How Emerging Market & AI Are Reshaping Student Recruitment

Invest in Asia Pacific partnerships before the window closes
Seoul has overtaken London as the top-ranked study destination city per QS rankings, with Tokyo ranked third. According to Martijn van de Veen of ICEF, roughly 8 of the top 20 QS destination cities are now in Asia Pacific. Institutions that haven't built active recruitment presence there yet are already behind. The data is pointing in one direction, and the time to establish relationships with regional agencies and local partners is before competitors do.

Government policy is the leading indicator for destination emergence: watch Korea, Japan, and the GCC
Martijn van de Veen of ICEF points to government policy as the single most decisive variable in whether a destination breaks through. Korea's Study Korea program targets 300,000 international students by 2027; Japan's J-Mirai initiative aims for 400,000 by the early 2030s; GCC member states are pursuing vision strategies that include international higher education as a core pillar. Enrollment leaders can use these policy signals to prioritize outreach and agency training in markets that are actively building capacity to receive international students.

Educate your agency partners on emerging destinations or lose them as a channel
Most international students choose where to study through agency recommendations. Martijn van de Veen of ICEF notes that agencies working with emerging destinations need detailed, reliable information: visa policies, work-study rights, accommodation options, cost of living, and career prospects after graduation. Institutions can't expect agents to recommend them confidently without that foundation. A structured agency education program, including site visits and regular briefings, is a concrete first step.

AI handles search behavior well; it doesn't replace the questions agencies ask
AI tools are reactive: they respond to what a student asks. Agencies do something different. As Martijn van de Veen of ICEF put it, "the agent isn't a search engine, they're a matchmaker." Agents read personality, probe motivation, draw on lived knowledge of destinations, and ask the questions students haven't thought to ask yet. Institutions should treat AI and agency relationships as complementary channels, not competing ones. Each serves a different moment in the student decision process.

Use AI for agency vetting, not just student-facing tools
Most institutions that have adopted AI in recruitment are focused on chatbots and personalization. Martijn van de Veen of ICEF points to a less discussed application: using AI to vet agency partners and monitor compliance on an ongoing basis. ICEF's Due Diligence program is an operational example of this. For institutions working with large, distributed agency networks, automated partner monitoring is a practical way to reduce risk without adding headcount.