IDP Education Reaches Key Milestone in U.S. Expansion with 50th University Partner

Online, April 7, 2010 (Newswire.com) - IDP Education announced today that Colorado State University has become its 50th U.S. partner institution. This comes on the six-month anniversary of when the organization partnered with its first U.S. institution, Saint Michael's College, and 10 months after the world's largest student placement firm announced an expansion into the United States.

"Colorado State University is a great university in a great town in a great part of the country, but that is not always well understood overseas," says Mark Hallett, director of international student and scholar services at the institution.

"To help impart the value we offer to students from all over the world," he adds, "we want to develop a few really strong relationships with a select group of student placement representatives. We chose IDP Education as one because of their expertise and leadership in the field, their experience and track record, and because they were vetted by AIRC [the American International Recruitment Council] and are in the right markets for us.

"They are the 800-pound gorilla and we want them working for us."

In addition to Colorado State University, IDP's 50 U.S. university partners include the University of Mississippi, Duquesne University, Auburn University's Graduate School, Monterey Institute of International Studies, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Pacific University, College of Wooster, and Pratt Institute.

"The positive response from the U.S. higher education community has been overwhelming," says Mark Shay, IDP's North America director of the Australian-owned IDP.

"The company's roots," he continues, "are in student service, and to support a student-focused mentality we want to provide a broad range of university options. With our current and incoming partners we are now approaching a representative sampling of the U.S. higher education system, from large flagship public universities to regional public universities and a diverse group of private colleges and universities."

To support the expanding portfolio of university partners, IDP Education has been steadily adding U.S. experts to its network of company-employed counselors, operating in more than 70 offices in more than 20 countries throughout Asia and the Middle East.

U.S.-focused counseling is currently taking place in the Indian cities of New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad, with more to commence shortly in Chennai, Chandigarh, and Pune. IDP is also actively building U.S. capacity in many of its locations throughout North Asia and Southeast Asia.

Many IDP partners have visited these offices to meet with counselors and see the process firsthand.

"In a recent trip to China, I was very impressed by the IDP staff and the obvious high level of service students receive from IDP," says Rob Callahan, vice president for enrollment management at Thomas College.

"I was also delighted to return from my visit to find two student applications submitted by several counselors from the IDP network. IDP has a long history of providing quality service to their clients and we are pleased to partner with them in helping international students find their best fit college options in the United States."

Since IDP announced its "charter partners" in December, the company says it has seen a strong validation of its unique approach to overseas recruiting. Faced with declining state support, a decreasing pool of high school graduates and an ever-increasing list of financial pressures, U.S. universities are looking for new ways to increase the number of foreign students on their campuses.

One of these charter partners was University of Mississippi, who had never enlisted support from a recruitment firm before working with IDP. Says the
director of the office of international programs, Greet Provoost, "We congratulate IDP on enrolling its 50th U.S. partner institution and are delighted to have been one of IDP's first American partners."

"Needless to say," she continues, "we are eager to achieve our international student enrollment goals in partnership with IDP and are especially pleased with their methodologies for doing so: IDP's student-focused style, its transparent and inclusive communications, its culturally respectful recruitment approaches, as well as its investment in understanding our unique institutional personality to ensure insightful student counseling, are in very tight alignment with our university's style and priorities. We look forward to a long-standing and very successful partnership with IDP."

IDP Education is responsible for placing one out of four students currently enrolled in an Australian higher education program. The organization projects that 1 million foreign students will be studying in the United States by 2017, with 50,000 coming through their counseling centers.