Rahul Choudaha, Bridging the Gap: Recruitment and Retention to Improve International Student Experiences, NAFSA, 2014.

This e-study focus on the interdependency of recruitment and retention practices from a global, comparative perspective. Centering its attention on undergraduate international students at US higher education institutions, it explores the existing knowledge about the reasons why international undergraduates enroll at a particular campus, why they stay or why they transfer. It consequentially shows that the challenges related to academic and social integration and the possible mismatch between pre-arrival expectations and realities of school life can negatively impact international student retention rates and can result in a negative feedback loop that could damage future recruitment efforts. Therefore, the study suggests that sustainable recruitment strategies are not those focusing only on increasing numbers but those combining some attention for student retention.

Buy the study: NAFSA