US: Nations woo American students at NAFSA expo

The Expo Hall at the 62nd annual NAFSA: Association of International Educators conference evokes Disney's Epcot Center, writes Elizabeth Redden for Inside Higher Ed. Foreign countries have staked out territory here in Kansas City, in America's heartland, to promote themselves as destinations for international students. The international student market is booming.

Among the countries clamouring to increase their share, China hopes to play host to 300,000 international students by 2020; its current enrolment, per IIE's Atlas of International Student Mobility, is 195,000. Japan, too, has a target of 300,000; it's at 123,000.

"We've also seen increased competition, from the US, from the UK and from Canada," said Jen Nielsen, manager of education for Australian Education International. "Canada has told us that they want to overtake Australia as the third-most popular English-speaking destination. They've been really ramping up in certain markets. But also I think [we're facing competition] from more non-traditional competitors, like Singapore, for example, which has positioned itself in the Asia-Pacific region as a hub for attracting international students."
Full report on the Inside Higher Ed site