An excellent article in Inside Higher Ed today highlights a topic we at USEG discuss with our clients often: the use of a consortia to attract international students to a State they may not already know about.  Read the full article here: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/06/22/consortia

States spend money on attracting tourists by advertising in magazines, billboards, and TV – its time for colleges and universities to grab on to this style of marketing and pull students in to the state. At the Washington International Education Council (WIEC) conference in Washington DC this past January, a representative from the US Commerce Service discussed the importance of international education consortia.  They gave examples of states who have already put this idea into practice including Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Oregon.

In budget crunch-time pooling together resources is not just smart, its necessary. By collecting advertising dollars from private high schools to small niche colleges all the way to specific graduate programs, everyone can benefit from a high impact ad campaign aimed at international students.  Many countries, such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK are competing aggressively by the use of consortia to attend more trade shows, advertise in more magazines and attempt to attract more of the foreign students.

We encourage you to call your US Commerce service representative to discuss the support they can give you, or contact us for assistance on your project!