From Recruitment to Graduation: Giving Students a “Whole Experience”

For international students in the United States, the process, from expressing initial interest in studying abroad to completeing their time on a U.S. campus, usually comprises a series of phases, some more personal than others. First comes recruitment, then admissions, and then the academic experience, with extracurricular or networking opportunities thrown into the mix.

In recent years, many enrollment and admissions professionals have aimed to make the process more connected and personal. Institutions increasingly focus on the “whole student experience,” ensuring that not only do the recruitment and admissions activities address students’ needs, but that students are supported to succeed once they arrive on campus—and through graduation and beyond.

Connect the Dots

“We need to look at it as a pathway that begins well before students arrive at the doors of a U.S. institution and continues after they graduate and become alumni,” says Rajika Bhandari, an education consultant and author of America Calling: A Foreign Student in a Country of Possibility.

This represents a major shift in thinking for many institutions. “When I went to school, this wasn’t even part of the conversation,” says Patty Croom, director of international admissions, recruitment, and student success at Michigan State University. “It was just come here and you make it or you don’t.”

Now, says Croom, institutions recognize that international students “go through a continuum of life changes as they’re in the university. How do we help the student get through that passage?”

The first step for helping international students to have