Open your world with intelligent advantage

Post-study work rights are no longer a perk—they are the cornerstone of international education’s financial logic. According to recent research from INTO, Chinese and Indian students can cut the time to recoup education costs by as much as six to eleven years if allowed to work after graduation. Without this window, a U.S. private degree may take decades to pay off, making it an implausible investment.

Policy shifts in the U.S. and UK that threaten post-study work risk threatening a system that delivers $40bn annually to the American economy alone. As students seek value, protecting schemes which enable them to Instead of fee cuts, universities must adopt hybrid and transnational models that lower costs while preserving international credentials.

Students, meanwhile, are increasingly pursuing in-country or regional options over traditional destinations. Post-study work isn't about immigration—it’s about return on investment. For governments seeking skilled workers and universities courting global talent, the maths must work—or the students will continue to focus their search in markets where their investment is more likely to pay off.

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In the global race for international students, knowing your market is not enough. You must know your competitors, too. While many universities still compare themselves to the usual suspects—by location or mission group—savvier institutions are digging deeper, using comparative intelligence to sharpen recruitment strategy.

Our research teams, working across the UK, US, and Australia, use robust international enrolment data to map out real-time competitor positioning. The result: a more precise understanding of where students are going, why, and how institutions can adapt. Here are six tips for making sense of the competitive landscape.

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Our March 2025 survey of 1,200 education agents, the largest in higher education, reveals two key themes dominating agent concerns.

• Affordability – more than ever before, students, particularly in China are choosing much more carefully as global economic conditions soften.
• Visa challenges (availability, denials, or delays)
  These issues, exacerbated by recent U.S. policy disruptions, are reshaping student decision-making globally.

These concerns are reshaping global student flows in real time – have a look at our interactive student visa charts to see more. In China, long the bedrock of most institutions’ international student cohort, students are exploring options to make the most of their investment by taking part of their program at home – or exploring study in Malaysia, Korea and Hong Kong both of which have experienced massive increases. 

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