Less than perfect pitch

By Erice Cervini. AUSTRALIAN universities spend a lot on marketing. But is that money effective?
Marketing experts are urging a rethink on how universities sell Australian degrees to international students. A workshop for deputy vice-chancellors and directors of international students was held in Canberra last November.
Participants were told that a lot of time had been spent on emphasising Australia as a great destination.
But instead of using pictures of Sydney Harbour to promote the country as an affordable holiday destination, the key messages should be reputation, quality and prestige.
It’s easy to see why the experts want a change. Australia’s international education reputation has taken a battering in recent years. Australia simply didn’t seem such a safe holiday destination after Indian students were attacked on Melbourne streets.
Research also shows that international students seek out countries that have a great reputation for education. This could be a problem for Australian higher education.
In the past, Third Degree has reported on research about international students from the London-based Observatory on Borderless Higher Education. The research shows that prospective students see the US and  Britain as top education destinations.
And a 2009 report by IDP Education, Australia’s largest international recruitment agency, revealed that 6000 students from eight countries rated Australia well behind the US and Britain for quality of education. Of the 1130 Indian students surveyed, only 8 per cent rated Australian institutions as the most prestigious, compared with 58 per cent for the US.
A recent survey by the Knowledge Partnership, a global marketing and communication education consultancy, reinforces this view.
The survey of more than 3300 students from countries such as China, India, Singapore and Brazil showed 40 per cent of students nominated the US as having the best reputation for higher education, followed by Britain with 36 per cent.
Australia is a distant third, neck and neck with Canada. New Zealand is fifth.
Three times as many Chinese students nominated the US as having the best reputation for university education as nominated Australia.
But how can Australian universities restore their reputations? Is marketing enough or is the problem more serious?
Take Singaporean students. They’re a savvy bunch who are most likely to choose a country based on other students’ experience of studying in that country. Word of mouth is very powerful.
That could explain why so many students from Singapore now choose countries other than Australia.  If you talk to them about their Australian courses, many will tell you they are unhappy with low English entry standards.
Not all overseas students see their degree as a passport to permanent residency: they want their study to mean they have achieved a good academic standard. They also want evidence that Australian universities are top-notch. Empty statements about ‘‘world-class’’ universities in brochures won’t convince students to come to Australia.
So, here’s the problem for universities. They can change their marketing messages, but these will make no difference in attracting good students if the messages can’t be backed up.
Prospective students can seek guidance from world league tables of universities. They’ll find a handful of Australian universities in the top 100.
Graduate business students can look at the Financial Times rankings of business schools. But, once again, only a few Australian schools feature in top 100.
Lecturers and tutors who teach overseas students know the main obstacle to overseas students receiving a quality education is their poor command of English.
If universities want to talk about the reputation and quality of their courses, then they have to get serious about English entry standards.