On 25 – 26 June 2026, the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA), on behalf of the European Commission, hosted a Study in Europe training event, Converting Interest into Enrolment: Optimising International Student Recruitment, in Brussels. The event targeted participants from across Europe with roles in enrolment or recruitment of international students in higher education to attend the two-day training event. 

The event opened with remarks from Lorenzo Gabrini-Bellincampi, Head of Sector Erasmus Mundus and Sports at the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), followed by Tine Delva, Deputy Head of Unit of International Cooperation, at the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC), who emphasised the importance of attracting and retaining international students alongside the current skills agenda. 

Following the introductory remarks, Raul Ranne, Senior Advisor of the Academic Cooperation Association, provided an overview of international student mobility trends and spotlighted common challenges in the recruitment funnel. Gerrit Bruno Blöss, Founder and CEO of Study.eu, then underscored how AI is changing institutional visibility and traditional lead generation processes and provided recommendations to participants on how to adjust to the changing landscape. This presentation was followed by two case studies provided by Thomas Buerman of Ghent University and Kadri Leit-Tromp of Tallinn University, who showcased different institutional approaches taken to update their recruitment processes and strategies. 

The second day of the training started with a presentation by Sara Sandford, Senior Consultant at Edified, who reiterated the importance of understanding the student enrolment journey from the student perspective. The two-day training ended with interactive parallel workshops: Alternative lead finding channels, by Gerrit Bruno Blöss, and Converting applicants to students, by Sara Sandford.  
 
Discussions across the sessions identified shared pressure points in the student recruitment funnel, strategies on how to improve such processes, and inspired diverse ways of experimenting with alternative sources of lead generation. 

ACA warmly thanks all speakers and participants for their engagement and contributions under the Study in Europe initiative.