Why Students Pick Faculty-Led Study Abroad Programs
They know and like the faculty leader, so your current and former students are the best target audience, and having a co-leader doubles your recruitment reach.
They get a scholarship or funding for a specific program, so look for funds from your department or college to offer as scholarships for your program.
They get course credit they need for graduation, so list your program in way that meets requirements for a broad cross section of students.
Their friends are participating or participated previously, so use word of mouth advertising.
They like the destination or the course. This is not typically the top reason for participation.
What are the Best Recruitment Strategies for Faculty-led Programs
Meet with as many students in person as possible. Present in your and your colleagues’ classes and host information sessions. Because the faculty-leader makes such a big difference to students, it’s important for them to learn about you and the program. Zoom sessions are not as effective. During the presentation be sure to share your background, your passion for the destination and the subject matter, and any personal stories from prior travel, even if to other destinations.
Collect interested students’ phone numbers, through an interest form or early in the application process, to follow up via text if they don’t complete the application. Many students do not complete their applications and do not respond to emails, but they do respond to texts.
Reach out personally to each student who starts an application or expresses interest to answer their questions and encourage them to complete the application ASAP.
Reach out to clubs, campus centers, and departments that can easily resend your digital recruitment materials to their members and students they serve.
How to Work with Your International Education Office to Recruit Students
Meet with IE staff as early as possible in the process to learn about timelines, requirements, and available resources. Some offices provide a lot of support, others provide very little, depending on their capacity.
Create an information and registration webpage to which students will be directly in advertising materials. Your IE office will likely create this page, but Learn from Travel can create this page for you. Review the content of this page carefully to ensure its complete and communicates the true highlights of the program.
Determine which marketing materials the IE office will create and which ones Learn from Travel should create. Use the form below to request materials from Learn from Travel. Also determine what strategies the IE office uses to promote the program. In most cases, the faculty leaders do much of the recruitment.
Use IE office listservs and/or newsletters to reach out to many students in the target audience at once. The IE office might have a list of students who have expressed interest previously.
Co-host information sessions with the IE office. You will be able to share the academic content and your passion for the program, and the IE office staffperson will share the application process, requirements, and financial information.
Review other programs at your institution and consider how your program is different. Your IE office will be able to guide you in positioning your program unique features (e.g. destination, subject matter, costs, duration, timing, credit, etc.) in a way that appeals to students and fills gaps in the current offering.
Timeline for Student Recruitment
6-9 months prior to program: Lay the groundwork
Create registration webpage with program info
Develop recruitment materials such a print and digital poster, presentation deck, and social media posts. Your IE office or Learn from Travel can help you make these materials.
Meet with International Education to coordinate recruitment
Look for scholarship funds from department or other sources
Schedule information sessions for students in coordination with IE office
Reach out to relevant campus centers, organizations and departments to ask to share program recruitment materials
Plan for study abroad fair, which are usually held only once per year
3-6 months prior to program: Reach as many students as possible
Invite all of your current and former students, they are your best target audience
Present in as many of your colleagues’ relevant classes as you have time for, starting with the largest and most relevant classes
Share digital poster with students in your department, or in relevant courses in other departments, using a campus email software, newsletters, or listservs. (Ask IT for support if needed.)
Share the digital poster with chairs of relevant departments and other faculty
Help Learn from Travel recruit Student Ambassadors, who will promote the program to their peers
Ask your department, the IE office, and and relevant university social media accounts to post promoting the program. Learn from Travel can create the content for this post.
Meet one-on-one, speak on the phone, or email with interested students and those in process of completing the application. Your personal attention to them will make a big difference.
Hand out fliers at relevant campus events
Host information sessions and obtain each attendee’s contact information
Connect with past participants to ask to spread the word, if the program is a repeat
Sample Student Recruitment and Marketing Materials
We are happy to develop student recruitment and marketing materials for faculty. Below are samples of such materials.
Student Recruitment Materials Request Form
Please use the form below to request recruitment materials from Learn from Travel. Materials that incur an additional fee are marked with ($). Please email us any photos you’d like us to use to info@learnfromtravel.com.
