introduction
To remain viable in today’s competitive education market, universities must consider their students as ‘customers’ that want a great experience, or they’ll find higher education elsewhere.
Universities must now - more so than ever - remain competitive and create powerful, compelling campus experiences. This is no easy task, and even more complicated when addressing the requirements of international students.
With many schools now competing for international enrolments, UK universities are under intense pressure to attract overseas students. The UK government has set ambitious targets for universities to draw 600,000 international students by 2030. And while this is important in the immediate sense, it’s also part of a longer term need to fill positions in healthcare, STEM and other technical fields. As such, schools want talented individuals who will not only educate themselves in the UK, but also secure positions in highly skilled in-country roles upon graduating.
While universities seek to attract students from many different regions to realise these ambitions, they are primarily focused on leading, high-growth markets, which include China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Vietnam.
Yet, while overseas talent will help to diversify Britain’s campuses, recruiting overseas talent is no easy task. In addition to the cultural barriers of studying abroad, students also face pragmatic challenges throughout university. As growth patterns shift to new regions and countries, universities must constantly review and adjust strategies to better serve fast-evolving international student populations.
Of paramount importance is the international tuition payment process.
High-growth markets include: China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Vietnam. Click the map to explore.
Now, more than ever, the Government and individual universities must do all that we can to attract and welcome international students to the UK. For many students their choice of university will go beyond the academic offering and include other areas they place value on, including support and administration services. For most international students the payer experience begins long before they set foot on our university campus, so it’s vital that we provide a secure and easily navigated payment service. Given the level of tuition fees being charged across the sector, students often expect to be treated as “customers” in certain aspects of their university journey; paying fees is one of these areas, where an overly complex and lengthy process does not reflect the high level of experience expected for our students.
