International Students Consider Reputation, Cost And Career Opportunities When Applying To U.S. Master's Programs

NEW YORK, Oct. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- International students have become an essential student body across many U.S. campuses.  How Master's Students Choose Institutions: Research on International Student Segmentation is a new report from the non-profit World Education Services. It provides a lens into the institutional preferences of nearly 2,400 U.S.-bound international students seeking master's degrees.

The findings suggest that U.S. colleges and universities can improve their recruitment and international enrollment by understanding and recognizing key differences in international students based on their home country, financial resources and the unique value proposition of each university.

The report, the fourth in a series from World Education Services, expands upon an international student segmentation framework. Despite the growing importance of international master's students in the U.S., there is little research about how international students from different parts of the world, determine which institutions to apply to and enroll. This WES report seeks to fill a research gap by examining institutional attributes and characteristics including school reputation, career prospects, location and cost.

Key findings include:

• Nearly half (48 percent) of international master's students reported that career prospects are the most important factor when considering where to apply and enroll.
• Seventy-six percent of Chinese master's students chose private institutions as "reach schools," while approximately 70 percent of Indian master's students preferred public institutions.
• Fifty-four percent of master's students from Sub-Saharan Africa have a budget of less than $20,000 per year for their studies, while 40 percent of Middle Eastern master's students can afford more than $40,000.

The full report can be downloaded for free at http://www.wes.org/ras/reports/

Access more WES research at www.wes.org/ras

About WES

World Education Services is a non-profit organization that provides expert credential evaluation services and research-based consulting on student mobility, international enrollment management, and transnational education. With a staff representing 37 nations and speaking over 40 languages, WES works with more than 2,500 institutions in the U.S. and Canada.

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CONTACT: World Education Services, Communications Department, media@wes.org, +1 212-219-7985