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Excited about our March 2010 tour – Middle East + Central Asia!

Wassan — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:50:39 +0000

With our Fall 2010 fair already full and on track, I am already getting excited about our March 2010 tour. Its always great to go back to the Middle East, but in the Spring we will be heading into Central Asia as well. Personally, I can’t wait to go back to Almaty, Kazakhstan – but I’m not sure if I will make it on a roller coaster again this time. The students we met last March were amazing, intelligent, and very excited to speak with US colleges and universities.

I received these photos via twitter (thanks @gordon_ryan) and had to share them with you all. You will not believe these amazing shots of Uzbekistan, Dagestan, Bukhara, Russia are 100 years old. The photography is amazing, as is the use of color photography which was so primitive at that time.

http://bit.ly/dkEPPD

Hope you enjoy them & consider visiting some of these countries with us in the Spring!

Amman, Jordan March 27th
Manama, Bahrain March 29th
Kuwait City, Kuwait March 31st
Dubai, UAE April 2nd
Almaty, Kazakhstan April 5th
Baku, Azerbaijan April 7th

Wassan

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Michigan State University – Dubai Shuts Down Campus

Wassan — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:41:27 +0000

The news coming out of Dubai this morning is that Michigan State University is closing down their campus effective immediately. While the MSU campus was struggling financially, they were pushing forward with a heavy recruiting schedule throughout the Middle East & many other countries. However, finding students who met admissions standards and who were interested in staying on the Dubai campus was difficult.

So far, the only article I’ve seen has been in the UAE-based “The National” – which strangely included this quote:

Prof Kim Wilcox, the provost and vice-president of MSU, said that in the current climate many students and parents were not keen on the idea of studying in the US.

Apparently Professor Wilcox has either been misquoted or has not followed MSU’s kick-ass international recruiting team & their fantastic success in bringing students on to the East Lansing campus from all over the world.

You can read more about this in the National

[Update] There is a short update about this on Inside Higher Ed

Campus Disorientation at American University of Cairo At a recent international higher-ed mini-conference I attended a session...

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Campus Disorientation at American University of Cairo

Wassan — Thu, 06 May 2010 14:06:46 +0000

At a recent international higher-ed mini-conference I attended a session discussing the influx of students from Saudi Arabia and how its changed the landscape of the campus and the type of issues its presented. One of the main issues, it seemed to me, was the adjustment to the style of learning was really difficult for the students. The concept of US-style of learning is so at odds with the methods these students have used all their lives, memorize, regurgitate, do not question the professor. Suddenly they’re required to think cognitively, debate their classmates, question the professor, and analyze before answering.

Shawn Baldwin for The New York Times

Its a tough chasm to bridge, and it really takes a significant amount of “deprogramming”. I’m of the thought that if you have an Intensive English Lanaguage program on campus, one of the most crucial topics to cover is study skills & learning methods. That’s why this New York Times article about the American University of Cairo caught my eye: A Campus Where Unlearning Is First

These are the kinds of questions posed to undergraduate students entering this [American University of Cairo] 90-year-old university during what the president, David D. Arnold, called a first year of “disorientation.” During disorientation, the students — 85 percent of them Egyptians — are taught to learn in ways quite at odds with the traditional method of teaching in this country, where instructors lecture, students memorize and tests are exercises in regurgitation.

Michigan State University – Dubai Shuts Down Campus The news coming out of Dubai this morning is that...
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College, Inc

Wassan — Wed, 05 May 2010 20:23:37 +0000

You may have been busy last night when the PBS Frontline documentary – College, Inc – aired. You can watch the entire 1-hour show online (in the United States) and watch additional extended versions of some of the interviews.

Personally, we were shocked to learn that while the For-profit market has 10% of the student population in the US, it is taking up 25% of FAFSA dollars. It remains frustrating to see students leaving an overpriced program with more debt than they will ever be able to pay back.

This interactive map by the Chronicle of Higher Education shows the increases in enrollment from 1998 -2008 – which are nothing short of amazing feats of sales and marketing.

While you can watch the documentary as its intended – with disdain for the for-profit universities highlighted in it, I suggest also thinking about the marketing tactics used by these universities. Look at what they’re doing. Online, offline, on the subway, in the magazines, and most of all – in their personal calls. Sure, they’re basically doing what amounts to a high pressure sales tactic used in time-share seminars all over Florida, but that personal connection…maybe that’s what you should think about.

So basically what I’m saying is, take what they’re doing, dial it down a few notches, and use it for good. Diversity. Outreach. Engagement. Make it more than just buzzwords on an ad campaign.

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US Educational Group Middle East Tour Fall 2010

Joseph — Wed, 05 May 2010 14:37:52 +0000

US Educational Group announces the Middle East Fall 2010 Tour, you can find more details & register on the USEG Tours website

You might be a little surprised to see that we’re heading to Iraq at the end of the tour – don’t be – the fair in Iraq last January was very successful. More than 17 universities from the US & UK attended the mini-fair in Baghdad and Irbil, and reported intense interest from the students they saw in both cities. With the Iraq Education Initiative pilot program in full swing this is the perfect time for your university to show its commitment to the program and the students it will be sending!

Beirut, Lebanon - October 11th
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - October 13th
Kuwait City, Kuwait - October 16th
Manama, Bahrain - October 18th
Doha, Qatar - October 20th
Dubai, UAE – October 23rd
Amman, Jordan - October 25th
Baghdad, Iraq (Free*) - October 28th
Erbil, Iraq (Free*) - October 30th

There is a visa requirement for US Citizens to Saudi Arabia, Qatar (this is new!) and Iraq. So we REALLY encourage you to make the decisions on your fall travel as early as possible this year!

Excited about our March 2010 tour – Middle East + Central Asia! With our Fall 2010 fair already full and on track,...
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US Educational Group Fall 2009 Fair

Joseph — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:51:06 +0000

We have been in Washington DC all work finalizing visas and working on our student brochure for the Fall 2009 student recruitment tour in the Middle East. We will be heading out to the first fair stop, Beirut, Lebanon in October and we want to welcome all the Universities, Colleges and Language Centers who will be joining us on this excellent tour!

American University in Cairo
Arizona State University
California State University, Fullerton
College of the Desert
DePaul University
Diablo Valley College
Emporia State University
Florida Institute of Technology
Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
Lasell College
Marquette University
Mercer University
Michigan State University Dubai
New York University Abu Dhabi
Oklahoma City University
Pace University
Parsons the New School for Design
Purdue University
Roger Williams University
San Jose State University
Savannah College of Art and Design
Stony Brook University
University of Arizona
University at Buffalo
University of Bridgeport
University of California, Riverside Extension
University of California, San Diego
University of Central Florida
University of Colorado Denver
University of Evansville
University of Hartford
University of Iowa
University of New Haven
University of Oregon
University of Toledo
Veritas Prep, GMAT Test Preparation
Virginia Commonwealth University
West Virginia University
Youngstown State University

We do have our March 2010 Middle East and Eurasia fair dates up on our site already and encourage you to sign up soon to reserve your space for next year!

March 2010 Middle East student recruitment fair dates

March 2010 Eurasia student recruitment fair dates

US Educational Group Middle East Tour Fall 2010 US Educational Group announces the Middle East Fall 2010 Tour,...
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US News Rankings Released

Wassan — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:20:44 +0000

The want/do not want relationship between Universities and US News continues with the newly released US News rankings for undergraduate institutions. After a year of accusations against certain colleges for US News Rankings manipulation, little movement from the “Beyond Rankings” campaign at the Education Conservancy and continual criticism of the methodology used we were wondering would be the year we would hear less about US News rankings?

Well, many institutes had their PR machines ready and waiting for the go ahead time to release their rankings to the world. With the new class coming in this weekend or in a few weeks, its good for a university to use nationally recognized criteria to build the emotional connection with the student. The increase in niche rankings (A+ schools for B students, Up and Coming Colleges, etc) are really a good way for a locally branded institution to find a way to connect a national audience.

But is the anti-rankings stance showing up on the university websites? A quick review early this morning shows that so far, out of the top 25 ranked institutions, only 5 had the rankings “news” listed on their homepage:

Princeton (#1)

CalTech (#4)

MIT (#4)

Vanderbilt (#17)

University of Virginia (#24)
Maybe its still early, or maybe some institutions want to show that their admissions are about more than just a score, a grade, or a rank.

US Educational Group’s experience in the Middle East, North Africa, and Eurasia has shown us that the US News rankings are not as prized as they are in other regions. Students rarely research institutions through US News rankings, which can be a blessing to some institutions but hurt others without the brand name recognition in the region.

Do you think US Educational Group should play a part in increase student awareness in the region of the rankings? Or do you prefer the student to not ask about the rankings?

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160 lbs of MAIL?

Joseph — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:20:36 +0000

This video makes me shake my head this morning:

160 pounds of mail from colleges and universities during this student’s search. Wow. While there is certainly a discussion and post in there about the OVERabundance of information thrown at high schools students in the US, what *I* thought about was how many Universities were sending viewbooks overseas? How much are you spending on mailing tons of paper across the world? Often to countries where the mail system is so poor the chances of the student receiving it in a timely manner is completely out of the question (yeah Saudi Arabia, I’m talking to you).

So are you still doing this? Are you still spending money on random direct mail campaigns? Does it work? What is your ROI? I am curious because I would think on average a University should be sending a hundred or less viewbooks to a country like Saudi Arabia each year. The rest of your budget should be spent on using the hundreds of better and more effective methods of connecting with the student on a personal and emotional level. That’s what will connect most of them to your institution and make them interested in attending.

…of course I say all this as an international student who chose her school based on its brochure and chose NOT to go to another based on theirs. Of course that was more than 10 years ago…the recruitment game has changed, and its time to give the students virtual hugs and handshakes, not just more mail.

Wassan

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Facebook Allowing Username Changes

admin — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:25:33 +0000

When Facebook began handing out vanity urls a few months ago, most people saw that there were some potential issues with copyright infringement. Facebook was very insistent that you “choose your username carefully” because you were never ever EVER going to be able to change it! Well, we assume a combination of pranks and frustrated colleges who lost their online IDs to random folks has made Facebook change its policy.

Without much of an announcement, Facebook is now allowing you to change your username…but just one time. Or so they’re saying. So here’s your chance to contact the person who’s sort-of squatting on your name (hey Otterbein, do you hear me???) and request they change their username so you can grab yours.

And if you are completely confused by this post, I think you need to give me a call. If your school is not on Facebook, or if you still don’t have an admissions tab to increase international (and domestic!) student recruitment and engagement, you are missing out folks…I’ll just leave you with this:

In both Lebanon and Tunisia, Facebook is the #1 most visited website in the country.

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College Visits & Reviews by Students

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:01:17 +0000

Our student site, www.al-jamiat.com launched a new series of posts today reviewing different colleges and campuses beginning with Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio. If you would like your college to be featured on our student site, send us an email!

Visit the Al Jamiat Magazine site to read about the student view of Otterbein College.

College, Inc You may have been busy last night when the PBS...

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