A recent report at the NAFSA conference in Washington, DC, reveals that Canada has become the most popular study destination.
Keystone’s State of Student Recruitment 2023 polled 23,856 students, of whom more than half were from Africa. The number of students planning to study in Canada went up by 29%. In a survey, it was revealed that 16.1% of students chose to study in Canada, followed by 14.8% in the US and 14.4% in the UK.
However, most of the respondents said that studying abroad is generally “too expensive”. The United Kingdom‘s popularity has declined by 20% since 2022, but he defended the country’s capacity to attract students. Since recent claims by the government reveal new limitations on master’s students’ ability to bring dependents to the UK,
According to the reports, the recovery can be seen in the drop in hybrid classes. In 2022, hybrid courses comprised 32% of preferred programme types. In contrast, in 2023, it accounted for only 27%.
English is still considered the top language, with 85% of students studying it. Moreover, 6% of students opted for French classes, whereas 2% preferred Spanish and German classes.
When the comparison between 2021 and 2023 was made, there was an increase in students. Even so, the top motivation to study in Canada was to achieve career goals, which led to an increase in students from 50% to 53%. On the other hand, there has been a significant decline in the number of people who identified experiencing a new culture as one of their main motivations.
The report says internships are the most important factor for selecting programmes, with 36.9% of respondents indicating this. The focus on professions proceeds with “resume-enhancing” being the third most important factor. As new generations start looking into university, there has been a 6% increase in those using social media to research courses. While Google and other search engines and university listing platforms remain the most popular ways to discover courses, Social media has significantly contributed to the search for the courses.