Stay in the loop! Subscribe to our mailing list

What International Students Think About U.S. Higher Education: Attitudes and Perceptions of Prospective Students in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America

What International Students Think About U.S. Higher Education: Attitudes and Perceptions of Prospective Students in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Institute for International Education, New York, 2011. Pages: 30.

The most recent report from the Institute for International Education (IIE), in collaboration with EducationUSA, examines the perceived attractiveness of and hurdles to entering the US higher education system for prospective students from 11 countries across five continents. The report is based on survey findings of 9 330 respondents from Brazil, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, the UK and Vietnam. Further, it provides country profiles, which include lists of the most preferred host destinations (i.e. the first and alternate choice of host country) for students from these 11 countries. The report also presents country-specific findings on students’ perceived notions of

  • the array of study fields/disciplines offered,
  • quality of the higher education system,
  • cost of tuition and living,
  • student support services,
  • language as a hindrance and
  • the ease of acquiring a visa.

Using both these kinds of indicators and data on international enrolment figures from IIE’s annual Open Doors publication, this report offers a comparative analysis of the wide array of “push” and “pull” factors which influence prospective international students seeking to study in the US and beyond. 

Institute for International Education