2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Opening the Doors for International Students: Are We Ready?

Presented at International Division (INTL) Technical Session: Cultural Perspectives

Higher Education Institutions in the United States are facing the effects of the so-called enrollment cliff. The cliff refers to the dramatic drop in the college-aged population from where University’s traditionally recruit. The authors believe that strategically repositioning the cliff away from the United States into other regions/countries could assist in enrollment growth. The United States continues to be a top destination for higher education needs for international students. Given that 1,057,188 international students were studying in the United states in 2022/23 speaks volumes of the American appeal. To grow their recruitment numbers institutions should strategically decide where they should recruit from, be aware of what appeals to international students, and understand what are the internal and external opportunities and hindrances to a sustainable international enrollment pipeline.
This paper presents the proactive and reactive perspectives in addressing opportunities and issues for an institute in growing its international student population from 7% to 16% in four years. The importance of the academic and the business sides of the institution working together towards a strategic goal is discussed by program areas. Business program areas, specifically strategy, marketing, enrollment, programming, food, transportation, accommodations, orientations, cultural knowledge, community awareness, and work experience are discussed in detail. Likewise, academic program areas, specifically course offerings, faculty availability/assignments, academic resources, faculty workshops, and academic integrity are discussed. It is important for institutions to be welcoming, agile and accommodating in providing a quality student experience for a sustainable enrollment pipeline.

Authors

Dr. Sushil Acharya Robert Morris University [biography]

Sushil Acharya, D.Eng. (Asian Institute of Technology) is a Vice President for Research, Grants and Global Initiative. A Professor of Software Engineering, Dr. Acharya joined Robert Morris University in Spring 2005 after serving 15 years in the Software Industry. His teaching involvement and research interests are in the area of Software Engineering education, Software Verification & Validation, Software Security, Data Mining, Neural Networks, and Enterprise Resource Planning. He also has interest in Learning Objectives based Education Material Design and Development. Dr. Acharya is a co-author of “Discrete Mathematics Applications for Information Systems Professionals” and “Case Studies in Software Verification & Validation”. He is a member of Nepal Engineering Association (NEA) and is also a member of American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) and Association of Computing Machinery (ACM). Dr. Acharya was the Principal Investigator of the 2007 HP grant for Higher Education at RMU through which he incorporated tablet PC based learning exercises in his classes. He was also the Principal Investigator of the 2013 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for developing course modules through an industry-academia partnership in the area of Software Verification and Validation. In his current role he serves as the University’s Sponsored Research Officer, manages research grant applications/awards, supervises all international programs, and teaches undergraduate software engineering and graduate engineering management courses. Dr. Acharya plays an important role in international students recruitment at his University.
Jennifer Creamer Robert Morris University

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