Well folks, the week of NACAC has finally arrived! We are excited to meet so many of you at our pre-conference workshop and throughout the conference itself! If you are not already planning on attending, we invite you to join us for our presentation: Best Practices for International Recruitment Marketing at 8:30 on Friday morning in room 254 (yes, the first session of the day—we know it’s tough, but we promise to perk up your morning!) We promise value for your time. You'll hear trends and tactics from Sundar Kumarasamy from Northeastern University and Steven Bloom from ACE. So many changes happening in our field these days.

If you can’t make it, we would also be happy to schedule a 1:1 meeting, just drop us a line!

In the blog this week, we are taking a look at strategies for increasing international Student retention through simple changes to your campus environment. Taking it back to the basics with a simple analogy, when you go to someone’s house for dinner, do you stay longer if you feel welcome? We do!

And, we’re sure that when you have guests, you try to make sure they feel welcome too. But, do you always do the same for your international students? As you well know, getting international students to your campus is only half the battle. Are you doing enough to ensure they stay? We all know that it costs less to retain a student than attract a new one, so remember ­– just like when you’re visiting your friend’s for dinner, if you make your international students feel welcome at the beginning, they are more likely to stay until the end.

Bottom Line: When students feel welcome and included on university campuses they are happier and do better in their studies. And, they tell their friends back home about it (bonus)! Read on for practical tips and techniques for increasing retention by making your international students feel welcome from the get-go.